Faculty and Student Perceptions of the Effects of Mid-Course Evaluations on Learning and Teaching

• Main Author: Ransom, Whitney
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2009
• Subjects: mid-course evaluation; improving teaching; learning; faculty; university; Center for Teaching & Learning; Educational Psychology
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1911; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2910&context=etd

The purpose of this study was to describe the effects of mid-course evaluations on teaching and student learning. A mixed methods approach was used, combining faculty and student surveys, faculty interviews, debriefing sessions, and a comparison of mid-course evaluations scores with end-of-semester scores. Out of 510 section mean scores (128 sections) from faculty members who participated in the study, 352 section mean scores (88 sections, 69%) showed students' perceptions of their own learning improved between the time they completed the mid-course evaluation and the time they completed the end-of-course student rating survey. Results showed when faculty administered a mid-course evaluation, students' perceptions of their own learning improved. Faculty members saw more improvement if they conducted a mid-course evaluation, read the feedback, and discussed this input with their students. Faculty members saw the most improvement in their ratings when they also made changes based upon student feedback. The results of this study should be encouraging to all faculty members and administrators who may feel they want to improve their teaching and increase student learning but have limited time to devote to course revisions.