The Most Important DL Course Evaluation

The most important DL course evaluation - the one that ultimately affects many of the others - is the formative evaluation within the course. Yet, it's the one that so many people skip or just don't take very seriously. End-of-course, summative evaluations are swell for proving to department heads and accreditors how good or not-so-good an instructor or course are. But what good does it do for the students in the course? Even in an established course that's been working well, I like to do a very simple formative evaluation a week or so before the course mid-point. Usually, it's just an email or discussion board posting asking students to list three things they like most about the course, three things they like least, and what the instructor could do to improve. I really get some valuable information from these simple questions - but I follow-up with probing questions if any key responses are too vague. Every group of students is different. Students who liked group projects the term before hate them the next. (Okay, I admit most students don't like groupwork at all.) After I get the results, I post them for the students to see, and let them know what course changes I am going to make as a result of their feedback. You can bet that making a few changes, no matter how minor, will make your end-of-course evaluations higher. Not doing a formative evaluation is like serving soup that you didn't taste and season during the cooking (credit Bob Stakes metaphor). Where I need to improve is better record-keeping or logging of these informal, formative assessments.