Teacher Discussion Forums

Hello,

Do you suggest any surveys (links or items) to be given to students of ESL in private isntitutes to give their feedback on their instructors?

Every term I give my class an A4 size envelope, leave the room and get them to write down comments on a sheet of paper through a group secretary. They then put the paper in the envelope, seal it and give it to me.

This way I make sure the students can give anonymous feedback about how they feel it's going. Generally I think that comments freely made on a blank sheet give more insight than questionnaires.

lolwhites wrote:Every term I give my class an A4 size envelope, leave the room and get them to write down comments on a sheet of paper through a group secretary. They then put the paper in the envelope, seal it and give it to me.

This way I make sure the students can give anonymous feedback about how they feel it's going. Generally I think that comments freely made on a blank sheet give more insight than questionnaires.

I usually give my class a modified questionnaire that contains a few blank lines after the name of each kind of exercise we do in the class, as well as some blank lines at the end. I ask them what they thought of the type of exercise, and if they have any suggestions for future classes. These are supposed to be anonymous, although sometimes students sign them. I usually get a couple helpful suggestions, as well as a general feel of whether I'm heading in the right direction. It was through this evaluation that I found out how much my students enjoyed reading the paragraphs that the other students had written and that I had put on the Internet. I increased that particular exercise in response.

Hey all!

In the teaching situation I find myself, state-funded adult formation classes, there are constant and sometimes annoying surveys handed out to the students. The first is a mid-course evaluation and students are asked to rate on a scale of 0 to 5 such aspects of the class as the materials given, the infrastructures of the academy, the preparation of the teacher, the methods used by the teacher. There are also a few blank lines at the end where students could leave a few words but usually don't because they usually don't like using class time for such evaluations. Many don't like making value judgements at all and simply circle all the fives and leave it at that. Recently, evaluating the evaluation, students complained that they wanted to take it home (something they can't do, since the evaluator wants the evaluation returned at once) to think about their replies; they also pointed out that giving a number to different aspects of the class would not accurately reflect what they thought of each of these aspects. The most absurd event has been recently giving a mid-course evaluation to students in a 40 hour course after just ten hours of that course, long before any student has gotten a handle on what's going on, who their teachers are, what the objectives are, etc.

In this recent survey everyone gave me very high marks for the classes I am giving. And yet, one person had the face to mark me quite low for preparation. I am an incredibly prepared teacher. The material that I use in class, the activities, the speeches, the explanations, all have been in use in my classroom for many years, have been honed down to their best presentation. The class itself has been planned by day and activity and exercise and material for months, tailored to the particular objectives of this group. These students never have to wait for me to make a last-minute photocopy as they have all received a booklet with all of the materials in the order they will be used (plus a lot of extra material that can be used on their own). I know that I am prepared, my boss is quite sure I am prepared (as I wrote the original proposal that he then used to sell this class to the state), even the majority of the students see me as being well prepared, why then does this one person consider me poorly prepared? More importantly, how should this comment be put into perspective with the rest of the surveys that reflect the opposite point of view?

One can't help feeling a bit like the straight-A student who one semester gets a B instead of the expected A. I will certainly demonstrate my preparedness more in future classes. Perhaps the comment comes because this class is the last of seven that I have given that day, I am tired, these adults who have been working all day are also tired, as has been pointed out, not all methods work with all students, in the end I don't take such comments personally and simply try to make an effort to recognize in myself whatever fault might be presented by the survey. In the end, I would vote for the blank paper and envelope offered by lolwhites, but such an evaluation can not be reflected in an overall statistical chart, which is the objective of the academy and the state in doing such surveys. On reading such, always best to have a grain of salt on hand.

peace,
revel.