List of Questions for Open-Ended Evaluation
How to use?
List of Questions in Word format (For easy cutting and pasting)
Using these Questions to Design an Individual Evaluation:
- Cut and paste these questions into CTL open-ended faculty evaluation form (or the form for TAs) according to the focus of your class or your concerns about your teaching.
- Use only a few questions (6 or fewer). You may cut out some of the more general questions already on the form if you want to use more than 3 from this list.
- Feel free to change words or to combine questions or to drop out parts of questions to more accurately reflect your course and interest.
- The sections below begin with a very general question and then provide more specific questions afterward. If you want general information, you should start with a general questions but possibly combine it with some of the more specific questions to help students think about what you are asking.
For example: How does the organization of the course help you learn? Does the professor make connections between different class periods? How does the professor help you understand the most important points?
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These questions are appropriate for any course:
Organization
- How does the organization of the course help you learn? Is there anything about the organization that hinders your learning?
- What does the professor do to help you better understand the organization of the course? How does the he or she make connections between different class periods, assignments and readings?
- How does the professor help you understand what are the most important points within class? Could he or she do anything differently?
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Interest and Enthusiasm
- What have you found most interesting about the course so far?
- How has the professor shown his or her interest in the subject?
- Are you as interested in the course as you were at the start of the semester? Why or why not?
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Readings and Course Materials
- How have the materials (readings, films, handouts, and so on) in this class enhanced your understanding of the topic? Have any of these materials hindered your learning? In what ways?
- Which of the readings are most useful and least useful to your learning? What changes would you make in the reading materials?
- How has the professor’s use of audio-visual materials (films, Power Point presentations and so on) helped you understand the subject of this course? What changes might help you learn better?
- Do course handouts help you understand the course material? Explain your answer.
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Accessibility
- Do you find the professor accessible? Why or why not?
- How comfortable do you feel asking questions in class? How comfortable do you feel asking outside of class? What has the professor done to encourage or discourage questions?
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Assignments and Grading
- Have assignments in this course allowed you to demonstrate what you have learned? How?
- Which course assignments have helped you understand the topic or stimulated you to be more interested in the topic? Which assignments have been least interesting?
- What has the professor done to communicate his or her grading standards? Do you feel you understand those standards? Why or why not?
- Has the feedback the professor provided on assignments been helpful? Do you have a clear sense of your strengths in this class? Do you have a sense of what steps you need to take to improve?
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Challenge
- Have you found this course challenging? Why or why not?
- Do you feel the professor’s standards for undergraduate work are appropriate and realistic? If the course has been challenging, how has the professor has helped you? What else could he or she do to help?
- So far, have you found that this course challenged your usual ways of thinking? In what ways?
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Questions for Lecture-Oriented Classes
- What does the professor do in lecture that helps you learn? Does he or she do anything that hinders your learning?
- Do the lectures seem clear and well organized? Can you easily follow the lecture or outline it? What changes would you suggest the professor make so that his or her main points are clearer?
- What does the professor do to make abstract concepts clear and relevant? What else could he or she do to help you understand abstract ideas?
- Comment on the delivery of the lecture. Are the lectures ever too fast or too slow? Is the instructor’s voice loud enough?
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Questions for Laboratory Classes
- How has the lab enhanced your understanding of the topic?
- What has the professor done to help you feel prepared for lab? What else might he or she do?
- What has your professor done during lab experiments that has helped you learn from experiments? What else could your professor do?
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Questions for Discussion-Oriented Classes
- Have you found discussion useful and engaging? What has the professor done to encourage of discourage discussion?
- Do class discussions help you understand the key ideas of the course? How?
- Were discussions open enough that everyone had a chance to speak?
- How do you prepare for class discussion? What could the professor do to help you feel more prepared?
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Questions for Classes Using Technology
- What parts of this instructor’s use of technology have you found most enhance your understanding of the course? Do you have specific suggestions about how the professor could have used electronic resources more effectively?
- Do you feel the professor’s use of interactive technology (like Blackboard discussion groups) has helped you better understand course materials? Explain.
- How has the professor’s use of Power Point presentations helped or hindered your learning?
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Questions for Classes Using Team or Group Work
- Has group work enhanced your understanding of this course’s material? Why or why not?
- What guidance and support did the professor offer your group? Was it valuable? What else could the professor have done to help you learn from the group project?
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Questions for TAs (depending on the class, questions from other areas of this form may be equally valid for a TA)
- What has been valuable about having this TA? How has he or she contributed to what you have learned in the course?
- How has the TA encouraged students to engage with class material in your section? Has that helped or hindered your learning?
- What has your TA done to stimulate your interest in the material?
- What has the TA done to help you learn from the lab? Has he or she done anything that hindered your learning?
- Do you find your TA accessible? Why or why not? What else could he or she do to encourage students to learn outside of section?
- Has the feedback that your TA has given you on assignments [exams or papers or labs] helped you understand what you need to do to learn the material? What else might he or she do?
- How does the TA help you understand the lecture material [or readings or films]? What else might he or she do to help you understand?
- What has your TA done to prepare you for exams and tests? What else might he or she have done?
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