Iwate-Aomori JALT:

What did you think of the course? - Understanding Students' Course Evaluations.

Date: Sunday, October 29th, 2006 Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Speaker: Christine Winskowski and Susan Duggan

Description:
Do you wonder what students are thinking when they fill out those end-of-semester course evaluation forms? Ever wondered why someone picked a 5 instead of a 6? A 4 instead of a 5? Since the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology mandated the administration of course evaluation forms in 1996, their use in Japan has sharply risen. In other countries, use of course evaluation forms is widespread, if still controversial. Since Japan has newly adopted this approach to teacher evaluation, the presenters feel it is important to be clear what such instruments tell us, as well as what they don't tell us.

Christine Winskowski and Susan Duggan decided to find out what students are thinking by interviewing 10 students as they filled out their evaluation forms. Following a recent line of research, they asked students to explain their understanding of the items' interpretation, and the reason for their ratings. While their findings are still at the pilot phase, it is very clear that students interpret items differently from one another, and base their ratings on different criteria (some of which seem only loosely connected to teaching effectiveness). These results reinforce the notion that course evaluation forms are at best low-precision instruments.

In this talk, Christine Winskowski and Susan Duggan will offer a little background on issues surrounding course evaluation forms, then present their preliminary findings (in the context of related research).

Christine Winskowski, who teaches English and American Studies at Morioka Junior College (Iwate Prefectural University), has written and presented on the topics of students' course evaluations and the teaching of culture.

Susan Duggan, who teaches English at Iwate Prefectural University, specializes in English for medical and health professions.

Organization: Iwate-Aomori Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (Iwate-Aomori JALT)

Cost: JALT Members: free
Non-members: 1000 yen

Venue: Mary's English Talk, 2-9-65 Kuroishino, Morioka; 019-663-3132

Location: Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, Japan

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Contact Iwate-Aomori JALT

Website: iwatejalt.wordpress.com

Mary Burkitt
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Phone (work): 019-663-3132
Jason Hill
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