By bachelor’s and master’s students
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UCLouvain conducts student surveys to gather their opinions on course unit quality.
Faculty management
The faculty is responsible for managing student evaluations of teaching:
- a faculty management memorandum specifies procedures and responsibilities during the different stages of evaluation and improving course unit quality;
- faculty planning of evaluations is established annually after consultation with all faculty stakeholders and in concert with QOPA to ensure the practical feasibility of evaluations for the whole institution.
Methodology
- Evaluation by student questionnaire is compulsory for bachelor’s and master’s courses, at an interval established by each faculty. It is carried out at least once every six years.
- Course units are evaluated using a standard questionnaire declined in several versions.
- Questions are asked about the teaching methods used (clarity of explanations, pace, exercises and assignments, course materials, etc.), teacher supervision, workload, assessment methods, etc.
- The survey is organised online during the last two weeks of classes, before the exam preparation period.
Using the results
The results are used by the teacher and the faculty. The analysis should highlight both the positive points and the points to be improved and should be cross-referenced with other sources of information.
The teacher:
- decides what adjustments to make to the course;
- provides feedback to students (and, if applicable, to the next cohort) on the positive points, points for improvement and follow-up actions.
The faculty determines follow-up actions:
- in programme commissions or bachelor’s or master’s committees: discussion of programme course units, in particular by using the programme summary report which includes the results for all course units;
- in smaller groups ensuring confidentiality: discussion of a course unit (particularly concerning “potentially problematic units”) in the presence of the dean, the programme manager and the teacher of the unit concerned.
In continuing education courses
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Teaching evaluation is particularly important for new editions, when it is a question of setting up, coordinating, adjusting and then perpetuating a team of teachers (intra-UCLouvain and external guest teachers). The academic manager has a central role in the team’s constitution and coordination insofar as continuing education courses are not part of the teachers’ academic workload.