Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 2379

Comparing Student and Faculty Assessments of the Effectiveness of Learning Activities

Veronica A. Burrows, Barry W. McNeill, Lynn Bellamy

Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 87287

Abstract

A robustly designed course normally comprises a variety of learning activities, each intended to facilitate the achievement of specific learning objectives to a specific depth or level of learning. In other words, faculty usually design the learning activities of their courses with specific learning objectives in mind. With the implementation of outcomes-based assessment, student self- assessment of their own learning and of the effectiveness of the learning activities in their courses is a significant part of the course and program assessment of learning effectiveness.

Students in an introductory engineering class were required at semester’s end to assess the effectiveness of course learning activities (homework, projects, lectures, assigned textbook readings, etc) in supporting their achievements of the course learning objectives. This was accomplished through the use of a matrix that mapped each of the course learning objectives to the course learning activities. Instructional faculty: also assessed the intended impact of the course’s learning activities, as well as their judgment of the actual effectiveness of the learning activities.

Faculty assessments of intended impact fairly closely matched their estimates of actual impact, however, there were significant differences between faculty assessment of effectiveness and student assessments of effectiveness. Detailed results and their implications for using student assessments of the teaching effectiveness of various learning activities will be presented.

Introduction

Student evaluations of faculty teaching effectiveness are a well-established, essentially universal element of post-secondary education1. There are many approaches taken in the design of such evaluations, including both quantitative questions (e.g., “Rate on a scale on 1 to 5 . . .”) and qualitative questions (e.g. “What did you like best. . .”) regarding faculty attitudes and behaviors, and student satisfaction with these. While the major expected outcome of faculty teaching is student learning, surprisingly, aside from questions concerning the textbook, few student

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annul Conference & Exposition Copyright ©2003, American Society for Engineering Education

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Bellamy, L., & McNeill, B., & Burrows, V. (2003, June), Comparison Of Student And Faculty Assessments Of The Effectiveness Of Learning Activities Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12173