Do you read the student evaluations of your teaching at the end of each quarter? If you said no, I’m here to convince you otherwise! First, student evaluations are a key part of how we are assessed as TAs at UCR; low evaluation scores can have consequences for future TA appointments. Also, student evaluations are likely to be requested as part of your teaching portfolio if you apply to academic jobs during grad school or after graduation. Finally, student evaluations are an important way for you to get feedback and improve your teaching skills. Read on to find out how best to use student evaluations to improve your teaching.

[Image Description: A young man sits with his legs crossed and palms up, his eyes are closed and he’s breathing deeply. Above his head, a rainbow arch moves across the screen with text in the rainbow that reads, “we will get through this.”]

Pictured: Student evaluations can be scary – but we got you

STEP ONE: Read the Evaluations

First, we start with the scary part: opening and reading our student evaluations. This is the part of the process that I find the most anxiety-inducing.  I’ve found the best thing to do is get it done right away (around week one of the next quarter). One way I make this a more positive experience is by doing something I like during this process or immediately after. For me, this looks like eating some of my favorite candy or having a glass of wine! Here are some important things to know:

Where to get your student evaluations: Sign in to your R’Web page and click the app icon called “iEval”. Once you get to the home screen of iEval, you should be able to see your most recent sets of evaluations. You can also find evaluations from a different term using the dropdown menu. TAs are not usually evaluated over summer sessions, so those terms will not appear in the dropdown menu.

What to expect when you open your student evaluations: At UCR we collect two types of evaluation data, aggregate numerical scores on a number of question prompts (available here), and individual qualitative comments from students. Evaluations will be separated by lab or discussion section, so each quarter likely has two or more sets of evaluations.

Important note: Implicit and outright bias can appear in student evaluations and are a serious concern. Please make sure to review your evaluations as soon as they are available. If you find any statements that are hateful or discriminatory on the basis of gender, sexual or gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, or disability, please contact GradSuccess Director Hillary Jenks via email (hillary.jenks@ucr.edu) immediately. A Graduate Division committee will review the evaluation and make a determination on appropriate follow-up action.

[Image Description: Meryl Streep, as Mary Fisher in She-Devil, sits at a table on a patio typing on a pink laptop with a cocktail nearby. She looks up and licks her front teeth as she thinks.]

Pictured: Make reading your evaluations part of a positive ritual

STEP TWO: Self-Reflection

Now we move on to the inner work. It can be challenging to be honest with ourselves about our strengths and weaknesses, so your first instinct may be to disagree completely with all of the comments about your teaching, but it’s important to stop and reflect. Sometimes comments are not helpful. For example, someone telling you they like your beard or that they didn’t like the way your voice sounds. Another type of unhelpful comment involves criticizing you as the TA for choices made by the instructor. Students may have a hard time making that distinction. Comments worth taking note of are comments that are shared across more than one student or that include a clear example of a moment when their comment is relevant. So, helpful comments might tell you about one specific reading that was especially hard to get through or many people saying that you speak too quietly. This is also true of the numeric portion of the evaluations; if many students rate you low in one particular area, pay attention to that. Take note of the comments and trends that may be helpful to you for later. It might help to read your evaluations initially and then come back later to do this reflection once you have some distance.

Hint: if you find most comments are vague and unhelpful, it will likely help to mention to students when evaluations open what a useful comment looks like. For example, in my classes I say something like “iEvals for this class are open from now until Friday. Please take a few minutes to evaluate me and this section. I read these evaluations and care what you say. It is especially helpful if you include examples and are specific in your feedback.” But, remember that you cannot incentivize students to complete their evaluations or tell them specifically what they should write in them.

[Image Description: A tan French bulldog walks slowly into frame, sees its reflection in a mirror, and jumps away in surprise.]

Pictured: It’s self-reflection, but no need to fear

STEP THREE: Implement Changes

Next, we move to the active part of this process. Hopefully, during step two you identified some areas that needed improvement. In some cases making changes is straightforward, such as speaking louder or putting scheduled pauses in your PowerPoint presentations for student questions. Others might require more time and effort.

Here’s where the Teaching Assistant Development Program (TADP) can help. We offer live workshops every quarter on a number of pedagogical topics, we also have an archive of past workshop recordings that you can watch online at any time. We also offer peer support hours, where you can chat with a member of the TADP team about teaching. Finally, there are a number of books and articles on pedagogy available online or through the UCR library, we are happy to provide recommendations over email (tadp@ucr.edu).

[Image Description: Doug Edwards, from Grown-ish, speaks to a friend he says “Why not elevate yourself today?” They are outside and people are seen dancing in the background.]

Pictured: It’s never too late to start improving

BONUS TIP #1: Don’t Wait, Evaluate Early

Consider doing informal evaluations mid-way through your course. This will allow you time to identify problems and make changes before the course ends and formal evaluations begin. Informal evaluations can be conducted in two main ways: analog and digital. If you are teaching in person, consider bringing a set of index cards and asking students to write their comments or suggestions on them. If you are teaching online or would prefer to do evaluations outside of class time, you can create a Qualtrics survey or Google form to capture the same information. Make sure to spend some time thinking about the types of questions you want answers to and be specific! For example, “What could the instructor do differently to improve your learning?” is a better prompt than “Type any suggestions here.” Also, make sure whatever method you use is anonymous so that students will feel more comfortable answering your questions.

[Image Description: Selina Meyer, from Veep, is pictured lying in her bed asleep. As someone walks into frame she raises her head, we see that her hair is rumpled and she is disoriented.]

Pictured: Ok, maybe not this early…

BONUS TIP #2: Seek Out Other Forms of Feedback

Student evaluations are not the only way to assess teaching. Here are a few other options:

• ask a peer to sit in on one of your sections and offer suggestions
• ask your advisor, chair or PI if you can guest lecture in one of their classes and ask for their feedback
• you could come to one of TADP’s quarterly teaching demos, where we will evaluate a ten minute sample lesson and suggest areas of improvement.

Asking your advisor, chair, or PI to observe you can also help them write letters of recommendation for you later that mention your teaching skills.

[Image Description: Tracee Ellis Ross stands facing the camera, she lifts her right hand emphatically and says “Boom! Accomplished.”]

Pictured: Now go out there and improve!