Dartmouth College
Office of the Registrar
6014 McNutt Hall
Hanover, NH 03755-3541
Are all faculty members' course assessments available to students?
No, Dartmouth utilizes an "opt in" system where faculty members may decide whether or not to make their course assessments available for students to view.
By default, all course assessments have the status of "opt out" to start.
Those faculty members who wish to share course assessment results with students "opt in" when given the opportunity by the Registrar.
The Committee on Instruction encourages faculty members to make individual decisions about whether or not they wish to share their course assessments with students.
Are there any faculty members who are not included?
All Arts and Sciences Faculty members, regardless of rank, are eligible to participate and are offered the opportunity to "opt in."
How often may faculty members "opt in" to allow students to view their course assessments?
One time per academic year. The Registrar sends a notification to faculty members each year asking them to indicate whether or not they wish to "opt in" for the coming academic year.
How do faculty members indicate the "opt in" status for their courses to the Registrar?
Faculty members log into their Banner menu and select a menu item which displays an "opt in" radio button. Faculty members then receive a confirmation email indicating that they have opted in for the coming academic year.
May faculty members indicate the start term for which their course data will be available for students to view?
Yes, each year faculty members who "opt in" indicate their course assessment start term. For example to begin the start term could be set to fall 2009 and the following year the faculty members member "opts out". Then in 2016 the faculty member decides to "opt in" again and sets the start term for spring 2012 rather than fall 2009.
What is the earliest start term that a faculty member may choose?
Faculty members may choose a term that allows students to view up to 5 years of data.
Is each faculty member required to indicate his or her status each year?
No, if a faculty member has chosen to "opt in" one year and wishes to remain in that status for the next academic year, no action needs to be taken.
Similarly, any faculty member who has chosen to remain "opt out" and wishes to remain in that status for the next academic year does not need to take any action.
How do students access course assessment views?
Students log into DartHub and choose "Course Assessment Timetable" from their DartHub menu.
What does the student view look like?
Students see a Timetable of Courses that looks almost exactly like the public Timetable of Courses on the Registrar website. There are links after each course which the student may select to view the data by course, regardless of who has taught it, and another to view the data by instructor, to include all courses s/he has taught.
There are multiple years/terms from which to choose (rather than the 4 terms which show in the public Timetable of Courses view).
When students select a course or instructor link they are directed to data warehouse reports that look similar to course assessment reports that faculty members currently view. They are simple graphical and data representations that show the course medians of the responses to the quantitative questions identified by the faculty members.
Students also view lists of qualitative responses to the three (3) student-initiated course assessment questions.
Who, in addition to the students, can view the responses to the student-initiated course assessment questions?
Only the course instructor(s) may view the responses to the student-initiated questions for their course(s).
Are there any types of courses not included routinely in the student view other than those removed from the view due to faculty members' "opt in" status?
Students will not see Off-campus study, independent study, honors, research, thesis, and PE courses (which are not assessed currently using this system), or Writing courses.
Instructors may view students' responses to all the survey questions for all eligible courses assessed including the student-initiated questions.
If a course has fewer than 5 students enrolled, do students complete the course assessments and if so, who may view student-initiated questions?
Yes, all eligible courses, including low enrollment courses are made available for students to assess.
Students may not view the student responses to the student-initiated questions for low-enrollment courses.
Note: Per current policy, instructors may not view the responses to the other course assessment questions for courses enrolling fewer than 5 students.
What are the student-initiated questions?
1. Comment on the methods of evaluation chosen by the instructor, e.g. tests, papers, and examinations, and on the workload expected of students.
2. Comment on the structure of the class, for example the mix between lecture and discussion.
3. How did this course influence your academic experience at Dartmouth?
The mean response rate of which quantitative questions are in the student view?
Course Design and Effectiveness
1. I think the overall quality of the course was:
3. I put a great deal of effort into the course.
4. I was intellectually engaged in the course.
5. The objectives of the course were clear to me.
6. I found the course to be well organized.
7. The assignments reinforced my understanding of the course material.
Faculty members
1. I think the overall effectiveness of teaching was:
4. The Professor challenged me to think critically about the course material.
What is the course status when more than one faculty member co-teaches a course, one faculty member "opts in," and one or more of the other faculty members does not?
All instructors of the course must "opt in" for the "opt in" status to be valid; therefore the course would not be available for student viewing since not all instructors have chosen to "opt in".
What is the course status when more than one faculty member co-teaches a course, one faculty member "opts in" with one start term, and one or more of the other faculty members "opts in" with a different start term?
The most recent of the start terms is used to display the course assessment results.
What is the course status when a faculty member leaves the employment of the College?
The courses taught by the departed faculty member are considered as "opt in" beginning the next academic year when status changes may occur, and are made available for student viewing.
Are students encouraged to complete course assessments responsibly?
Each term when students log into course assessment, they initially encounter a "splash page" which outlines course assessment expectations and responsibilities as recommended by the Committee on Instruction.
How may a faculty member address an inappropriate comment that they identify on course assessments?
Faculty members may view course assessment comments entered by students 7 days prior to when the student view is made available.
If a faculty member identifies a comment that they believe is in conflict with community expectations and responsibilities, the faculty member may speak to his or her Associate Dean about the comment and, upon the recommendation of the Associate Dean, the Registrar will remove the comment.
