As we wind down another semester, it's time to consider student course evaluations. While there is certainly much discussion, disagreement, and critiquing of the validity and utility of student evaluations, I've found that they can be very helpful in informing my course design. The key is crafting questions that provide the kind of information that will be helpful to you as a teacher and instructional designer.
 
Standard course evaluation forms
My university uses a standard course evaluation form across courses which is required across the university. This standard form includes the typical kinds of items that I imagine are pretty common across higher education. For example, students are asked Likert scale questions about:

• The instructor's knowledge of the subject matter of the course
• The organization of content and learning experiences of the course
• The instructor's presentation and explanation of course content
• The instructor's openness to diverse opinions and questions

 
I'm sure your unit has similar standard questions. While I find these helpful, I like to ask a few additional questions that provide me with the information I need to modify the course content or my teaching in future semesters. We now have a way to do this within our course evaluation system. Prior to this, I used Survey Monkey to create a second course evaluation form for students to complete. Below I offer some suggested item types that you might find helpful in eliciting productive student feedback.
 
Mode and format
When trying out different course modes and options, it can be very helpful to get feedback on what the students think. For example, two years ago, I flipped much of the class, so that students would work through material prior to class time. For the most part it seemed to work well, but on the course evaluation form I created, students reported frustration with using several different technology tools during this time outside of class. The next semester, I pared down the number of technologies, and students responded much better to these outside activities.
 
Key elements of the course
In a similar vein, if you're trying out new elements in a course, you should ask specific questions to gauge students' engagement. Last year I implemented a three-week fully online activity during a primarily face-to-face course. I initiated this in part so that students could work more independently and at their own pace. On the evaluation form, however, students reported feeling isolated and disconnected from both me and their peers during this online module. In the fall, I plan to build in more opportunities for communication and collaboration to encourage this sense of connection.
 
New strategies or ideas
This semester, one of my colleagues is experimenting with Zaption - a tool that allows the instructor to create interactive, video-based lessons. The instructor selects and sequences video clips, interspersed with questions, discussion prompts, and other activities to guide the learning experience for students. While her in-class feedback on the activities has been positive, sometimes students are more reflective and/or honest in their feedback on an anonymous evaluation.
 
Assignments/activities
In my courses, I often have a number of different assignments and projects over the course of the semester. It can be difficult to judge, however, which of these experiences are most beneficial for students. Typically, I ask students to rank them in order based on what was either most interesting or most helpful in their learning. I've also offered opportunities for students to add comments on particular assignments as well.
 
Most significant experience
I've just recently started adding questions like this, "Please tell me about the most significant learning experience for you in this course. Be sure to include why it was particularly meaningful for you." This question has elicited some interesting and substantive responses from my students. When I see that a particular course reading, assignment or activity was most significant for a number of students, I know that I'll want to keep this in future iterations of my course. I also suspect that as I use this question across courses, I can better understand the kinds of experiences that are most powerful for my students.

What course evaluation questions do you find helpful?
Please post your comments below.

Recently, I came across this survey that was pretty sobering. According to a Business Insider reader survey, 33.8% of Americans check their email on their smartphone as much as 150 times a day. This was sobering for me because I realized that I am probably at least on my way to being part of that group. Think about this for a minute. If I was checking my email on my phone even 60 times a day and each time consumed an average of 2 minutes, that’s more than two hours a day glued to my phone. Checking email. I’m in a line of work where crises are relative. If I don’t see an email for an hour or even a day, catastrophic outcomes are not likely to follow. Maybe if I was a homicide detective…
 
The inspiring news from this survey was that an even greater percentage of respondents (39%) check their email a total of only 1-3 times per day. I wonder which group is more productive? I wonder which group has more balance in their lives. I wonder which group is better able to engage in deep work. I don’t know about you, but I want to be a 39%er.
 
Cold turkey
When I first read the survey, I thought I’d try to monitor myself a bit. I was thinking that surely I could limit myself to a reasonable diet of cell phone emailing. I was wrong. Apparently I have the self-control of Lucy Ricardo wrapping candy. I scaled back for a bit. And then I was right back at my normal obsessive checking. I needed to take a more drastic approach.
 
I deleted my work email account and my personal Gmail account from my iPhone. I then began obsessively tracking Twitter, Mailchimp, my Weebly stats, etc. I basically replaced one addiction with another. I needed to take even more drastic measures.
 
I reviewed all the apps I’d installed on my iPhone and asked myself a question: “is this app critical for me, or is it something that just consumes my attention?” If an app fell into the latter category, I deleted it. I started with 5 screens of 20 apps. I now have 26 apps total. The only one that I check with any kind of regularity is my Fitbit app. I figure if there’s an app I check frequently, one for my health isn’t too bad.
 
The results
It’s been ten days since the great purge. When I’m at home now, about the only thing I do on my phone is check my step count or the weather outside. I’ve used the Outlook Web app once. Between trying to type my secure password in with the onscreen keyboard and the horrible Web interface, it will take one heck of an emergency to make me do this again.
 
Now when I take the dog out, I don’t grab my phone on the way out the door so I can check in while I’m outside. Instead, I watch the squirrels in the yard, listen to the birds, or enjoy checking on the progress of the budding leaves on our trees and bushes. At night, I watch the stars. I also realized that I’m not checking my phone as I’m walking in the neighborhood. All in all, I’d say I’m definitely more present now. Am I still picking up my phone unconsciously to check my email? Absolutely. Will it get easier over time? I hope so.
 
My challenge to you
If you find you’re checking your phone more often than you’d like or that it’s interfering with your ability to be present with your colleagues, spouse or kids, it’s time to go cold turkey. Remember, you can still do all the things below on your computer. It just won’t always be in your pocket or purse. Here’s what I recommend:
 
1. Delete your email accounts. (all of them).
2. Delete Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, and anything else that you find yourself obsessively checking.
3. Delete your games.
4. For everything else, ask yourself, “Is this app critical for me, or is it something that just consumes my attention?” If it’s the latter, delete it.
5. Hide things in folders. They’ll still be on your phone, but less accessible.
 
Be ruthless! You can always reinstall an app you find you need. Just try to make sure it’s something you need and not something that will control you. I’ve wrested control from my phone. I hope you can too!
 
Have you made the purge? How’s it going? Any advice for the rest of us?
Please post your comments below.

As faculty members, it’s easy to get inundated with student work. I like to do as much grading and feedback with as little paper as possible. I prefer to do this digitally, not only to minimize paper, but also to keep a record of the feedback I provide, pass work back and forth electronically, and have the flexibility to provide this feedback wherever I happen to be.
 
I’ve tried numerous tools over the years, and have always run into difficulty. Using the commenting features in Word works great, but I really prefer to provide feedback in handwritten form. I like being able to highlight sections, draw diagrams, and add different marks in the margins. At last, I think I found the ideal solution and I wanted to share it with you.
 
Digital Annotation with Word on the iPad
In this Luminaris Field Guide video, I walk you through how I use Box.com, the Word app, and the iPad to easily and naturally provide handwritten feedback to student work. While I demonstrate the process with a 12.9” iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil, the process works with any iPad and any stylus. I hope you find the video helpful and informative.

What other tools and strategies do you use to annotate or provide feedback on student work?
Please post your comments below. â€‹