Thursday, August 23,1973
7
University Daily Kansan
College to Require 'Feedback' Use
By CONNIE PARISH
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This year nearly all University of Kansas students taking courses in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will have a chance to evaluate their professors using the KU Curriculum and Instruction Survey (KUCIS).
This section of the survey deals with your personal assessment of some of the basic elements of this course. If your instructor has approved publication of his or her results, your responses to these questions will appear in the student guide to instructors and courses. For questions inappropriate to this course, dorken the (N/A) space on the answer card.
1. For me, the subject matter of this course was . . .
This is because the College Assembly, the governing body of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, passed a motion by mail and issued a notice for uniform application of this survey.
10 30 50
1- |
(1) of little value
(2) of some value
(3) valuable
(4) very valuable
(5) extremely valuable
2- |
3- |
4- |
Nancy Harper, director of KUCI$, explained what this would mean. She stated that the survey was initiated by the Student Senate in 1969. Then the Senate set it up as a separate project and the student asked to administer the survey on a voluntary basis.
THEN IF the instructor desired, the tabulated results of the survey were published for student use in the publication "Feedback." Three issues of "Feedback" have been published and a fourth is scheduled for distribution this fall.
The resolution just passed will make one valuable change, Harper said. The survey must be administered in all courses of more than six students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The College of thirty-two departments. The thirteen prerequisite constituting approximately two-thirds of the course offerings of the entire University.
According to a count Harper had done, this year the survey will be administered in approximately 1,700 courses just in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, with any proxies in the other schools within University participation on a voluntary basis.
ALTHOUGH THE survey must be administered in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the results will still not necessarily be published. The department head, faculty members have three options. 1) Results can be returned to the instructor, the department head, dean, and printed in "Feedback". 2) Results can be returned to the instructor, department head, dean, but not printed in results. Results can be sent to the instructors only.
4.
Even though the results won't necessarily be published for student use, Harper said the resolution would make the results that were published more valid, since they would be judged against all the data collected. Therefore the University means will be more accurate, and Harper said it should make "feedback" more valuable.
The fourth edition of "Feedback," which was scheduled to be distributed at enrollment, will be free. The first three editions cost the student 50 cents each, and Harper said not all of the 5,000 copies that were printed each time were sold. This fall Harper explained how he did it, with Harper explained was possible because a new "Rolling Stones" format using newspaper and no binding will cut printing costs considerably.
THE ORIGINAL goals of the KUCIC were threefold, Harper said. First, it was set up to improve instruction. One way it attempted to do this was by suggesting faculty members go to the Office of Instruction for improvement in specific areas.
Second, "Feedback" was aimed at aiding students in choosing courses. Third, Harper said, the survey was to aid the administration, since the Promotion and Tenure Committee uses the results if the instructor so desires.
However, students interviewed by the Kansan indicated they were skeptical about "feedback's" ability to help them choose classes. Linda Schneecker, Kansas City, Kan, senior, named a common complaint, which is since the courses I needed weren't listed."
ONE STUDENT, Mark Dickson, Atchison freshman, said he found "Feedback" really useful for choosing one class, but he had to work hard rest of his schedule before consulting it.
Several students indicated that they paid more attention to the advice of students who were from rural areas.
Student Response to 'Feedback' Shows Range of Opinion About Courses
James Babcock, Chanute senior, said that he felt that his adviser was more trustworthy than "Feedback."
Students who had already chosen a major, such as Phil Thornton, Kansas City, Mo., senior, indicated that they already knew about instructors in their own school. But the teacher's "feedback" didn't tell enough about the instructor's teaching method to be useful.
Dee Dokken, Derby junior, voiced another complaint about "Feedback." "I filled out the survey, but I don't consider myself a very good judge of the instructors." On this basis she was skeptical about the usefulness of the overall survey.
KU faculty members interviewed also were not entirely without criticism of the use of their research.
MICHAEL GAINES, assistant professor of biology, administered the survey and found it very helpful. He thought the diagnostic section at the end was a particularly valuable tool, since the instructor could see his strong and weak points.
Lynn Nelson, associate professor of history, agreed that the survey was useful to him personally, and he, too, cited the essential inventory section as especially helpful.
He added that he thought the emphasis at the University was directed more toward research than teaching, which is sometimes detrimental to students.
"its usefulness depends on 1) the professor's willingness to take it into consideration and 2) the willingness of the student to use it, and necessary to fill out the survey honestly."
the survey, many put thought into it. But a minute don't, which makes it statistically unlikely.
"When they get the opportunity to take
John Guenther, assistant professor of education, thought all instructors shouldn't be required to give the survey. He explained that sometimes an instructor's own question were more relevant for his own questions that have only a short response.
Richard Colyer, assistant professor of English, was definitely in favor of the idea of "feedback," but was critical of the questionnaire used.
He stated that one couldn't narrow the number of questions to make it convenient, and I thought he made the questionnaire. Colyer said he thought the original questionnaire, which was longer,
HE HAD A further criticism of the questionnaire.
"The biggest complaint from people I've talked to is that the survey gives students an opportunity to evaluate areas in which they are not really competent."
Colyer explained, "For example, they are asked to evaluate your professional qualifications. But particularly in a beginning class the professor probably knows much more than the student realizes, and gives him a matter of parading all your knowledge."
He thought the evaluations should be in areas where students are competent to judge, for example if the instructor had annoying mannerisms, how he handled class discussion or how receptive he was to questions.
Colyer also thought the results of the survey shouldn't be made a matter of record to the administration. He suggested that results of a survey given in several
classes should be given to the department head periodically, but the rest of the results should go directly to the instructor rather than other administrators.
He said that even "bum" teachers would probably try to learn something from student feedback, but would be more willing to invest in experiential between the student and professor.
Colyer seemed to sum up a typical attitude when he said the idea of a survey as an educational aid is valuable, but it should be improved for utmost effectiveness.
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