Do end-of-course assessments accurately reflect your performance in the classroom?
Website design By BotEap.comWhat is your opinion about the end-of-course assessment? Do you think it faithfully reflects your performance in the classroom? Do you live in fear of the result you will receive, in terms of your position in the school where you currently teach? Do you focus on the potential outcome of the assessment and do everything you can to make sure your students are satisfied with the course, even if it means becoming more lenient than you might naturally be?
Website design By BotEap.comThose of us who teach for online schools know the weight these assessments have in determining the future of our positions. The online school I work for takes these assessments very seriously and yet takes a holistic view and that means all performance factors are weighed. The reason is that usually only a few students will respond to these evaluations, and the ones that do are those who are extremely satisfied with the course or are not happy for various reasons. In other words, the reason a student responds will be emotional in nature. But not all online schools approach assessment this way. Many have a minimum score to achieve regardless of other factors. If the score is not obtained, your position may be compromised.
Website design By BotEap.comThis assessment can be a learning experience for the instructor, whether or not the score received was expected. For students who were very satisfied, I look for specific reasons why and look to improve those aspects in the next course. The reverse is also true for learners who may be dissatisfied, which is often related to the nature of the course design. For example, if there are unclear assignment instructions, I’ll see if I can request an update within the course. In the meantime, I will develop additional instructions. I also understand the fear that is associated with this assessment among instructors and not reaching the required minimum score as it seems to be out of their direct control. However, there are strategies that are within your control that you can take to improve student satisfaction during the course.
Website design By BotEap.comThe Fundamentals of Student Satisfaction
Website design By BotEap.comWhen you look at a rating scale, the numbers themselves can be hard to understand. For example, if your school requires you to maintain a 4.4 out of 5.0 average, you may not fully understand what a 4.4 means in terms of student satisfaction. Is there a significant difference between a student who is satisfied with a rate of 4.0 at the end of the term and a student who knows they are very satisfied with a 4.8, 4.9, or 5.0? If so, to what extent is the significance? Perhaps it would be more beneficial to consider the relationship you are developing with your students.
Website design By BotEap.comConsider this: all learners are likely to feel some level of satisfaction if they are valued and appreciated. That would be a helpful perspective and layout to start your class with. Now, as to how that translates to your expectations and results, that’s another perspective. But for starters, this is a basic starting point for student satisfaction and how the class is likely to start. If you can start the class with this framework and encourage them with this intended layout, you are starting on a positive level of satisfaction. Now the question is: how to maintain this arrangement, both for you and for your students, throughout the class.
Website design By BotEap.comThe challenges associated with learning
Website design By BotEap.comAs those who teach online know all too well, our classes are filled with students who have a wide variety of learning styles, persistence rates, abilities, abilities, and academic abilities. As they interact with the materials provided and attempt to complete what is required of them each week, this occurs without someone being physically present to guide them. Whether or not they can learn and complete the required activities will depend on their ability to master concepts, acquire new skills, and develop coherent thinking in discussion posts and written assignments.
Website design By BotEap.comMany students can do this with minimal assistance, and others will struggle to overcome mental, emotional, and related learning challenges. You may be contacted for help in a positive and often aggressive manner through messages and emails. I have witnessed an increase in non-professional communication in recent years, with students hiding behind anonymity, believing that classroom communication is no different than on social media or text messages. It is not uncommon for learners to become not just frustrated, but very frustrated, and escalation occurs quickly, despite the availability of assistance. This is where the balance of maintaining your satisfaction becomes most challenging, when you believe that you cannot learn and it is all because everything was designed to work against you.
Website design By BotEap.comThis is also related to the level of student participation in the classroom. They may choose to commit only to the minimum required or become very committed. They can choose to read and implement the feedback provided each week, or ignore it and continue fighting. As an instructor, I can continue to coach them, guide them, push them, and help them, but those efforts can ultimately frustrate the student, especially if they notice that their grade is not improving. Then their satisfaction level may go down as they now think it’s “my fault” because I’m lowering their grade. In other words, if I don’t pass students by and grade them on their actual performance, they are likely to vent their frustration at the end of the term.
Website design By BotEap.comSeeking to make an improvement in student satisfaction
Website design By BotEap.comIf you have a large class size, it can be quite difficult to determine if your students are fully satisfied each week, at the 5.0 level. You can look at the gradebook and assess satisfaction from the perspective of who gets the highest grade, and yet many students at the top of the scale might still be unhappy. This is where you need a strategic plan for your instructional practice. There is one approach that I use and that is a weekly course announcement. I create a PowerPoint lecture and record it with myself and the PowerPoint deck visible during the recording. The reason why I think this is effective and related to student satisfaction is that I am reviewing the course concepts, sharing examples, and reviewing in detail all the learning activities for the week. In other words, I am fully preparing students for the upcoming week and eliminating the possibility of confusion about the requirements. Always works? Not necessarily, since there are students who will not yet use the resources provided; however, most students will take advantage of these resources.
Website design By BotEap.comThere is another approach and that is self-reflection, which I started discussing at the beginning of this post. I take the feedback received and develop my own form of self-development plan. What I am focused on is developing a student-centered environment. I can’t control the score of 5.0 directly, but I can indirectly influence the environment the students are in and the score will adjust naturally as a result. As noted, I will consider where students are struggling, both in assessments and throughout the course, and address those areas with the weekly Course Announcement and even a mid-week Course Announcement. I continually reflect on the feedback I provide and determine if I am meeting the needs of the students, as this directly relates to their academic growth and perhaps their satisfaction with the course.
Website design By BotEap.comI know that students may make negative statements about assessments from time to time, and I usually know who they are coming from and why. I find I don’t get angry because I know why the student or students struggled and often resisted receiving the assistance needed to help them succeed and/or overcome the inherent challenges they faced. It also helps me develop new extension methods to be even better with future students. For example, I use weekly videos to reach out, help, and inspire students.
Website design By BotEap.comDo end-of-course assessments accurately reflect your performance in the classroom?
Website design By BotEap.comTo answer the question posed in the title of this post, I believe that evaluations measure one aspect of your performance as an instructor. End-of-course assessments may show trends; however, these forms do not always provide a general picture of the scope of work done in a classroom. Students are not fully capable of evaluating how well an instructor provides feedback or participates in class discussions. What students can do is describe the emotions of what they experienced and how their instructors contributed (or did not contribute) to their overall learning. An emotional reaction speaks of the relationship that is established with you as an instructor.
Website design By BotEap.comIf you have a school that is willing to take a holistic view of its performance, then you are lucky to work for a school that supports its faculty like I do. You cannot and should not live in fear of these evaluations, but you should use them as a learning opportunity. Every instructor, myself included, can and should continue to grow. This is for your benefit and that of your students. When your students feel a sense of satisfaction from their commitment to you as their instructor, and this includes being valued and appreciated, it is usually a positive sign that you have developed a strong and productive working relationship with them. This is what you should be working on with every class you teach, as it will help nurture your development and theirs.