Faculty – FAQ’s -EvaluationKIT

Can I obtain mid-semester feedback with EvaluationKIT?

Yes, this is one of the advantages of the new system. Instructors will be able to “opt-in” by submitting a “Teaching and Course Feedback Opt-In Agreement” to the Office of the Provost.

Results will be made available ONLY to the instructor. Faculty opting-in will receive an announcement email prior to deploying the mid-semester evaluations with a link to the form. Note: The mid-semester opt-in will only be available for full-term courses.

Instructors are encouraged to consider obtaining mid-semester feedback. Our colleagues on the Teaching Evaluation Task Force (2013-14) reviewed the literature on best practices for measuring effective teaching, and learned that, “response rates for end of term evaluations increase when a mid-course evaluation is also administered.” Mid-semester feedback is consistent with the Task Force’s recommendation for formative assessment, as it “can foster our professional development as teachers, provide concrete opportunities for mentoring, and improve the learning experience for students while the course is still in session.”

Keep in mind, you may collect course feedback from students whenever and as often as you deem appropriate and useful. You do not need to use EvaluationKIT to collect mid-semester feedback, though you may find it easier to do so. Particularly during this transition to a new form and system, it may be worthwhile to familiarize yourself and your students with EvaluationKIT before the end of the course.

Can I add my own questions to the course feedback form? 

Yes, instructors can add custom questions to the standard Teaching and Course Feedback Form through the EvaluationKIT system. Two weeks prior to the launch of the feedback form, instructors will receive a “Pre-Survey Open Period” email. Instructors will have two weeks to submit custom questions that they want added to the feedback form. Deans and Chairs will be able to view these custom questions during the two weeks prior to the launch.

Tutorials are available by logging into the EvaluationKIT system.  Step-by-step instructions are available on the Provost Office website.

Once custom questions have been created, they will be saved within the EvaluationKIT system, so that instructors may reuse or revise them in the future.

How are team-taught courses evaluated?

Can I schedule when my students complete my course feedback form?

The links for the EvaluationKIT survey will be launched at one time for all classes in a given term. Instructors will receive an email 48 hours in advance of this launch, allowing them the option of discussing the process with students and notifying students that class time will be provided for completing the feedback form. As noted in the Faculty Handbook (Part VII. Other Policies, Section 3. Instructional Responsibilities and Course Procedures, G.1.a), “where possible, the teaching and course feedback form will be completed in class, with adequate time allowed by the instructor.”

If you want students to complete the feedback form in class, it is recommended that you: 1) give students advance notice that you have reserved class time for this purpose, 2) encourage them not to complete the forms prior to that time (even though they will be receiving system-generated reminders), and 3) remind them to bring their own device (laptop, tablet, or smartphone) to class, unless you are able to have your class complete them in a computer lab.

I plan to have students complete the EvaluationKIT survey in class. How do I make this happen? What devices can students use?

Students can access their course survey on any device with access to the internet, their email, and a web browser. Students will receive a survey invitation (via email from provost@plu.edu) with a link to their account.* From the link, they will be taken directly to their personal EvaluationKIT dashboard where they will see a list of their available surveys. No login is required. Clicking on the course will take students directly into the Teaching and Course Feedback survey for that course.

Students in co-taught courses will receive a prompt to select all instructors at the beginning of the survey, they will not have the option to go back, and should select all instructors they plan to provide feedback for at that time. They will then be taken through the Teaching and Course Feedback survey for each instructor they selected for that course.

All students will see the main Teaching and Course Feedback form first, followed by custom questions added at the unit level (if any), and custom questions added by the instructor (if any). Students taking some courses that count toward General Education/Core Curriculum requirements may also see an additional question regarding learning outcomes.

*If a student cannot locate their invitation email, they should search provost@plu.edu and/or EvaluationKIT in their email. Any log-in link emailed previously from EvaluationKIT (even from a previous semester) will take the student into their current dashboard with access to all currently open surveys. If this does not work, please direct them to email provost@plu.edu for assistance.

Instructors are strongly encouraged to discuss the EvaluationKIT process with students prior to the launch of the feedback surveys. Please note that EvaluationKIT has discontinued their mobile apps. If you have questions or need assistance, please email provost@plu.edu.

When will instructors and students learn that EvaluationKIT is available?

Prior to the launch of EvaluationKIT, both instructors and students will receive a “Pre-Survey” announcement email with course tables and survey dates. Two days prior to the launch, instructors will receive an email reminder. Once the feedback form is available, students will receive a “Survey Invitation,” as well as reminders every 3 days until they complete the survey. Instructors will receive email notification about the response rate every two days.

Instructors are encouraged to provide class time for completion of feedback forms. In order to make this run smoothly, it is recommended that you: 1) give students advance notice that you have reserved class time for this purpose, 2) encourage them not to complete the forms prior to that time (even though they may be receiving daily system-generated reminders if you did not customize your start date/time, or selected a time prior to the time set aside in class), and 3) remind them to bring their own device (laptop, tablet, or smartphone) to class, unless you are able to have your class complete them in a computer lab.

When will results be available?

Approximately two weeks after the evaluation period ends, Instructors will receive a “Results Notification Email” letting them know that feedback results are available for review. The link provided in this communication will give them access to their Instructor Dashboard and their reports. Instructors may also access this information from the “Faculty” Instructor-Perspective page on the Provost Office Course Evaluations webpage:

https://www.plu.edu/faculty-resources/courseevaluations/faculty/

Feedback will be available to Instructors and Deans/Chairs after the deadline for submitting final grades for a given semester.

If you do not receive your notification email, please log into EvaluationKIT for your results.  If you are having trouble accessing EvaluationKIT, please email provost@plu.edu the next business day after the results have been released.

What will my evaluation results look like?  

Results will be available for each of your courses.  You can view your course results in three different formats: PDF – quantitative summary only, PDF – quantitative summary + student comments, and raw data (Excel format).

Understanding Your Course Evaluation Results

The results in the PDF summaries are organized by question not student. These are useful for reading all of the comments on a particular question and looking for trends. If you want to look at how an individual student responded across questions or you want to match up ratings and comments for individual students, refer to the Excel spreadsheet. Each row across shows the data from an individual student, including both ratings and comments.

When viewing your results in EvaluationKIT, you can customize reports to show individual courses or combine multiple courses in a batch report to view  Semester or academic year summaries.