COLUMN: Pilot for midterm class evaluations is coming

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by Travis Hopp

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Fifty classes (about 10 percent of the total offered this spring) will participate in the pilot program. The list includes classes of different sizes and levels from nearly every department; most students will probably fill out a midterm evaluation in at least one class.

The evaluation will consist of one broad question encompassing many aspects of the class, including lecture style, course difficulty, graded work, course policies, etc.

The SA urges you to take the evaluation seriously and make constructive comments. We think adding a midterm evaluation to the established end-of-semester evaluation will have several advantages.

First, students will have a greater incentive to make quality comments because the midterm evaluations will directly affect them, not just next year's class.

Moreover, since classes are different from year to year, the end-of-semester comments might not apply to the following year's class, but the midterm comments will apply to the current class. For faculty, improvements made in the class after midterm may improve end-of-semester evaluations.

Finally, professors and students will also have an opportunity to discuss the evaluation and hopefully understand each other's perspectives, leading to a better educational experience for all.

At the end of the semester, students and faculty participating in the program will complete an evaluation on the effectiveness of the midterm evaluation.

The committee will then prepare a report for the SA and university officials. If the pilot program is successful, we hope that midterm evaluation programs can begin to be campus-wide next year.

Since details are still being worked out, we are open to suggestions from all students, faculty and staff. If you have any concerns, contact committee members Alice Armintor, Anne Countiss, Elaine Ho, Travis Hopp, Stephen Lorimer, Posey Martinez, Christine Yeh or e-mail trhopp@rice.edu .

Also, for more information on how the program will work and the currently proposed midterm evaluation question, check out the SA homepage at http://riceinfo.rice.edu/projects/SA .

Travis Hopp is the Lovett College SA senator and a senior.

This item appeared in the Opinion section of the February 7, 1997 issue.

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