When Grassroots Take Root: Using Participatory Design and Faculty Governance to Drive Institutional Change in Student Evaluations of Teaching
Tuesday
10:00am - 10:15am
Midway Suites 6
Oral Presentation
Terri Dunbar, University of Georgia
Erin Dolan, University of Georgia
Tessa Andrews, University of Georgia
Marguerite Brickman, University of Georgia
Paula Lemons, University of Georgia
The University of Georgia (UGA) established its first university-wide teaching evaluation policy in 2022. This policy emphasized using three perspectives to evaluate teaching: student, peer, and instructor. The policy did not propose changes to an existing student course survey, despite critiques that it emphasized instructor likeability, was subject to bias, and did not yield useful information to improve teaching. An opportunity to instigate change arose with the upcoming adoption of a new centralized system. A group of life sciences faculty and a postdoc leveraged this opportunity to create a new, university-wide student course experience survey.
We reviewed surveys from peer and aspirant institutions, finding examples that asked students about teaching elements that were useful (or not) for their learning. Following this approach, we drafted teaching elements aligned with UGA's mission and priorities. We then used participatory design to refine and present the teaching elements as new survey items. We sought focus group feedback from faculty in varied positions, ranks, and departments. We pilot tested and refined the survey in multiple courses. Finally, we sought input from administrators to ensure the survey could be implemented in the centralized system. We then proposed a revision to the teaching evaluation policy to replace the existing student course survey with our new tried and tested items. Our proposal has been reviewed and endorsed by two university-level committees, driven in part by the robustness of our process. The final vote on the revision will take place in the fall.
Lessons learned: Faculty and students were enthusiastic about a survey focused on teaching elements that support student learning. Survey quality and credibility were improved through an iterative design approach using input from multiple stakeholders. This approach also helped stakeholders feel heard and engendered buy-in to the change.
We reviewed surveys from peer and aspirant institutions, finding examples that asked students about teaching elements that were useful (or not) for their learning. Following this approach, we drafted teaching elements aligned with UGA's mission and priorities. We then used participatory design to refine and present the teaching elements as new survey items. We sought focus group feedback from faculty in varied positions, ranks, and departments. We pilot tested and refined the survey in multiple courses. Finally, we sought input from administrators to ensure the survey could be implemented in the centralized system. We then proposed a revision to the teaching evaluation policy to replace the existing student course survey with our new tried and tested items. Our proposal has been reviewed and endorsed by two university-level committees, driven in part by the robustness of our process. The final vote on the revision will take place in the fall.
Lessons learned: Faculty and students were enthusiastic about a survey focused on teaching elements that support student learning. Survey quality and credibility were improved through an iterative design approach using input from multiple stakeholders. This approach also helped stakeholders feel heard and engendered buy-in to the change.
When Grassroots Take Root: Using Participatory Design and Faculty Governance to Drive Institutional Change in Student Evaluations of Teaching (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 5.3MB Dec4 25)