Shifting the culture and campus social norms from the paper based student evaluations to a paperless system is no easy task. There are certainly significant barriers like achieving a high return from students and maintaining the integrity of the data for our tenure candidates.
But could there be a better model that benefits all? I think so but it won’t be without some experimentation, some failures and some lessons learned.
To make the shift, the campus and instructors will need to provide wider access and transparency to the online evaluations. The open window of time that students have to access the student evaluations will need to be integrated with processes on campus, in syllabus and in the classroom. New students will need basic computer skills, orientation and help getting started. Students may also need incentive and motivation to complete them.
In an effort to provide more campus support, N250 has reserved 2 computers for students to complete paperless evaluations. If they need help with the process, the lab assistants are prepared to help. Additionally, the student home page on all campus computers features a link to the classroom evaluation. Look for it at the lower left hand corner of the screen at http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/.
Other ideas for implementation include providing a link on mybcc and campus wide emails with the evaluation link. Part of the pilot is to determine which methods are the most effective.
Do you have any ideas to help the success of the pilot and stimulate a culture of paperless evaluations on campus?
Last Updated September 2, 2014