Evaluation

To create and secure high academic quality at NMBU, we must evaluate our courses and study programs. Evaluation during and after the end of the course provides important feedback of what we do well, and what we can do better.

Three steps

NMBU's course evaluation routine consists of three steps:

1. Formative/continuous evaluation.
   All courses are to be evaluated each time they run. The course responsible are free to chooses the time and method of evaluation.
   
   
2. Summative/final evaluation.
   The Department of Academic Affairs (Studieavdelingen) will distribute a final evaluation shortly after the end of the course. This evaluation consists of only three questions, and function as a "thermometer".
   
   
3. Periodic evaluation.
   The course itself and as part of a study program, must be evaluated every 6th year. Both tudents and academic staff will take part in the evaluation.

Read more about the guidelines for course evaluation at KSU's website. 

Course report:

The feedback from the course evaluation(s) must be presented in a course report, and potential measures/adjustments related to your course are to be included in the report.

You submit the report directly on the NMBU website. The results from the summative evaluation will be available in your report approximately 3 weeks after the exam. 

What do I as the course responsible need to do?

• Every course must be evaluated each time it runs. As the course responsible, it is your responsibility to conduct at least one formative/continuous evaluation. The preferred method and timing is up to you. 
  
  
• The feedback from the course evaluations are to be presented in the course report. It is up to you how you present the feedback and the potential adjustments in the course, but keep in mind that the report should be useful for both yourself, the students and the faculty.
  
  
• The course reports are used in the study program evaluations that are carried out in cooperation with the faculty every 6th year at the minimum.

Question bank

We have developed a question bank with questions and claims that you are free to use either as an inspiration or to copy/paste from directly.  

MachForm

With MachForm you can easily create online forms to collect feedback. The forms are sent to the students as a link, and it works on all devices (mobile friendly). The students provide their feedback anonymously, and you can monitor the number of respondents. The feedback can be retrieved as graphs, diagrams or in Excel-format. To get started, you can watch the video tutorial (in Norwegian).

All employees have access to MachForm – just log in with your NMBU username and password.

NB: to get access to MachForm you must be logged on to the NMBU network. If you are not logged on to the NMBU network (if you work from home or are travelling) you can use Remote Office. 

Links:

• NMBU Learning Philosophy
  
  
• Guidelines for course evaluation
  
  
• Toolbox - evaluation methods
  
  
• Question bank
  
• MachForm - login
  
  
• Submit course report
  
  
• Video tutorial: How to use MachForm
  
  
• Video tutorial: How to use MachForm made of the University of Southern Mississippi
  
  
• Athene - previous course evaluations

Other resources

• Click here to read about the project Enhancing student learning through effective formative feedback at the Higher Education Academy. The project was conducted to develop a resource for practioners wishing to improve their feedback practice to students or get some new ideas on how to enhance their current practice.
  
  
• The Eberly Center at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh offers useful resources when assessing teaching and learning.
  
  
• The report Engaging Students with Assessment Feedback by the Oxford Brookes University presents the findings of a research project which investigated student engagement with formative feedback leading to practical guidelines for academic staff as well as policy recommendations at institutional level.
  
  
• Examples of summative assessment methods used by the University of Manchester.
  
  
• Self- and Peer-Assessment. Guidance on practice in the biosciences is a guide published by The Higher Education Academy which presents practical examples through case studies.
  
  
• Collecting and using student feedback - A guide to good practice. The purpose of this guide is to help higher education institutions make the best use of their student feedback.

• NOKUT Studiebarometer is a national student survey that measures the quality of education in study programs at Norwegian colleges and universities. Here you can find inspiration on how to formulate questions.

Literature 

• Harvey, J. (Ed.) (1998): Evaluation Cookbook. Learning Technology Dissemination Initiative, Institute for Computer Based Learning, Herio-Watt University, Edinburgh.
  
  
• Sorenson, D. & Johnson, T. (Ed.) (2003): Online Student Ratings of Instruction. JOSSEY-BASS, San Francisco.