Tools and Work Aids For lecturers

Final evaluations

Procedure final evaluations: Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Each semester, the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences evaluates all courses by surveying students using the standard questionnaire for final evaluations. The survey is conducted anonymously and, if possible, during class using either a paper questionnaire or an online questionnaire with a general link.

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.

If necessary, the Evaluation Office sends a reminder to the faculty a few days before the registration deadline.

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.

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. 

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.