Valuing the Individual Student

Abstract

Evaluating classroom teaching performance is a difficult task for most instructors, especially for those new to the classroom. Many colleges and universities request course evaluations only at the end of the term with results accessible after the course is completed and the grades assigned. This leaves the instructor with no possibility to modify or improve the course as it progresses. The author presents a model for evaluating class sessions using a one-page student feedback/evaluation form and single-subject design as an analysis model. The students use the same pseudonym throughout the term, and individual students’ opinions on specific lectures and presentations can be tracked. Interventions directed at the class as a whole or to individual students’ concerns and problems can then be designed and monitored for effectiveness.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

James Patrick Mace

The evaluations used in this research were conducted while the author was employed by the University of Alabama School of Social Work.