As the fall semester approaches its end, many students are beginning to receive the Individual Development and Educational Assessment, also known as the IDEA survey.
The nationwide survey is administered by professors either midway or at the end of the semester, and was designed in 1968-69 at Kansas State University as one of the most reliable and valid instruments of the market for getting student feedback about instruction.
“Student feedback is an important part of understanding what is working well in the classroom,” said Associate Provost for the Center for Teaching, Learning and Assessment Stephanie Juillerat. “We want students to be able to identify whether or not they think they learned in different areas and whether they’ve had a good educational experience.”
It is a requirement for all faculty to administer the IDEA, but the process varies depending on the current contract between a faculty member and the university.
At APU, all new faculty and adjuncts must return feedback on 100 percent of their courses. Faculty on three-year contracts must return feedback on at least 50 percent of their courses, and faculty on five-year contracts (or longer) must return feedback from at least 30 percent of their courses.
The IDEA is typically given in class. However, it can now be sent to students through email.
“The company that produces IDEA recognized that using a scantron sheet and a number two pencil—where the forms have to be mailed to an external company—is outdated,” Juillerat said. “This will be a more efficient and safer process.”
With this new technique, students will be able to take the surveys on their smartphone or tablet, doing away with the old paper version typically given during class.
Some students are not entirely fond of IDEA’s mobile delivery. Junior journalism major Caitlin Slater voiced her concern about the online survey.
“Students may be less prone to doing it [the survey] online, whereas if you’re given a survey in class, you’re going to take it in class and you’re going to get more feedback,” Slater said.
Sophomore communication studies major Megan Franklin agreed that this new means of administering the survey could result in less student engagement.
“I don’t like the idea of going paperless because you feel more content in giving someone something physical,” Franklin said.
Both Slater and Franklin have already submitted surveys in a few of their classes. They prefer giving their feedback mid-semester rather than at the end, because they can voice their comments and critiques and see if the faculty take that advice into consideration.
However, it seems that many faculty members prefer to give the survey at the end of the semester. Mathematics adjunct professor Leonard Popp explained why it’s important for him to wait until the end of the semester before distributing the IDEA.
“I always administer [the survey] at the end of the semester,” Popp said. “I want to make sure that they have most of the material under their belt, and that they’ve experienced the entire class before they give me their opinion, because I want to know their opinion on everything we’ve done.”
Juillerat also explained why most professors should wait before giving out the survey.
“If students are rating their progress in the middle of the semester, it can’t be as rich as rating how much progress they’ve made after experiencing most of the course,” Juillerat said. “It’s very important for an instructor to give mid-course feedback, but the IDEA should be administered somewhere in the last couple weeks of the course to give students the best opportunity to say how much they have learned.”
Nationwide, if a faculty member is given many poor reviews, their position with their university may be in jeopardy. If they do not meet the national average, they will not be offered another contract by the university.
However, positive reviews can benefit faculty members in many ways. The university will recognize any positive effect from certain faculty and offer them extended contracts with the university.
“One of several things that keep me around is my IDEA scores,” said Jennifer Buck, adjunct professor in the Department of Practical Theology. “Reviews from students over the years have had an effect. [In] areas where I haven’t scored as high, I’ve really taken [that] into consideration and reevaluated my curriculum.”
The survey provides a way for APU students to have their voices heard regarding professors.
“I think sometimes as students, a survey can feel like a hassle because we’re so busy, but I think that it’s one of the most important things we can do as a student in getting our voices heard,” Slater said. “Something so small, as in taking a survey, can make a huge difference.”
According to Juillerat, during the 2014-15 school year, the Office of Faculty Evaluation evaluated approximately 3,754 courses and sent approximately 68,408 surveys to students to evaluate their learning.
“By evaluating these courses, it is extremely important that students take it seriously and that they answer honestly,” Juillerat said. “This process is not designed to advantage faculty they like or to disadvantage faculty they don’t like. It is designed to assess student perceptions of their learning. The process will fail if students don’t complete the instrument and if they don’t complete it honestly. If students and faculty can manage this process with integrity, then we will have success all around the university.”