Evals

What happens when you get good evals? What happens when you get bad ones? Do you have any techniques for influencing your students' responses?

• "Smile sheets"

• "Loved me, hated the book..."
  • Students know you'll read them, are reluctant to criticize you

• How to interpret them
  • The mood at the moment
  • Complaints about workbooks, classroom, etc. are often really about the instructor

• Whom are they for?
  • Instructor
  • Course developer
  • Training organization
  • Management

• Can be manipulated
  • Praise performance then hand out the forms
  • Point out a flaw and you'll see it on the evals

• Uses and abuses
  • Some training companies give bonuses for good evals
  • Cheap quality control -- does reveal danger signs
  • Often used for management decision-making in the absence of other data

• Confidentiality

• What are the true objectives of technical training?
  • The company's: productivity
  • The worker's: attractiveness to employers
  • Students often confuse personal objectives with course objectives.
  • Review the objectives and once again get buy-in

• How to tell whether the true objectives have been achieved?
  • 3-, 6-, 12-month followup... rarely done

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Updated Sunday, 19-Mar-2006 17:11:47 CST

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