Many instructors have questions about how to make constructive use of their end-of-quarter student ratings. Student comments can be informative, but they can also be puzzling or troubling, and instructors sometimes find it hard to respond. CIDR offers individual consultations as well as departmental workshops on interpreting and developing meaningful ways to make use of end-of-quarter student evaluations.

Student evaluations of teaching effectiveness, referred to as the Instructional Assessment System, are developed and administered by UW's Office of Educational Assessment (OEA). In evaluating courses, students fill out two forms: a computer-scored "bubble sheet" form and a yellow, open-ended comment form ("yellow sheet"). Instructors can choose from a selection of different computer-scored forms, depending on the individual course and instructional goals. Early the following quarter, after an instructor has submitted student grades, she or he receives a report summarizing the student responses on the computer-scored forms and original copies of the open-ended forms.

Analysis of student ratings with a CIDR consultant can help an instructor:

• identify patterns and themes in student ratings and comments
• distinguish between student comments that represent an individual student's perspective and those that represent broader areas for improvement or change
• make sense of current data in terms of data from previous quarters
• gain perspective on the effectiveness of changes made as the result of earlier feedback
• compare median scores meaningfully with those of other instructors at the department, college and institutional level

CIDR consultants are available to help you make sense of both the numerical student ratings and open-ended student comments. We can help you identify important patterns within and between quarters, provide context for the kinds of responses that are common at UW and brainstorm appropriate strategies for change.

We provide consultations on analyzing student ratings for individual instructors as well as customized departmental workshops for groups of TAs and/or faculty. CIDR staff are also available to consult on choosing evaluation forms and developing customized questions for the back of the form.

Contact CIDR to request a student ratings consultation, and a consultant will contact you ro arrange an appointment. We will ask you to send copies of your evaluations ahead of time via campus mail, if possible, including the "yellow sheet" comments. If you have evaluations from previous quarters of teaching, it can also be helpful to examine selected sets of previous evaluations to provide context for your newest set. After you send in your ratings, the CIDR consultant will review them, identify themes and patterns, and meet with you to discuss the ratings and identify possible possible next steps.

If you would like to schedule a student ratings consultation, call 206-543-6588, or contact us by email to arrange an appointment.

For additional information, see CIDR's web guide, "Understanding and Using Your Student Ratings," or view CIDR's collection of online readings and resources on Making Sense of Student Ratings.