• GTA Evaluations:
• Faculty and Peer Evaluation
• Students Evaluation of Instructor (SEI)
• What ifs
• Resources and Contact Information

Twice every year, once in the Autumn quarter and once in the Spring, each TA (who has a classroom-teaching appointment) is evaluated by a faculty member and a fellow TA. The evaluation consists of a visit to a recitation section (or, in the case of graduate instructors, to a regular lecture section.) The evaluators independently complete a questionnaire, a copy of which is given to both the TA and the teaching evaluation committee. These evaluations take place around the 7th/8th week of the quarter.

The objective of the Autumn evaluations is mainly to provide feedback on the evaluated TA’s classroom performance. It should be regarded as an opportunity to offer suggestions on how the TA can improve his/her teaching. This is part of the Department’s effort to improve the overall quality of teaching.

The Spring evaluations are directed more towards identifying the best TAs, who are then nominated for the departmental awards. The Spring evaluations should also be viewed as formative assessments for those who will continue on as TAs. The nominees for awards are decided based on the Autumn and Spring evaluations, and student evaluations. The TA Evaluation committee submits a group of 7-8 TAs for further visitation. The winners of the faculty teaching award for the past 5 years visit the classes of these TAs and determine those TAs who receive teaching awards.

As an effort towards improving the quality of teaching, the University administers SEIs at the end of every quarter. Students are requested to fill evaluation forms for all their instructors including GTAs. There are two available forms of SEIs — electronic and paper. Instructors have the option of choosing one form over the other.

• Electronic SEI (eSEI)
  The electronic SEIs have the same questions as the paper SEIs. If the instructor chooses to administer the eSEIs, the students enrolled in the course are sent email notification around the 8th/9th week of the quarter, saying that their instructor wishes them to complete an electronic SEI. The students need their OSU email name.nn to be able to fill out the SEIs. The eSEIs remain active until 5:00 pm on the Monday of finals’ week. The instructor may send an email request to students to complete eSEIs. Some instructors remind students in class.


• Paper SEI
  Around the middle of the quarter, the University sends the paper SEI forms to the instructors who do not opt for eSEIs. In the Statistics Department, the SEI forms are sent to the main office staff, who in turn organizes the distribution of these forms to the instructors. The instructions for completing and turning these in accompany the SEIs. Click on Instructions for details.

How to learn from the SEIs

• Discuss- To learn how to interpret your results, you may consult your course coordinator or the Department’s Education Specialists.
• Reflect- Think about how to successfully incorporate any suggestions into your teaching method.
• Save- If you plan on getting a job as a teacher in the future, you might want to save some of the relevant comments. Most importantly, teach well and discuss your teaching with an Education Specialist or other faculty member who might later be asked to write recommendations for you.

SEIs can prove to be very helpful in understanding what the students think of you as a teacher. Ultimately, it is for the benefit of the students that you are in the classroom. You should be able to glean information for improvement from the comments that students make. The standard questions that are asked on SEIs request information on the following aspects of the instructor’s teaching style:

• Well organized
• Intellectually stimulating
• Instructor interested in teaching
• Encouraged independent thinking
• Instructor well prepared
• Instructor interested in helping students
• Learned greatly from instructor
• Created learning atmosphere
• Communicated subject matter clearly
• Overall rating

• Situation A: A student comment on the SEIs says you are terrible. What do you do?
  
  Solution: If this is an isolated incident, you needn’t worry about it. Maybe the student was having a bad day when she/he did your SEI and let her/his feelings get in the way of evaluating you as a teacher.
  On the other hand, if too many people start feeling not so happy about your teaching, it might be a good idea to sit back and try to figure out what’s going wrong or to seek help from one of the Department’s Education Specialists.



• Situation B: Student comments about the faculty member. What do you do?
  
  Solution: If they are nice things, you may let the instructor know. But, if they are just random complaints, keep the comments to yourself. Remember these comments are confidential. You are only allowed to discuss comments about yourself, if you want.



• Situation C: Student comments about the course content, text used or notes. What do you do?
  
  Solution: Bring them to the notice of the course coordinator/instructor.

Department Contacts
See “Main Resources” page for the contact information of the Department Education Specialists.