eCore Faculty Evaluation Summary Fall 2009

Analysis of eCore Instructor Responses for Fall 2009

• Peer revision and student support of one another enhanced learning.
• Voice Board audio discussions enabled "real" use of Spanish language.
• Faculty and students communicated effectively with one another.
• Quality feedback from instructors helped students progressively improve through the term.
• Many instructors experienced improved retention in their course sections.
• Grading forms for discussions were helpful.
  

Course Challenges & eCore Action Items

• Some instructors reported that they would decrease the quantity of assignments and focus in order to improve the quality. 
• Faculty decided to establish virtual office hours
• A creation of weekly "check-in" for students.
• Instructors planned ot check links before term begins.
• Some instructors planned to comment more frequently in discussions.
• Posting pre-tests for each lessons to prepare students for exams.
• Instructors planned to provide more personalized private mails and phone calls.
  

Individual Faculty Responses from Fall 2009 eCore Faculty Evaluation Summary

1. Students appreciated feedback from the professor
2. Students enjoyed helping each other revise assignments
3. The book and its website were well organized for the course.
4. Effective communication between students and the professor
5. Overall success
6. Discussions are the best part of the course
7. eCore administrative services were very helpful
8. Lessons for each section were well received by students
9. Nothing. The class (students) were difficult to read
10. Students were receptive to the professor's teaching style
11. Motivated students were more able to keep up with the pace of the course
12. Extensive comments/feedback helped the students improve in their work assignments
13. Quizzes with multiple attempts and comprehensive online exams that can only be taken once
14. The overall layout of the course
15. Self quizzes and chapter quizzes helped the students' overall knowledge
16. Telling students how to pace themselves on assignments helped keep them on track
17. Due dates that allow students to work over the weekend was very effective
18. Communication through email was crucial to keeping students involved
19. Voice Boards allowed students to put their knowledge into "real" use
20. Timeliness of feedback
21. The work load was not too heavy for the students
22. Students were engaged in the course
23. Discussions postings improved in specificity as the semester continued
24. Students learned from and motivated each other
25. Students felt comfortable enough to contact the professor by phone when needed
26. Chemistry labs were very popular. Pre-lab and post-lab assessments gave speedy feedback
27. Responding to all of the students was important for the success of the course
28. Professor provided clear expectations and served well as a moderator
29. Students understood the assignments and material clearly
30. Students supported one another
31. Students liked having a heads up on upcoming assignments
32. Students appreciated the professor's understanding during hardship situations
33. Prompt response to student emails
34. Better performance on proctored exams due to closed-book lesson quizzes
35. Clear guideline provided for discussion participation
36. Classroom attitude
37. The course schedule was clearly communicated to the students
38. An open-door policy helped students to communicate more with the professor
39. Students were challenged by the discussion posts
40. Difficulty of the course was appropriate
41. Retention was better than in previous semesters
42. Fewer technical problems
43. Proctored examinations ran smoothly
44. Good relationship between students made for effective discussions
45. Course had a sufficient number of good questions to keep the course exams fresh
46. Students appreciated having a grading sheet for discussion assignments
47. Addition of videos was very useful
48. Lessons for the course were well-written
49. Students maintained the expected level of involvement
50. Students were very willing to share their own experiences and perspectives
51. Small group activities went well
52. Students liked receiving review tips before each major graded assignment and exam
    

