Tools and Work Aids For lecturers

Final evaluations

Procedure final evaluations: Faculty of Humanities

Based on their evaluation plan, the faculty's QM determines which courses have to be evaluated in the upcoming semester and informs the lecturers accordingly. In addition, lecturers can have their courses evaluated on a voluntary basis.

In a next step, lecturers plan 2-3 dates for the survey while preparing a course: a date for the survey to conducted, possibly a back-up date, and a date for sharing and discussing the results with the students. Ideally, students will be given about 15 minutes to complete the questionnaires in the beginning of a session. The surveys for final evaluations should be conducted toward the end of the semester (starting week 11 of the semester). For higher response rates, it is strongly recommended to conduct online surveys in the (possibly virtual) presence of the lecturer. This requires an internet connection on site as well as a laptop, tablet or smartphone ("bring your own device"). 

Once planning is complete, final evaluations can be registered. Information on the registration procedure is available here.

After the registration deadline, the Evaluation Office sends a list of registered courses to the responsible persons in the institutes, asking them to check the list for completeness and accuracy and to provide any missing information.

After successful registration, the Evaluation Office prepares the questionnaires (using the indicated method for data collection) for the final evaluation.

Once the Evaluation Office has prepared the surveys, lecturers receive an email from the Evaluation Office containing further information regarding the final evaluation.

a) Pen to paper surveys

In the case of a paper survey, lecturers receive the questionnaire as a printable PDF template as well as guidelines on conducting final course evaluations (pen to paper). These guidelines contain important information about printing the questionnaire and conducting the survey, as well as a list of available scanning stations.

 

b) Online surveys with a general link

In the case of online surveys with a general link the lecturer receives an email as soon as the survey has been set up. This email contains the general link to the survey, which the lecturer needs to forward to the students, as well as the planned closing date. This date can be adjusted after the fact if necessary, using this form.

 

c) Online surveys with individual links

For online evaluations with individual links, lecturers will be informed about the activation of the survey at the time it is being activated. This email also contains the scheduled closing date of the survey. By default, the surveys are set up so that they are activated the night before the third last session (according to KSL, excluding exam) and close two days before the next session. If the next session happens to be on a Monday, the survey closes on the afternoon of the previous Friday. It is, however, possible to reschedule the closing of the survey at this point. Please use this form to let us know when you would like the survey to close.

At the same time that lecturers are informed of the activation of the survey students receive an invitation email including a one-time access link to the survey.

a) Pen to paper surveys

Print the questionnaires double-sided and on white paper. Please follow the additional instructions in the guidelines on conducting final course evaluations (pen to paper). The printer settings are correct if the barcode is visible in the middle of the bottom edge of the page and there are 1 cm/0.4 inch margins between all four black image corners and the edges of the page (choose «Anpassen» (adjust) under «Seitengrösse» (page format) in the PDF print menu). 

At this point the survey can be conducted. Students should be given a few minutes to fill in the questionnaires in the beginning of the session on the scheduled day.

There are two options to scan filled in questionnaires: They can be scanned at an EvaSys scanning station or sent to the Evaluation Office (Fachstelle Lehrveranstaltungsevaluation der Universität Bern, Hochschulstrasse 6, 3012 Bern).

 

b) Online Umfragen with a general link

In a first step of an online survey lecturers should inform their students about the upcoming evaluation. Students should be made aware of the date of the evaluation and asked to have their tablet, notebook or smartphone ready.

In addition, the general access link that was emailed to the lecturer must be forwarded to the students, e.g. by email or by publication on ILIAS.

Afterwards the survey can be conducted. Students should be given a few minutes to fill in the questionnaires in the beginning of the session on the scheduled day.

The survey can be kept open for an additional few days and closed on a specified date, e.g. in order to give absent students the possibility to participate in the survey. 

 

c) Online survey with individual links

In a first step of an online survey lecturers should inform their students about the upcoming evaluation. Students should be made aware of the date of the evaluation and asked to have their tablet, notebook or smartphone ready.

As soon as the survey is activated, the students receive an email with a link to the questionnaire. At the same time, lecturers receive an email informing them about the activation of the survey.

At this point the survey can be conducted. Students should be given a few minutes to fill in the questionnaires in the beginning of the session on the scheduled day.

The survey can be kept open for an additional few days and closed on a specified date, e.g. in order to give absent students the possibility to participate in the survey. If necessary, reminder emails will be sent to students who have not yet participated. The survey will be closed on the scheduled day.

Immediately after questionnaires have been scanned or the online survey has been closed lecturers receive an automatic summary of the survey results and the students' comments (report) as a PDF file via email. The report contains detailed information about the rating of the results as well as a comparison profile line. The report also indicates the performance level the evaluation result achieved.

With questions about the results or the evaluation itself, lecturers are welcome to contact the Evaluation Office.

If the results raise concerns regarding teaching in higher education, the Educational Development Unit will be happy to assist. Please contact Mr. Roman Suter.

If reports aren't sent out within a day, please get in touch with the Evaluation Office immediately.

In order to close the first control loop, the conceptual framework stipulates that results of the survey, the insights and potential improvement measures are shared and discussed with the students before the end of the semester. Lecturers may use the presentation slide on the last page of the report for this purpose.

The students' feedback may be an incentive to make certain adjustments to future courses.

The second control loop specifies that, for courses which ranked as «insufficient» in a final evaluation, a follow-up interim and final evaluation is mandatory the next time they are taught. These measures are implemented by the faculty's QM department, which informs the lecturers in question about further steps.