Course Evaluations
Students: Frequently-Asked Questions & Answers
Student Frequently-Asked Questions
- How do I complete a course evaluation?
- Why should I submit evaluations for my courses?
- When should I complete my evaluations?
- I want to complete an evaluation but the link is gone. What can I do now?
- Are my evaluations anonymous?
- Can I save a partially completed evaluation and then complete it later?
- I made a mistake in an evaluation and I would like to delete it or correct and resubmit it. Can I do that?
- Can I view previous evaluation results for a course I’m considering enrolling in?
- What should I do if I don’t want to answer a particular question and there isn’t a not applicable option?
- Who determines which questions to ask in the course evaluations?
Answers to Frequently-Asked Questions
- How do I complete a course evaluation?
-
- Log into UVaCollab and go to My Workspace, then Course Evaluations ACTIVE, where you will be presented with a list of your courses.
- If any evaluations are currently active, the course name for it will be hyperlinked in the list.
- Click that link, complete the evaluation, and click Submit.
- Why should I submit evaluations for my courses?
-
There are several important reasons that students should complete evaluations for their courses:
- Students have access to course evaluations results via the Evaluations link available from the individual Class Detail screens in SIS (access the Class Detail screen by using SIS Class Search), but only for courses that had a response rate of at least 65%. Knowing how their fellow students evaluated previous offerings of a course can be very useful in making registration decisions. Note that the existence of evaluation data is totally dependent on students submitting their evaluations in order to achieve a 65% response rate for each of their courses.
- Evaluations are important to the instructor for improving course content and presentation as well as for improving the instructor’s own pedagogy.
- Administrators use the evaluations as a summative evaluation of the instructor for promotion, tenure, and merit purposes.
- When should I complete my evaluations?
- You will receive an email message when evaluations begin for your courses. You will also receive an email reminder a few days before the end of the evaluation period if you have not yet submitted them. (The opening and closing dates for a course evaluation period are controlled by the department/school who “owns” the course.)
- I want to complete an evaluation but the link is gone. What can I do now?
-
If you no longer see a link to complete your evaluation, then the allowed window has passed and you will no longer be able to submit an online evaluation. (The opening and closing dates for a course evaluation period are controlled by the department/school who “owns” the course.)
One possible alternative is to contact your instructor to see if he or she will accept feedback using an alternative method.
- Are my evaluations anonymous?
Yes, evaluations are anonymous. No identity information is stored with evaluation responses. Your login information is used solely to ensure that you are registered for the course and to ensure that you submit only one evaluation for each course.
Your instructor can get a list of who has and has not completed evaluations (as long as there are at least 5 students responding) for the purposes of sending reminders, giving extra credit, etc. but these names are not connected to the evaluation data.
- Can I save a partially completed evaluation and then complete it later?
- No, you must complete and submit an evaluation in one sitting. This is due to the fact that evaluations are completely anonymous.
- I made a mistake in an evaluation and I would like to delete it or correct and resubmit it. Can I do that?
- No, since evaluations are completely anonymous, it is not possible to find a particular evaluation and therefore it is not possible to delete, edit, or resubmit an evaluation after it is submitted. One possible alternative is to contact your instructor to see if he or she will also accept feedback using an alternative method.
- Can I view previous evaluation results for a course I’m considering enrolling in?
Yes. Students have access to course evaluations results via the Evaluations link available on the individual Class Detail screens in the Student Information System (SIS). (Access the Class Detail screen by using Class Search in SIS.)
Note that this link will only appear for courses that had a response rate of at least 65%. Existence of evaluation data is totally dependent on students submitting their evaluations in order to achieve a 65% response rate for each of their courses.
- What should I do if I don’t want to answer a particular question and there isn’t a not applicable option?
- The system does not require you to answer all questions. You may simply skip any questions that you don’t want to answer or for which there is not an appropriate answer choice provided.
- Who determines which questions to ask in the course evaluations?
All course evaluations include 7 University-wide questions specified by the Provost’s office. Several of the questions were primarily authored by students back in 2004 when the current course eval system was developed. (For more information on that, see also the brief history/background of on the development of a Course Evaluation System at UVa.)
In addition, course evaluations may also include questions from the schools, departments, and individual instructors if they choose.
Page Updated: 2011-12-02
