Integration of a New Course Evaluation Tool into a Comprehensive Departmental Assessment Plan

In an effort to immediately use valuable student feedback from final course evaluations, Valparaiso University’s Hesse Learning Resource and Assessment Center has worked with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to optimize the format of the surveys themselves and procedures used to extract key information from those surveys in a timely manner so it can be used as part of departmental assessment efforts. Although preparing the necessary evaluation summary forms involves a great deal of work, the authors have developed a very organized method for focusing faculty and staff efforts in completing the project in a timely manner. The authors will present a detailed discussion of the structure used to prepare the course evaluations, how they are processed and summarized, and how the results of these efforts have become an integral part of the department’s assessment efforts, leading to real improvements in the quality of student outcomes.