AY 375 - Fall 2019: Eighth Day Lesson Plan

(15 min) Group preparation

(30 min) Interactive theatre (5 min per scenario)

(5 min) Discussion

(5 min) What is the purpose of a midsemester evaluation?

• There is a department wide, official end of semester eval, but by then it's too late to fix things for your current students.
• The point of student feedback at mid-semester is to allow you to adjust your section and teaching style as necessary to match your current students' demands.
• However, take the responses with a grain of salt!

(10 min) Complete our midsemester evaluation for Ay375

• Our eval is much longer (and probably more detailed in parts) than yours will be. This is to give you a variety examples of things you could ask in yours.

(5 min) What are some components of a midsemester evaluation?

• Your questions should cover things you want feedback on. Be explicit about what you want to know whenever possible.
• There should be room for some free response (e.g., if there's anything else not addressed here…)
• You should make sure you take some time to go over the results in a later session
  • If you have quantitative questions, this might include averages, or distributions.
• You should make sure students are able to fill them out anonymously. Set aside 5 full minutes at the end of section for your students to complete the evaluation, and leave the room when they do so.
• Your mid-semester should be short (1 sided to 2 sided max).
• It's a good idea to read through all your evals twice after you receive them: once to just read every answer and the second time to see if you can spot some trends and consistencies (based on the assumption that if a majority of students agrees on something, then it might actually be a valid point or an accurate assessment).
• Arguably the most important part of evals is responding to the criticisms (both positive and negative) publicly in front of the class and addressing at least some of their concerns (Slater & Adams call this 'closing the loop').

Your homework assignment is to create and administer a mid-semester eval. We are also asking you to compile a short summary report - some things to consider including are:

1. consistent comments
2. averages/standard deviations/histograms for any quantitative questions
3. any hilarious, unfairly mean, or really thoughtful comments
4. a personal assessment of what you've learned and what you'll change (and when)

• Sample Eval: Carina's C10 mid-semester eval
  • Question 1: Useful to know how serious to take the evaluation comments (i.e. take it more seriously if a student attends all the time).
  • Question 2: Free response allows students to express themselves.
  • Question 3: Take it with a grain of salt, because most students want more lectures.
  • Question 4: Another free response.
  • Questions 5-8: Useful to gauge how the difficulty of section compares with the class as a whole, and whether you're hitting a middle-ground level of difficulty in section.
  • Questions 9-10: Fun, extra questions. Pros: makes the evaluation less formal and fun to read. Cons: can get some inappropriate responses and worrisome responses.

(if time) Brainstorm questions you want to ask on your eval

1. Write a midsemester evaluation and administer them in your section next week (10/17-10/23). After reviewing your students' responses, write up a summary of the evaluation (What did you learn? What changes might you make?). You might consider graphing quantitative responses for your 'analysis'. Bring this summary and a copy of your (blank) evaluation to class on 10/23.
2. You will be video-taped in section by a 375 instructor sometime during the next two weeks. After receiving a copy of your video, watch it and complete the Section Video Recap Worksheet. Bring it to class on 10/30.
3. Bring your lesson plan notebook to class next week.