What is the purpose of the surveys?
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How do I collect and return the surveys?
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What information should I put on the envelope?|
What does standard deviation mean?|
What are weighted averages?
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I've received two reports that seem to be the same - is this a mistake?|
What are the typical response rates for the survey?|
I have not received survey packs for every class group/course I teach. What should I do?
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Do I need to contact anyone to be sent my survey packs?
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I have received survey packs for my classes, but none for my lectures. Is this a mistake?
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How will I receive the reports on my teaching?
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What questions are asked in the surveys?
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When do the surveys take place?
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Which teachers are surveyed?
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Which courses are surveyed and in which term?|
What is the purpose of the surveys?
They provide teachers with important information about the perceived quality of various aspects of their teaching. They provide the Promotions and Review Committee with vital information about teaching standards. They provide the School with a measure of teaching quality. They provide Council with Strategic Performance indicators. They also provide students with an opportunity to tell the School what they think about teaching across the School, to influence improvements in teaching, and to reflect on their own learning experience.
How do I collect and return the surveys?
Use a separate survey for each class/seminar you teach on a course. If you teach on four classes on a course, you should use four surveys packs (one for each class). Do not mix completed questionnaires from different class/seminar groups into the same envelope.
What information should I put on the envelope?
It is essential that you fill in all details on the survey envelope label – this includes your department, your name, the course code and the class/group, and number of the completed questionnaires contained in the survey pack. This information 'attaches' the survey results to the correct member of staff.
What does standard deviation mean?
The standard deviation is a measure of the spread of the responses away from the mean (average) score. Consider the following two sets of responses: in case 1, six respondents return the scores 1,1,1,3,3,3; in case two, six respondents return the scores 1,2,2,2,2,3. In both cases the mean score is 2.0, but case 2 has smaller deviations away from the mean, so has a lower standard deviation.
What are weighted averages?
A weighted average (of scores in three courses for example) is an overall average across the three courses, taking account of the numbers of responses to each unit. Suppose, for example, that course C1 has mean score 1.6 with 170 responses, course C2 has mean score 2.0 with 20 responses and course C3 has mean score 2.4 with 10 responses, the unweighted average of the three scores 1.6, 2.0 and 2.4 (taking no account of the numbers of responses) is 2.0. But the weighted mean is (1.6x170 + 2.0x20 + 2.4x10)/(170+20+10)=1.68. This is closer to the score 1.6 for course C1, because many more students contributed to the score of that course.
I've received two reports that seem to be the same – is this a mistake?
No. We send out two copies of the survey reports. These appear similar, but the second includes additional information. The first report you receive is the instant report which is sent to you as soon as the questionnaires have been scanned (normally within a matter of days). The second report is sent once all surveys for the whole School have been returned and scanned (normally a couple of weeks later). This report includes your department's averages for each question (in the profile line). This is so you can measure your teaching performance in comparison to other teachers in your department.
What are typical response rates for the survey?
Typical rates are in the region of 55% for the lecture survey and 70% for the class/seminar survey.
I have not received survey packs for every class group/course I teach. What should I do?
We make every effort to send survey packs directly to your pigeon hole. However, the information we use to distribute survey packs is imperfect. This means that the number of course packs sent to your pigeon hole might not correspond to the number of class/seminar groups you teach. It might also mean that you don't receive any packs at all. In these circumstances, please collect spare packs from your departmental office and conduct the survey as normal. Remember to fill in the course details on the envelope label – your department, name, course code, and class/group number, or lecture. If there are no spare survey packs in your department office, contact the Teaching Quality Assurance and Review Office and we can send you some more.
Do I need to contact anyone to be sent my survey packs?
Not usually. You should be sent survey packs automatically, based on the information we receive from Timetables. Spare survey packs will be distributed to your department office by the end of week 7. But if you need packs before then or if you do not receive an expected pack, contact your departmental office.
I have received survey packs for my classes, but none for my lectures. Is this a mistake?
No, we do not send out survey packs for lectures. This is due to the varying size of lectures – an individual lecturer will best know how many questionnaires s/he needs to survey a particular lecture. We therefore send a batch of lecture questionnaires to each department, along with a set of survey envelopes. Simply pick up the appropriate number of lecture questionnaires and an envelope from your Departmental office. Conduct the surveys as normal, making sure you fill in all the details on the survey envelope label. A nominated student should put the completed forms into the envelope and return it to the Student Services Centre drop box.
How will I receive the reports on my teaching?
You will receive all your reports by email (separate ones for each class or lecture group that you take). The first set of reports should be with you relatively quickly – these are the instant reports which are sent very soon after the questionnaires have been scanned and processed.
After all the questionnaires have been returned and scanned, a second set of reports will be sent to you. This second set of reports will include your department averages, which you can compare with your own results. You will also receive a summary report of your results, averaged over all your class groups or lectures. (If you surveyed only one group or lecture the results will be the same as the scores you received in the earlier email report.)
What questions are asked in the surveys?
We use two different questionnaires:
The Class/Seminar Teaching and Course Survey is a double sided questionnaire that invites feedback about the individual class/seminar teacher and about satisfaction with the course as a whole.
The Lecture survey is a short questionnaire requesting feedback about the individual lecturer and their lectures.
When do the surveys take place?
There are two runs of the School survey – they are mainly in weeks 8-9 of Michaelmas and Lent terms, but can be earlier in the term for those who do not teach in that period.
Which teachers are surveyed?
Two different types of teachers are included in the survey process, namely Permanent Teaching Staff and Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs): these are non-permanent teachers, namely hourly –paid graduate teachers but also including some temporary or visiting teachers.
Which courses are surveyed and in which term?
The Michaelmas survey runs are for all GTAs who take classes in that term, and for those permanent teachers who have half-unit courses in that term. The Lent term runs are for permanent teachers who have full-unit courses or Lent term half units; they are also used for GTAs who take Lent term half units and also for some GTAs who were surveyed in the Michaelmas term and need to be surveyed again.