Student Evaluation of Instruction (adopted February 22, 2002; revised June 22, 2002)
The systematic evaluation of teaching can be designed to serve at least two functions:
Diagnostic. Evaluations can enable instructors to determine how well they have achieved the learning objectives set out in their course syllabi, and thus can help them adjust and improve their goals and methods of teaching.
Assessment. Information on teaching effectiveness can help the Department make decisions regarding the selection of instructors and the allocation of resources.
The University of Hawai‘i’s Office of Faculty Development and Academic Support (OFDAS) operates both a Center for Teaching Excellence and a Center for Instructional Support. The Center for Teaching Excellence specializes in providing diagnostic services, while the Center for Instructional Support provides questionnaires and support services for obtaining information, both quantitative and qualitative, on teaching effectiveness. CIS’s Course and Faculty Evaluation service, called CAFÉ, is a flexible system, offering a menu of different possible questions, and allowing for new questions to be added. This allows instructors to develop an instrument that assesses the effectiveness of their teaching goals and methods. Instructors also are invited to use additional assessment procedures that are keyed to their individual teaching goals and methods.
The Department of Political Science believes that the quality of instruction should be diagnosed and assessed on a regular basis. The Department’s policy on the assessment of teaching effectiveness is:
1. Student assessment of instruction is required for all instructors of political science courses. The procedures described here are to be used in all political science courses except freshman seminar, directed reading, thesis research, dissertation research courses, and online courses.
2. The assessments will be administered in accordance with CAFÉ procedures and guidelines.
3. The Department Chair will establish a committee to facilitate both assessment and diagnostic procedures.
4. The Department will work with the CAFÉ system and the OFDAS Center for Instructional Support, with coordination by the committee.
5. The Department will adopt a list of required core questions from the CAFÉ menu to be used for assessing all instructors. This set of core questions may be changed only by a decision of the Department, on the recommendation of the committee. The core list will include questions that CAFÉ includes in all questionnaires used throughout the Manoa campus.
6. Instructors may add questions from the CAFÉ menu to the core list of questions. They may also use other means of assessment to augment, but not to replace, the CAFÉ questionnaire.
PROCEDURES
The CAFÉ questionnaire that is to be used includes some questions required by the CAFÉ system, and some required by the Department. In addition, individual instructors are free to add more agree/disagree questions and open-ended questions from the CAFÉ menu.
The procedure to be followed each fall and spring semester is as follows, with dates to be determined by the committee. Similar procedures will be formulated for Summer School and for Outreach College courses.
1. An introductory memorandum, “Introduction to the Political Science Department’s Assessment Procedures,” will be distributed each semester to all instructors describing the procedure that is to be followed. This memorandum will also invite those instructors who wish to do so to select optional questions by a specified date. The university’s current CAFÉ brochure will be made available, and instructors will also be informed as to how to locate the menu of options at the CAFÉ Web site.
2. Under the guidance of the committee, the Department’s secretarial staff will submit the CAFÉ questionnaire request form, online, for all political science courses. To facilitate coordination by the evaluations committee, instructors are asked to not submit requests on their own.
3. Near the end of the semester, the blank questionnaires from the CAFÉ office will be distributed to instructors, along with a memorandum from the CAFÉ office on “Administering the Course and Faculty Evaluation (CAFÉ).
4. Instructors will be required to administer the questionnaires during the last week of instruction in each of their courses, in accordance with the procedures described in the following section.
5. For courses that are taught by more than one instructor, separate questionnaires should be administered for each instructor who covers one third or more of the course.
6. After the completed questionnaires are processed at the CAFÉ office, the summary reports and questionnaires will be returned to the Department Chair.
7. The Department Chair will have a copy made of each summary report. The originals of the summary reports and the questionnaires will be given to the instructors.
8. The Department Chair will maintain the Department’s copy of the summary reports in a closed, secure Evaluations Archive.
9. When assessments are needed to support applications for teaching positions, promotions, tenure, etc., it will be the responsibility of the applicant to provide these materials to the relevant committee. They will not normally be drawn from the Department’s Evaluations Archive.
10. The committee from time to time may recommend changes in the policy, procedures, and questionnaire.
INSTRUCTOR’S ADMINISTRATION OF QUESTIONNAIRES
The CAFÉ questionnaires will be distributed to individual instructors in their mailboxes near to the end of each semester. They will be accompanied by instructions for the administration of questionnaires, based on the following points:
1. The questionnaires are to be administered during the last week of class, and not during the final examination period.
2. The instructor is to appoint a student monitor to collect the completed questionnaires and return them to the Department secretary. The secretary will have a designated drop box for this purpose. The envelope containing the questionnaires should be sealed, and the student monitor should sign the sealed flap.
3. The instructor should not influence the students’ responses to the questionnaire. Instructors may explain the assessment process before the questionnaires are distributed. After the assessment process has been explained, instructors are asked to leave the room, and leave it to the student monitor to distribute the questionnaires, and to collect them when they are completed.
4. The questionnaires require using a No. 2 pencil. The instructor may borrow an appropriate number of pencils from the Department, and then have them collected and returned to the Department after the questionnaires are completed.
5. After the CAFÉ office has completed its analysis, it will return the questionnaires and summary reports to the Department. The Department will make copies of the summary reports for its Evaluations Archive, and then give the summary reports and the questionnaires to the instructors.
QUESTIONS
There are 16 required questions that are to be included on all CAFÉ questionnaires used in the Department of Political Science. These are:
Three descriptive questions, required by the CAFÉ system:
- Class Level: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior, Graduate, Other (CAFÉ menu #1)
- Gender: Male/Female (#2)
- Course: Elective/Required (#3)
Three agree/disagree questions required by the CAFÉ system:
- The instructor demonstrates knowledge of course content. (#4)
- The instructor fulfilled the goals of the course. (#5)
- The instructor communicates effectively. (#6)
Six agree/disagree questions required by the Department of Political Science:
- I felt that this course challenged me intellectually. (#45)
- The instructor seems to enjoy teaching. (#57)
- The instructor was able to explain concepts clearly and effectively. (#68)
- The instructor stimulated me to think about the subject matter. (#69)
- The instructor broadened my understanding and grasp of the subject. (#70)
- The instructor was thoughtful and precise in response to questions. (#112)
Four open-ended questions required by the Department of Political Science:
- Which aspects of the course were most valuable? (#300)
- Which aspects of the course were least valuable? (#301)
- Global appraisal: Considering everything how would you rate this INSTRUCTOR?
Circle one: very poor – poor – average – good – excellent (#313)
Global appraisal: Considering everything how would you rate this COURSE?
Circle one: very poor – poor – average – good – excellent (#325)
Individual instructors may choose up to eleven more agree/disagree questions from the CAFÉ menu of options. They also may add up to three more open-ended questions.
More information about the CAFÉ system may be found at www.cafe.hawaii.edu