Evaluation goes online - what are the issues?

The University of South Australia has, as a central component of its teaching and learning strategy, the concept of flexible delivery. This allows learners access to a wide range of choices as to the method, time and place of educational delivery, incorporating face to face teaching, traditional distance education methods, and online delivery via its electronic learning environment, UniSAnet. The rapid growth in the use of UniSAnet as a learning environment, and the imperative to improve the methods by which teaching is evaluated, has necessitated consideration of online evaluation mechanisms.

This paper discusses one component of the evaluation of teaching - the evaluation of teaching by students, via online methods. This approach to the evaluation of teaching by students has a number of advantages. It can be accessed in flexible ways and can incorporate feedback from students learning in a range of contexts and locations, feedback can be summarised and responded to efficiently, and quantitative and qualitative information can be readily analysed. In addition, for the increasing number of students who are engaging in online learning experiences, it provides and evaluation mechanism that is congruent with their learning environment.

The online evaluation component of UniSAnet allows students enrolled in any subject across the University to evaluate the teaching in that subject, via a survey instrument prepared online by teaching staff. Staff are able to customise the instrument for particular learning contexts or to address particular quality improvement concerns. Staff and students can access the evaluation tool via the world wide web, and full reporting is available to staff immediately subsequent to student responses being entered.

The results of the application of this online approach to the evaluation of teaching in a large first year Art subject are presented and are compared with 'pencil and paper' instruments previously used. Examples of issues that needed to be addressed, including issues of confidentiality, access and use of data are discussed. The benefits and risks to students, staff and the institution as a whole are considered. Finally, future developments planned are outlined.