Rice Pilot of IDEA evaluation system Fall 2016 IDEA is a faculty led initiative (with overwhelming support from Committee on Teaching and Faculty Senate). WHY IDEA? Traditional course evaluations based on student response to questions about teaching methods and behaviors. The IDEA survey measures teaching effectiveness by how well students rate their progress on the types of learning, while faculty indicate targeted learning goals for each course. WHO IS PARTICIPATING IN PILOT? Around 200 courses, taught by around 150 instructors, were selected to participate. This official sample constitutes around 15% of the courses offered, as well as 15% of the instructors teaching, in the fall of 2016. Volunteers are welcome! GOAL: to offer a recommendation to the faculty senate by the final meeting of the 2016-2017 academic year.

FORMAT: In addition to two questions about overall effectiveness of the instructor and the course, IDEA includes: • 13 questions about student progress along 6 different dimensions of learning • 6 questions that capture contextual information about course and students • [Long Form Only]: 19 additional questions, for instructor eyes only, about how often (not how well) instructors engage in certain instructional practices

WHAT MAKES IDEA DIFFERENT? For students: The most fundamental advantage of IDEA over our current system is that it asks students to report on how much they have improved their skills and/or knowledge in various areas. On-line (can be completed on cell phone or tablet or computer) Can be tracked and saved

provide specific diagnostic information For faculty: Faculty have greater input, can indicate the degree to which progress on each of the 13 learning objectives is a goal of their course Plus can add their own qualitative and quantitative questions Also, pairs the data on student progress with data on teaching behaviors to provide specific diagnostic information And controls for known biases (such as student motivation, student work habits, and class size).

CAN I VOLUNTEER? Instructors of courses not included in the official sample can volunteer to have those courses included here: http://studentratings.blogs.rice.edu/volunteer/ The deadline to volunteer is October 15th. WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE? studentratings.blogs.rice.edu or e-mail idea.eval@rice.edu