In Fall 2023, UMSL will shift to using a common end-of-course student feedback survey that aligns with UMSL's definition of Teaching Effectiveness. For more information about UMSL and the Teaching Effectiveness Taskforce's process for crafting the common question set, explore the information available on the Teaching Effectiveness Taskforce's website.
The end-of-course student feedback survey asks students to select whether they Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree with 14 statements. The 14 statements are organized into 3 sections, About the course, About my learning, and About the instructor. Students are also given the option to mark a statement as Not Applicable or No opinion. There are 4 open-ended questions that allow students to reflect on their experience within a course.
One difference between the new common question set and previous end-of-course feedback survey questions will be the scale used. The new common question set scale includes only 4 choices whereas previous scales may have had 5 or 6 choices (ie: Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree). This may impact a faculty member's maximum score on the feedback reports. Additionally, the no opinion or N/A choice on the common question set will not contribute to the overall mean score of a question. If you are a faculty member and would like more information about navigating a change in feedback survey scales, please consult this resource.
For statements 1-14, students are asked to select whether they Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree, or if the question is Not Applicable.
About the Course
1) The syllabus clearly expressed the course goals and expectations for me to be successful.
2) The required course materials contributed to my learning.
3) The technology in this course effectively supported my learning.
4) The assignments and/or exams were related to course goals.
5) The grading policy was clearly stated.
About My learning
6) There were opportunities to share my ideas, experiences, and/or knowledge.
7) This course helped me develop specific skills or competencies in this field.
8) This course helped me learn how to critically analyze and develop my knowledge, ideas, arguments, and/or points of view.
About the Instructor
9) My instructor has given me adequate ways to contact them via email, phone, discussion board, office hours or appointment time.
10) My instructor was responsive when I had questions or challenges.
11) My instructor’s explanations about course concepts were clear and organized.
12) My instructor used a variety of teaching techniques to accommodate different student approaches to learning.
13) Feedback on coursework was helpful for my learning.
14) Information was available so I could track my academic performance during the semester.
Open-Ended Questions
15) What about this course and its instruction influenced your learning?
16) In what ways did this course or its instruction support an inclusive learning environment?
17) In what ways did this course or its instruction inspire you to continue learning in this course or beyond it?
18) Do you have any additional comments to share about the course or its instruction?
Starting in Summer 2023, each department has the option to add up to 4 additional questions to the common question set. These questions should be selected from the supplemental question pool. The questions available in the question pool adhere to UMSL's student feedback Guiding Principles.
Department-specific questions will be added to the end of the end-of-course student feedback survey for all courses within that department.
Two types of questions can be asked on end-of-course student feedback surveys: overall questions and people-based questions.
As departments select up to 4 questions to add to their courses, they will need to determine if the question should be labeled as an overall question or a people-based question. The system can also allow specific people-based questions related to the role of the person. This may be useful if you would like a specific question for TAs only.
Additionally, departments can choose to have a department question applied to only a subset of courses. The subset of courses must be differentiated by the Component label in Courseleaf. A list of labels and a brief description is provided:
If you are a department chair and have discussed the questions you and your colleagues would like to add to the survey, you can submit your selections using this Google form.
