Evaluating the Quality of Teaching – Does it Make Sense?
8. September 2023In this discussion with the Vice Dean for Studies, Dr. Jana Martincová, Michaela Bílá—an alumna of the master’s programme in Social Pedagogy who decided to continue her studies in the doctoral programme at the Faculty of Humanities— reflects on this topic. Teaching quality assessment is an effective tool for us students to ensure that we feel comfortable in the classroom, gain the knowledge we need, and at the same time not be afraid of the next time we meet with the evaluated teacher. We have received many emails recently asking us to participate in the evaluation. Students seem to make very little use of this tool. Therefore, I decided to ask the Vice-Dean for Studies, Dr. Jana Martincová, about the evaluation of the quality of teaching.
Why is teaching quality assessment important in your opinion Teaching quality assessment is important for two main reasons. The first aspect, which I consider the most significant, is the ability to shape the teaching process itself. Thanks to the feedback provided by students on lectures, seminars, practical sessions, and even the educators themselves, we can implement necessary measures to ensure the teaching process is of high quality. We focus on educational processes, verifying whether they are appropriately set and identifying any potential issues. We don’t just rely on statistical data; we also pay close attention to the comments students provide. However, one issue is the percentage of students participating in the assessment. Unfortunately, we have long struggled with a low response rate, which is around 37–38%. Ideally, this figure should exceed 60%. Another common issue is that the feedback tends to come either from students who were very satisfied or very dissatisfied.
The middle group of students, unfortunately, often does not provide any feedback. The second aspect is that the results are reflected in all evaluation materials that the university is legally required to process. Does this mean teaching quality assessment will become mandatory for students? We are not in favour of mandating participation in teaching quality assessment or introducing any kind of incentives for it. We view student feedback as a tool to help shape the teaching process so that it benefits everyone involved. To answer your question directly: we do not plan to make teaching quality assessment compulsory. Students are often concerned that their feedback might reach the teaching staff since the system is linked to STAG. Who has access to the data? Who has access to the data? Neither lecturers, course coordinators, the Vice Dean for Studies, nor the Dean have any way to identify who submitted the feedback. If a student doesn’t sign their feedback, it remains completely anonymous. I fully understand the concerns students may have about writing feedback into STAG. However, they can also address their concerns through other means, such as contacting the programme coordinator, the head of the department, or me as the Vice Dean for Studies. We want students to feel comfortable at our university. Our doors are always open. What do educators see in the teaching quality assessments? Educators can view the feedback for each subject they teach. For example, if I open the subject Methodology, I can see exactly how many points I received for seminars, practical sessions, and lectures, as well as the specific comments students made. If students are hesitant to provide feedback on a specific subject, they can instead comment on their studies in general. This way, the feedback is not directly linked to a specific course. Personally, I would like our university to foster an atmosphere similar to that of foreign universities. Whether the feedback is positive or negative, it should not lead to mutual criticism or conflict. Why is the teaching quality assessment linked to STAG? The university uses IS STAG as its internal information system. Thanks to this, the data is uniform, and we can see how satisfied students are with the teaching both centrally at Tomáš Bat’a University and at individual faculties. Of course, we have discussed several times to decentralize the evaluation of the quality of teaching, i.e. to set the evaluation individually for the needs of each study programme. However, from a statistical and reporting perspective, decentralisation would not be efficient.
Development of participation in the evaluation of teaching quality
The evaluation of teaching quality is made available for specific periods. What if a serious problem arises during the semester? Who can students contact? Development of participation in the evaluation of teaching quality. Students can contact the course coordinator. If this person is also the lecturer, they can turn to the programme coordinator, the department head, or the Vice Dean for Studies. I understand that situations can sometimes be complex, but it’s good to try to resolve the issue directly with the specific lecturer and establish mutual rules. If that doesn’t work, then the matter should be escalated. We encourage students not to stay silent but to address any issues. We want to have quality teaching and be open to students and their opinions because we value their opinions. Therefore, we urge students to evaluate the quality of teaching as much as possible. Can you provide an example of when teaching quality assessment influenced something? We’ve received excellent feedback on Dr. Helena Skarupská from the Department of Educational Sciences. Thanks to students’ evaluations praising her as an outstanding educator, she was recognised for her work. We have many highly-rated academic staff members. On the other hand, there have also been cases where students expressed dissatisfaction. In such a case, the director of the institute interviews the teacher and if the feedback is really negative, the situation is further addressed by setting clearer parameters, such as communication with students or teaching methods. We had very negative feedback from students about an unnamed lecturer from another faculty. Therefore, we have decided to discontinue our cooperation with the lecturer from next year. It is important to emphasise, however, that we highly value constructive feedback on courses. We often encounter comments such as, “I really like the way they teach because they have beautiful dresses,” or, conversely, “I don’t like the lecturer because we have to prepare for every class.” While these types of feedback are not uncommon, their contribution to improving teaching quality is quite debatable. How is the data from the assessments handled? Once the teaching quality assessment period concludes, we prepare evaluation reports, which are presented to the academic senate. Subsequently, a faculty-level report is finalised, taking into account participation rates, key findings, comments, procedures, and specific measures. This report is also published on the FHS website. Additionally, meetings with students are organised. This year, the Vice Dean for Studies and the Dean of the Faculty met with students, but only 12 attended. It should be noted that only 12 students attended. This raises the question of how students themselves wish to contribute to improving teaching quality. How is support for teaching quality linked to support for educators? The National Accreditation Bureau, which approves accreditations for study programmes in the Czech Republic, has adopted a strategy focusing on significantly enhancing the pedagogical competences of educators. This involves support for developmental programmes aimed at improving teaching skills. The Faculty of Humanities is also moving forward in this regard. We are currently preparing a project that, in line with other national initiatives, will refine the competency framework for university educators. The project’s concept is also based on teaching quality assessments, focusing on issues that concern both students and educators the most. As you can see, teaching quality assessments are utilised in various ways. As I’ve mentioned, they are essential, and we deeply value students’ opinions. I sincerely thank the Vice Dean for this interview. Dear colleagues, I hope you will participate in the next teaching quality assessment. Only through your feedback can we strive to ensure high-quality teaching.