1. Too many required discussions and minor activities that were not a large percentage of the student's final grade
2. Setting deadlines for students
3. Difficult to get students involved and participating in the course
4. Students should be encouraged to purchase the textbook immediately and only from the eCore bookstore
5. Quizzes and self-tests were very confusing for the students
6. Students skip many days before looking at the material again
7. Students should be advised about the differences between online and face-to-face courses
8. There were too many textbook exercises
9. Quizzes and assessments left much to be desired
10. Students could not comprehend course content and guide material
11. Quizzes were not tailored to the discussions
12. More tests instead of writing assignments to gauge students' knowledge
13. Design of the course neglects visual or audio learners. Video lectures should be included
14. Voice Boards were very challenging and often did not work
15. Tutorials were not well received by all students
16. There was not enough personalized feedback provided to the students by the professor
17. Students who did not provide their contact information tended to be the ones who did not complete the course/ Retention
18. Some students are unresponsive from the beginning
19. Students realize too late into the course that they have not met the prerequisites
20. Having a student write abrasive comments towards peers
21. Students failed to see the importance of the text
22. Students did not adequately prepare themselves for proctored exams
23. Course had too many varying quiz lengths
24. The amount of time allotted for a quiz was decreased to ensure the integrity of the quiz
25. Students did not get supplementary course materials in a timely manner
26. There were more incomplete (I) grades requested than usual
27. Students requested more encouragement during the discussions from the professor
28. Students wanted more responses to their questions through email, rather than directed to the entire class
29. Quiz questions had the wrong answers marked as being correct
30. Grade point system for labs was too liberal
31. Group projects were frustrating for students due to disparate participation
32. Whole class suffers because of students who fall behind
33. Professor interaction in discussions should be complimentary to the student postings
34. Students were less engaged in discussions
35. Discussions should allow for more in-depth postings
36. Papers were not returned in a timely manner
37. A larger class makes it more difficult to connect with individual students
38. Students had many reasons for turning in late work
39. Students failed to respond to one another during discussions and comment on each other's work
40. Links were not always active
41. Students would like different ways of learning material, specifically videos
42. Fine-tune certain assessments for clarity
43. Course needs more questions written for exams (Calculus)
44. Professor could have done a better job motivating students. Interaction decreased due to teaching another course
45. Students would like to have greater freedom or a greater number of choices within the course
46. Students were not prepared for the level of prior knowledge needed
47. Students needed more examples and multiple choice exams were less useful that old written exams
48. Difficulty accessing quizzes and submitting work to the assignment tool dropbox
49. Students post to discussions at the last minute and can be very vague in their responses
50. Students had difficulty choosing a workable research topic
    

1. Fewer homework and discussion assignments will be given, so students can focus more on the main objective of the course
2. Create a "checking in" space for students to visit at least once a week for participation points
3. Establish virtual office hours 
4. Personal contact at the beginning is important for retention
5. Make better exams based on student feedback
6. Provide clear instructions at the beginning of the course
7. Have discussions with questions about real life applications of the material being taught
8. Encourage students who mot keeping up with the course to drop at the midpoint
9. Provide more guidance on basic reading interpretation skills
10. Create a proctored final exam for the course
11. Get students to check their emails and discussion boards on a regular basis
12. Decrease the number of online activities required
13. Provide more individual feedback on practice exercises
14. Focus on obtaining students' contact information at the beginning of the semester
15. Add video explanations for some material
16. Monitor discussion boards, ensuring that students are sensitive towards one another
17. Emphasize the importance of the discussion area
18. Contact students who have disappeared from the course by phone
19. Let students know in advance how many questions are on each quiz to better manage their time
20. Drop two of the student's lowest quiz/discussion grades, but will not let them know this in advance
21. Request different versions of equipment from kit suppliers to decrease the amount of breakage
22. Add quizzes for each unit and a study guide
23. Prompt students with more questions and prompts to consider during discussions
24. Provide work expectations of students at the beginning of the semester
25. Grade distributions should be more even
26. Implement an official chat and discussions night before modules are due to tackle any problems
27. Tailor the syllabus to reflect the professor's personal experience in the course
28. Review self-tests and their settings before students are required to take them
29. Make discussions a part of the student's grade to encourage their participation
30. Help students understand the purpose of the discussions more
31. Give a "discussion post of the week" award to show students what the professor considers a valuable contribution to discussions
32. Send an email to students at the beginning of the semester regarding participation
33. Change the format of come assignments to make them more effective
34. Use the services of the student success manager to help students track their progress
35. Work harder to facilitate the level of discussion
36. Show students that learning is a gradual process and that discussions help prepare them for later assignments
37. Be more stern, forcing students to adhere to the set deadlines
38. Check all the links before the semester starts
39. Post links to videos in the discussion boards
40. Be more specific about how assignments help meet course objectives
41. Utilize the discussion area more specifically for laboratory assignment problem-solving (Geosciences I)
42. Comment more frequently on student work and exams
43. Post discussion motivators for each lesson that students are required to respond to
44. Provide more models for essay and portfolio assignments
45. Allow for greater freedom of expression, while emphasizing that student ideas need to be supported by textual evidence
46. Provide the students with more worked-out examples
47. Post pre-tests for each lessons to prepare students for the mid-term and final exams
48. Investigate increasing engagement within the course through other technological innovations
49. Use personal emails and phone calls more
50. Hide more of the discussions because there were too many to handle
51. Give directions that specifically help the students avoid problematic research topics