Course evaluation at the School of Business and Economics

Starting spring 2018 period 3, the School of Business and Economics' course evaluations have been automated using the Survey & Report system. The course evaluations are now digital and most of them are done completely automatically. This means that the students can get quick feedback and their desire for influence and co-responsibility is made visible. Using the new routines, the work of the course coordinator is also simplified.

Scope

Course evaluations are conducted for entire courses only. If there is a desire to also conduct evaluations of modules within a course, this should be managed separately by the relevant teachers. Such management is not covered by this procedure.

Course evaluation - step by step

Preparation of course evaluation

The education administration links the course coordinator with their course in Survey & Report. For the connection to be possible, the newly appointed course coordinator needs to log in to Survey & Report and activate their account before they can be linked to the course. The course coordinator logs in with their staff account at LNU. Login to Survey & Report.
Two weeks before the end of the course, Survey & Report sends an email to the course coordinator with a link to the survey, where it is possible to add their own course-specific questions (see suggestions in the routine, appendix 2).

Implementation of course evaluation

On the publication date – the Wednesday of the final week of the course (If the course coordinator wants the course evaluation to open before this date, they should contact the educational administration.), Survey & Report retrieves the respondents/students from Ladok and sends out the survey via email. At the same time, Survey & Report posts a message on the student web at lnu.se. The survey is open for four weeks. When the message is sent to the students, the course coordinator also receives an email notification that the course evaluation is open. The course coordinator cannot respond to the survey.
- If possible, the survey should ideally be conducted during a scheduled session on site or in a discussion forum, with students being encouraged to bring a mobile device to complete the evaluation.
- One week before the survey closes, a reminder is sent to those students who have not yet responded to the survey. The course coordinator also receives an email.
When the survey is completed, Survey & Report sends a link to the course coordinator where the results reports – one with the students’ open-ended responses and one without – are available. The course coordinator then does the following:
- Fill in the reflection report in Survey & Report and approve it for archiving. The reflection report, including analysis and suggestions for actions, must be completed.
- If the course coordinator does not fill in and approve the reflection report, they will receive reminder emails from Survey & Report until it is approved.
Once the reflection report is completed and approved, Survey & Report combines it with the results report without open-ended responses, into a course evaluation report. The course evaluation report is then automatically sent to the archive and to the course coordinator. Course evaluations without free-text responses are automatically saved by Survey & Report to S:\gemensamt\Kursvärderingar, so that, for example, the programme coordinator can access the report.
- A summary of the course evaluation results, the teacher’s analysis, and suggestions for actions, i.e., the course evaluation report, should preferably be communicated to the course participants via the course’s learning platform shortly after the course ends. The concerned students should be notified about this.
- The results reports, together with other relevant information, should be used for course development and followed up in programme councils, subject groups, or other relevant academic contexts. An example of this is the handling of programme courses at the programme council meetings, which is conducted according to ‘Specification for Programme Council, School of Business and Economics’ and ‘Quality assurance process for education, within the AoL framework (Quality assurance process, QuAPE)’.
The students concerned should be notified of this. Finally, as stipulated in ‘Local regulations for courses and examination at the first- and second-cycle levels’, the course evaluation report should be made available to future student groups via Moodle. This is done by the office. The programme coordinator is responsible for presenting the most important parts of the previous course evaluation report to the next student group at the beginning of their course.

Tips for Increasing Response Rate on Course Evaluations

Explain the purpose of course evaluations, emphasizing that they are meant to enhance the quality of the course. Highlight that students’ feedback and responses are important and meaningful.
In the course introduction and/or study guide, include information that at the end of the course, a course evaluation will be conducted, and you encourage students to take the opportunity to share their thoughts on how the course has been. You can use the following text:

“In close connection to the course conclusion, you as a student will have the opportunity to complete an anonymous course evaluation. You can influence and tell us what has been good and less good about the course. Your responses are valuable for the course’s development.”
Allocate time at the end of the course for students to access the course evaluation on Wednesday of the final week. This could be during a review session, seminars, lectures, exercises, or before the introducation to the next course.
Help each other - ask your colleague if they can remind the students to fill out the course evaluation in the upcoming course (programme students)

FAQ

How do I proceed if I want to conduct a course evaluation?

Contact ekonomihogskolan@lnu.se well in advance, and we can assist you.

To which email address do students receive the course evaluation?

The course evaluation is sent to students’ student email addresses.

Student cannot find the email with the link to the course evaluation?

Contact ekonomihogskolan@lnu.se, and we can assist in sending a new email to the student.

How is the course evaluation report approved?

Brief information on how course evaluation reports are archived can be found in the email that goes out to the course coordinator when the course evaluation is closed. More detailed information and explanation.

Information on how to find the report and make comments and approve it without having the link from the previous email.

What happens if the report is not approved?

If the report is not approved, it will not be available as a basis for the university's quality work or for the students who have completed the report. The course coordinator will receive reminder emails until the report is approved.

Medarbetare/Staff page with links, manuals, and support information for course evaluation.

What should I do if I receive reminders to approve a course evaluation report for a course that was never conducted?

Contact ekonomihogskolan@lnu.se so that we can remove the course evaluation and report for that course.

Can I add additional comments after approving the course evaluation report as the course coordinator?

No, it is not possible to do so in Survey & Report. If it is important to include additional comments in the archived report, you can submit them via email to arkiv@lnu.se. Attach a file with the comments and request that they be added to the record.

Where can I find a approved course evaluation?

A completed and approved course evaluation (without free text answers) can either be downloaded from:
S:\gemensamt\Kursvärderingar
or ordered from our central archive arkiv@lnu.se