Love it or hate it, USU course evaluations are now online

Utah State University has plans to eliminate their carbon footprint by the year 2050, according USU's Sustainability Council. As part of this plan-- students' end of semester course evaluations have now gone from paper to online. A controversy has developed as this change continues to take place between students and teachers, as some are welcoming of the new change and others begrudgingly adapt to it.

A mass email was sent to teachers and students at USU on Nov. 16, 2011 notifying them of the transition and what to expect with questions and concerns that may emerge.

Tonya Triplett, a professor of physics and science at USU, has welcomed the change with a positive attitude. “So many surveys are now taken in this manner that it seems like the old way was simply that – old. If the same data can be taken another way, we should do it,” Triplett said.

Teachers will no longer be taking time out of their class for students to bubble in evaluation forms and turn them in. Formerly the teachers were not allowed to be present during this process and most saw it as a waste of valuable class time they could be using to teach. Instead of this method, an email with the course number will be sent to the students in the class and it is then the students responsibility to fill out the evaluation and submit it of their own free will and on their own time.

Some students have welcomed the change while others see it as more of an annoying inconvenience as one more email fills up their inbox. Other concerns involving true anonymity have been questioned as well.

“I feel with them being online... it's easier to connect them to an actual student. When you did them in class, it was completely anonymous because you just wrote on them,” Kade Beck, a current student at USU, said.

Within the email notification, it addressed why students should take the course evaluations because without a grade incentive many students will ignore, or fail to fill out the form.

This concern was addressed by Michael Rushton, a junior at USU.

“I'm a fan because now they don't waste my class time to fill them out. Plus it makes us not have to fill them out. I can ignore the emails because evaluations are lame,” Rushton said.

Kevin Rothlisberger, another USU student made a similar statement.

“I don't think many students will do the course evaluations, event though it is convenient,” Rothlisberger said.

Students also feel they will only fill them out if they have something bad to say about the class and/or teacher. This could potentially have a very negative impact on the teacher's class. Whether a professor at USU will stay or go is very heavily weighted on these evaluations and if they receive mostly negative reviews it will affect their career and standing as a teacher of higher education at USU.

If the majority of students choose to not take these course evaluations meaningfully it will lessen the effect the evaluations have and the purpose for them. Students also may feel it pointless to fill out these forms because although students make suggestions to better the class room it doesn't mean anything will change.

“If I am supposed to learn from them, they are pretty ineffective. I read the comments and find out what I already know about myself,” Triplett said.

Professor Triplett also talked about how since students will not have to do the evaluations in class she hopes students will take more time to fill in meaningful comments. Also, those professors with larger classes like Professor Triplett's that never have 100 percent attendance will have the opportunity to be evaluated by the entire class because they will all be sent to their email. However, it is still up to the student to then take the time to then do it.

“I take great personal pride in trying to be an outstanding teacher and faculty representative of Utah State University. No student evaluation, good or bad, will change who I am internally...A survey is only a survey no matter how it is taken. Personal caring help awaits students who are willing to be personal, whether in an office visit, on-line chat, or e-mail,” Triplett said.

(J.Ruggles)