Teaching Evaluations

Teaching Evaluations

Online teaching evaluations are required for each course with a minimum of five students enrolled, and provide an opportunity for students to give anonymous comments on their classes and instructors. At UMSI, the evaluations are thoroughly reviewed and can be helpful for providing direct feedback. During the semester, you will be prompted to go online and can add specific questions to the evaluation form via the faculty center in Wolverine Access (this is optional). You will be prompted when it is time to promote the evaluation for students to fill out as well. 

At UMSI, we seek to have high teaching evaluation participation and you may want to talk with other faculty about best practices to encourage students to fill out the evaluation. Information about teaching evaluations is online at https://ro.umich.edu/faculty-staff/teaching-evaluations.

University-Mandated Questions

There are eight (8) University-wide mandated questions:

• This course advanced my understanding of the subject matter. Q1631

• My interest in the subject has increased because of this course. Q1632

• I knew what was expected of me in this course. Q1633

• I had a strong desire to take this course. Q4

• As compared with other courses of equal credit, the workload for this course was (Much Lighter, Lighter, Typical, Heavier, Much Heavier). Q891

• The instructor seemed well prepared for class meetings. Q230

• The instructor explained material clearly. Q199

• The instructor treated students with respect. Q217

UMSI-Mandated Questions

These are UMSI-mandated questions for the BSI, MSI, and MHI courses:

• The instructor set high standards for students. Q241

• Students felt comfortable asking questions. Q892

• Which aspects of this course did you like best? Q902

• How would you change this course? Q907

• *I developed skills to serve my professional goals. (Q570) (*also required, only for MSI/MHI)

Here are the UMSI-mandated questions for MADS courses:

• The technology used by this course was reliable and easy to use. Q1941

• In case of technical issues or problems there was responsive technical support. Q1942

• The instructional team for this course provided useful supplemental resources and assignment support. Q1943

• The instructional team for this course facilitated an effective online learning experience for me. Q1944

• The instructional team created an engaging and inclusive online learning community. Q1945

• The recorded video lectures were effective at helping me learn. Q1946

•  _______________ effectively managed course logistics and the overall course experience. Q1947

• Online interactions with _______________ were effective at helping me learn. Q1948

• _______________was available and responsive. Q1949

• Do you have any additional feedback? Q1972

Program Committee Questions

The Faculty-led program committees have also mandated questions for certain courses (e.g., Capstone and Mastery). For additional information about these questions, please contact umsi.registrar@umich.edu. 

Instructor-added Questions

Instructors are prompted by the UMSI Registrar & Student Services Team each semester to add questions to the evaluations.  Instructors should add questions judiciously.  

Evaluation Response Rate Note

Students can be faced with 100 or more questions across multiple evaluations from 4-5 courses per term.  For example, if you teach a lecture course with over 50 students and a GSI, a student will have two evaluations for your course, one for you and one for the GSI; therefore for a residential course that is a minimum of 17 questions.  If you multiply that by 4 or 5 you will have 68 questions minimum but many instructors add more.  It is suggested to chat with your colleagues to get ideas about how you might increase participation in this form of feedback. 

GSI Evaluation 

Teaching evaluations are ordered for GSIs or other instructional staff who are responsible for leading a discussion section. Teaching evaluations should only be ordered for GSIs or other instructional staff who have consistent, structured instructional time - e.g. regularly lecturing or providing instruction to the class as a whole. Holding office hours, answering student questions, serving as floating support during class time, managing the Canvas page or occasionally facilitating small group discussions does not qualify a GSI for teaching evaluations.

Teaching evaluations are NOT ordered for: 

1. Head GSI’s that are not assigned to lead a specific section of the class. 

2. GSIs for courses that do not have discussion sections.

If you feel that your GSI has significant instructional contact with the class, despite not leading their own discussion section, please contact umsi.registrar@umich.edu to have the teaching evaluation ordered. Please ensure this communication is sent prior to the drop/add deadline.