I see the value in different data points. We look for student feedback but likely overlook some of the other forms of feedback after initial course revisions are done.
Multiple evaluations help with improving the curriculum and ensures content is relevant to the course. Factors changing the curriculum can be changes in knowledge and technology, or professional and industry innovations.
It is important as curriculum is reviewed that educators, as professionals, reflect upon their knowledge or lack thereof. Also, reviewing and learning technology is a must in an online environment.
Having the feedback from multiple evaluations is so important to have. This will assure the students are receiving the best experience.
Spot-checking student learning is a way to continually evaluate the progress of students.
Students, the institution, and the teaching and professional community comprise the major stakeholders who have interest in helping teachers close the loop in their online courses. Data and feedback are needed from each of those three groups.
It is also important to remember that students are consumers in the course and they can be valuable sources of feedback. Since online students don't have the opportunity to have casual conversation it is important that teachers plan for communication experienes with students and between students.
Never forget that students are more than just the product in your course; they are also consumers.
I like the ideas of having multiple points of data for reviewing a course. The students may be the most important, but are not looking at the course as an educator.
To use different forms of evaluating learning.
Proper evaluation of learners and courses requires multiple methods and techniques.
As a professional educator, revising my courses and closing the loop are essential to improving the quality of my future courses. This lesson shared some additional sources of data to use when evaluating my courses. In the past, I think I've probably relied too heavily on course surveys. While course surveys are critically important, I plan to also focus more on making sure the learning objectives match with the syllabus and industry expectations. I'd also like to try the focus group approach if students would be willing to have a deeper conversation and reflect on all parts of the course.
In this module I learned that "closing the loop" will require feedback by multiple stakeholders using a variety of tools and includes both qualitative and quantitative data.
Multiple evaluations are a great way to keep the course up to date, accurate, and it also encourages the instructor to perform their best.
"Closing the Loop" actually begins before the start of a class. Taking the time to review the syllabus, course objectives, reference material, rubics, etc. is a necessary place to start. Evalution for change or revisions should be an ongoing process throughout the course, and culminate in a multi-driven evaluation at the end of the course as was stated. In some cases you find that the "Loop" has already been closed. In whatever circumstance, building flexibility into a course is key.
It is important to remember that just becasue you see and understand the course as an instructor does not mean your students see and understand the course the same way. So evaluations from many different points is important.
This is a concept that I have struggled with a lot in the past. I feel that I still am not 100% certain as to how to "close the loop" using evaluations of student work.
Multiple evaluations are needed for learning. It is important to use multiple assessments when assessing something because a single assessment might be flawed or inaccurate in some way.
Each ourse should be evaluated periodically to improve the learning as well as curriculum, quality assurance, professional development, and personnel actions. Teachers, students, and administrators are all stakeholders in this process. Revisions should include information from multiple sources and multiple methods. Methods of evaluation may include course gades, syllabus scans, assignments and assessments, reflective question tools and portfolios as well as interviews or focus groups.
Multiple evaluations are important, as long as they are not marred in the quagmire of bureaucratic decision making about
teaching and test scores as a means of evaluation.
Multiple evalutions are needed for a successful course outline.
There are a variety of tools for evaluating a course and courses need to be continually evaluated, updated, and changed. A stagnate course, even if it started out okay, quickly becomes stale and outdated. Student evaluations are important, but they are only one source of data.
Nancy Tosh
