Student Opinion Survey

Criteria for evaluating submitted departmental questions  

(list of common reasons why questions may not be approved by Improvement of Instruction)

  1. Closed-ended question 
    1. fixed set of responses  
  2. Fails to use the proper scale 
    1.  needs to align with response options used in standard questions 
  3. Lacks relevance  
    1. targets instruction & how to improve it (not personnel or dept-level issue/assessment)  
  4. Avoids personal aspects or characteristics of instructor  
    1. “The instructor is pleasant and approachable.
  5. Instruction/item targeted in question is outside of instructor’s control 
    1. instructor held accountable for instruction/equip/materials that required to use 
    2. e.g., instructor doesn’t have control over the equipment, textbook choices, etc. 
  6. Fairness 
    1. students have the expertise to evaluate some aspect of instruction 
    2. e.g., students think [topic] not useful or necessary, but instructor knows it is 
    3. e.g., students don’t have pedagogical background to evaluate instructional strategy  
  7. Biased (against instructor):  Prejudice against aspect of instructor 
    1. Gender, race, non-native English speakers, background, etc. may be interpreted differently per instructor’s attributes & characteristics  
  8. Biased (against student):  may elicit different answers from different student groups  
    1. Gender, race, non-native English speakers, background, etc. may be interpreted differently per student’s attributes & characteristics 
  9. Leading questions  
    1. question suggests the desired answer in the way it is worded  
    2. Includes ‘hard to disagree with’ statements 
  10. Double-barreled  
    1. more than one thing is being asked about in the same question 
  11. Not actionable  
    1. lacks guidance to instructors on how to improve specific aspects of their instruction   
  12. Question lacks clarity

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