AY 375 - Fall 2017: Seventh Day Lesson Plan

Remind them what to think about for section recap:

• What did you do?
• What worked?
• What didn't work? What would you do differently?
• How did you assess learning?
• Did anything unexpected happen?

(5 min) Warm-up and recap

(10 min) Activity

(20 min) Interactive lecture

(10 min) Activity

(5 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 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 (Ay 10 student don't always know what's best for them)!

(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.
• 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.

1. Write a midsemester evaluation and administer them in your sections in the next couple of weeks (9/27-10/11). 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 10/18.
2. You will be video-taped in section by a 375 instructor sometime during the week of 10/2. After receiving a copy of your video, watch it and complete the Section Video Recap Worksheet. Bring it to class on 10/18.