1. 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 Volunteers are welcome!
GOAL: to offer a recommendation to the faculty senate by the final meeting of the academic year.

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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).

5. CAN I VOLUNTEER?
Instructors of courses not included in the official sample can
volunteer to have those courses included here:
The deadline to volunteer is October 15th.
WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE?
studentratings.blogs.rice.edu or