Instructions for Administering the Student Rating of Instruction Instrument
Preparation
As you prepare to administer the Michigan Technological University Student Rating of Instruction Instrument to your class(es), here are some guidelines to follow. For your information, we have also enclosed a summary of the University Policy on the Michigan Tech Teaching Evaluation System:
A few days before you plan to distribute the survey forms:
- Establish a procedure for distributing and collecting the Michigan Tech survey forms. This is especially critical if you teach large classes.
- Select a person (class member or student assistant) who will collect the forms for your class. Inform the student that immediately following the class, the completed forms should be taken directly to the departmental office.
The class meeting before you plan to distribute the survey forms:
- Advise students that the Michigan Tech survey forms will be administered in your next class.
- Inform students about the student rating of instruction system. Indicate that there are questions on both sides of the Michigan Tech survey form.
- Tell students to bring a #2 pencil to class to use when filling out the survey forms. The scanning machine will only read pencil marks.
On the day you plan to have your class complete the Michigan Tech forms:
- The instructor should read the attached Instructions for Administering the Michigan Tech Student Rating of Instruction System to the class.
- Leave the classroom while the forms are being completed.
- Allow students sufficient time to complete the forms. If you provide students only enough time to rush through them, the students may assume that the survey forms lack significance and will respond accordingly. Fifteen minutes should be sufficient time for students to complete the Michigan Tech Student Rating of Instruction Instrument.
Summary of the University Policy on the Michigan Tech Teaching Evaluation System
Frequency of Required Student Evaluation:
The Michigan Tech Student Rating of Instruction Instrument must be used in at least one section of each different course preparation each semester. Evaluations in additional sections may be undertaken by the faculty member or may be required by his/her academic department chair.
Sections with fewer than six enrolled students should also be evaluated using the Michigan Tech Student Rating of Instruction Instrument. Because small numbers of responses tend to yield unreliable data, forms from small sections (less than six enrolled students) will not be processed, but will be returned to the faculty member for his/her review.
Sections taught by teams of instructors must also be evaluated using the Michigan Tech Student Rating of Instruction Instrument. Whether the faculty members who are team-teaching a section will utilize separate evaluation instruments to evaluate their course, or whether one instrument will be used to evaluate the entire course is an issue that should be resolved by the relevant department chair(s) and faculty members.
Procedures for Student Evaluation:
Evaluation instruments will be completed by students during a regular class meeting in the eleventh through fourteenth week of the semester. On the day of the evaluation, the instructor will distribute the evaluation materials to the class, read the appropriate instructions to the students, and designate a student to collect and return the completed forms in a sealed envelope to the departmental office. The instructor will leave the room during the evaluation process.
Completed evaluations are to be mailed by the department to the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Faculty Development (219 J. R. Van Pelt and Opie Library). After processing, the forms completed by the students and the Summary Report will be sent to the faculty member. Copies of the Summary Report will also be sent to the appropriate department chair/dean, and others as outlined in Senate Proposal 12-03. A copy will be retained by the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Faculty Development to inform future programmatic activities.
Administering Instructions
The instructor should hand out the Michigan Tech Student Rating of Instruction Instruments and read the following to the class:
The information you provide in this survey is important. It will be used as a measure of the quality of instruction, and as a source of information about how instruction can be improved.
Use only #2 pencil in marking your answers. Be sure that all marks are black and that you completely fill in the circles. Do not make any stray marks on your survey forms. If you erase, do so completely since incomplete erasures might be read as intended answers.
There are questions on both sides of the form. Please answer all questions.
Your rating will be most helpful if you answer all of the questions thoughtfully and honestly.
The results of this survey will be returned to the instructor only after the final grades have been submitted.
When you have completed the form, please give it to the student who has been designated to collect the forms for the class. He/she will then place all the forms in an envelope and take the envelope to the departmental office immediately following the class.
The instructor will leave the classroom while the students complete the forms.
PLEASE NOTE: The Michigan Tech Student Rating of Instruction Instruments should be taken to the departmental office immediately after the class has completed the forms.