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Brown University Course Feedback FAQs
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Brown University Course Feedback FAQs

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Why is student course feedback important?

How does Brown University collect student course feedback?

How are student responses anonymized?

When is student feedback collected?

Where do students go to complete course feedback?

How is student course feedback collected for courses with multiple instructors?

Are there courses that are not included in the course feedback process?

What is the grade block?

Must students complete course feedback for each course?

Who administers the course feedback process?

INSTRUCTOR QUESTIONS

What do I have to do to set up my course feedback in EvaluationKit? 

How can I view the Main Survey in EvaluationKit?

What if EvaluationKit lists you as an instructor for a course that you do not teach?

What if one of the courses you teach is not listed under your courses in EvaluationKit?

What If I am supervising a course taught by a graduate student, but I am the instructor of record, how should the course roles be set up?

When should individual TAs be included in EvaluationKit?

Who has access to the results, when, and why would they use it?

ADMINISTRATOR QUESTIONS

What do I have to do to set up course feedback for my department or program?

What information do I need to add someone as an instructor or TA to a course? 

What If a course is taught by a graduate student, but the instructor of record is a faculty member?

How can a department set up a custom question survey to use in all or some courses?

How can I assemble reports for my chair?

How can results from the old and new system for TPAC Review be combined? 

GENERAL QUESTIONS

How can I get help using the Course Feedback System?

Login to the system at brown.evaluationkit.com using Brown’s single sign-on. Click on the “?” in the top right corner of the window and select EvaluationKit Help Center. Search for relevant articles and videos with key phrases like “Manage Courses” and “Custom Question Surveys.”

Faculty and staff should email course_feedback@brown.edu for additional help.

Students should email help@brown.edu with their questions.

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Why is student course feedback important?

Student feedback helps enhance education at Brown. Faculty members use this feedback to improve their courses and teaching methods. In addition, departments and programs analyze students’ feedback to inform faculty member reviews and curriculum decisions.

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How does Brown University collect student course feedback?

Based on the 2017-2018 Review of Brown’s Course Feedback Form approved by Provost Richard Locke in May 2018, Brown University made the decision to adopt a new standard course feedback form and a new platform, Watermark (previously known as EvaluationKit), to collect student feedback.  The form has a broader range of standard questions that present a more comprehensive snapshot of specific behaviors associated with teaching effectiveness.  Even though we are transitioning to a new system, the data from the previous system have been preserved.

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How are student responses anonymized?

In order to ensure that students are able to provide honest course feedback, Brown University has adopted a number of mechanisms to anonymize course feedback responses. Instructors and administrators see response rates only at the course level. They are not able to view which students respond and which opt out. Course feedback reports are not available until 72 hours after the deadline for grade submissions. The reports contain aggregated feedback for the entire course, not individual responses.

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When is student feedback collected?

Student feedback is collected from the last week of classes through the grade submission deadline for the term.

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Where do students go to complete course feedback?

Students will receive emails from course_feedback@brown.edu with a personalized link to login directly to the Course Feedback System. They can also access the course feedback system on Canvas and at brown.evaluationkit.com using Brown’s Single Sign-On. Once they are logged in, they can select the specific course to provide feedback.

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How is student course feedback collected for courses with multiple instructors?

For courses with more than one instructor, there is only a single survey. For courses with more than one faculty member, questions about “the instructor” are repeated for each instructor. There is a N/A option for these questions in situations when the question is not applicable for the role played by an instructor for the course. When results are reported to faculty, they see course overall items as well as responses to their own instructor questions. They do not see feedback on other faculty for the same course. (Faculty will see feedback from TAs associated with their course.)

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Are there courses that are not included in the course feedback process?

Independent studies and directed research are not included. In addition, any course with only a single enrolled student is not included.

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What is the grade block?

During the feedback period, students are unable to view their grades in Banner until they have completed or opted out of course feedback for each of their courses.

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Must students complete course feedback for each course?

Hearing from all students is important, but responses are voluntary. Students are not required to answer any individual questions and can opt out entirely for any course.

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Who administers the course feedback process?

The Office for Institutional Research oversees the collection of student course feedback with technical assistance from Computing & Information Services.

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INSTRUCTOR QUESTIONS

What do I have to do to set up my course feedback?

  1. Once the customization period begins, check that all the courses you teach are visible under the Manage Courses view (See “Manage Courses” in the system’s Help Center).
  2. If you have TAs, please review the TAs listed on the course in the Course Feedback System to ensure that only the graduate or undergraduate TAs who consistently interact with the same students are listed for the course (e.g., in laboratories or discussions).
  3. Optional: Add custom questions. For guidance see Optional Item Bank PDF and Watch the video “Custom Questions for Administrators & Instructors” in the system’s Help Center. Note: There is a limit of 10 additional questions that can be added and we encourage faculty members to limit additional questions as much as possible.

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How can I view the Main Survey?

  1. Once logged into the Course Feedback System, click on “Attach Surveys to Projects” in the top blue banner. Then click on the specific project (e.g., Fall 2019 Course Feedback). Then Click on “View Main Survey for this Project.”
  2. As you scroll through the survey, you may notice some missing words between commas or before an ‘s. These are places where the survey will display individual instructor or TA names. These help students know to whom they are providing feedback in team-taught courses.
  3. The final questions related to TAs will be displayed even if you do not have TAs, but the personalized surveys generated for your students when the course feedback period commences will not include TA questions.

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What if the Course Feedback System lists you as an instructor for a course that you do not teach?

Contact your Academic Department Manager or similar staff member. They have access to remove instructors from courses in the system.

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What if one of the courses you teach is not listed under your courses in the Course Feedback System?

Contact your Academic Department Manager or similar staff member. They have access to add instructors to courses in the system. Note: Certain courses are excluded from the course feedback system including: Independent Studies, Directed Research, and courses with only a single enrolled student.

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If I am supervising a course taught by a graduate student, but I am the instructor of record, how should the course roles be set up?

Your academic department manager should delete you as the instructor for the course and add the graduate TA as the instructor for the course in the system. If you would like to see the feedback from the course, you can request a PDF of the results for the course from the graduate student or your academic department manager. No changes should be made to Banner information on the course.

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When should individual TAs be included in the Course Feedback System?

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Who has access to results, when, and why would they use it?

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ADMINISTRATOR QUESTIONS

What do I have to do to set up course feedback for my department or program?

  1. Once the customization period begins, check that all the courses offered by the department or program are visible under the Manage Courses view (See “Manage Courses” in the system’s Help Center).
  2. For each course in the Course Feedback System, review that all instructors assigned the course are included. Submit any corrections to Banner to your course management contact in the Registrar's Office.
  3. Review and update the TAs listed on the course in the Course Feedback System to ensure that only the graduate or undergraduate TAs who consistently interact with the same students are listed for the course (e.g., in laboratories or discussions). Instructors may be the best positioned to make this decision.
  4. Optional: Add custom questions to specific courses or all courses.

NOTE: Once the feedback period opens to students, instructors and TAs cannot be changed and custom questions cannot be added.

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What information do I need to add someone as an instructor or TA to a course?

EvaluationKit uses the Brown username to provide access to users. When adding an instructor or TA to a course in the Course Feedback System, please enter their “BrownUsername@brown.edu” as the username. You will also be asked for first name, last name, and email. If you need to look up a username, please use your single-sign-on credentials to log in to: https://myaccount.brown.edu/person/search

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What If a course is taught by a graduate student, but the instructor of record is a faculty member?

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How can a department set up a custom question survey to use in all or some courses?

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How can I assemble reports for my chair?  

Chairs and department managers have the same roles in the Course Feedback System as Administrators. Your chair will have direct access to reports through their EvaluationKit dashboard via the Project Results window. Double-clicking on the the project name (e.g., Fall 2019 Course Feedback) will allow them to access reports for their department or by course or instructor. The system Help Center has articles and video on “Standard Reports Overview, Report Builder 2.0, and Report Sharing.

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How can I combine the results from the old and new system for TPAC Review?

For TPAC reviews, departments will continue to generate the “TPAC Teaching Summary” report via Cognos. This system will combine results from the old system with those from the new.

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