{"id":3792,"date":"2023-12-01T07:00:49","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T12:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elpsclone.flywheelsites.com\/?p=3792"},"modified":"2024-05-13T16:22:58","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T20:22:58","slug":"the-what-when-why-and-how-of-formative-evaluation-of-instruction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cehhs.utk.edu\/elps\/the-what-when-why-and-how-of-formative-evaluation-of-instruction\/","title":{"rendered":"The What, When, Why, and How of Formative Evaluation of Instruction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By M. Andrew Young<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hello! My name is M. Andrew Young<\/span>.<\/span> I am a <\/span>second<\/span>-year Ph.D. student in the Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology Ph<\/span>.D. program here at UT-Knoxville<\/span>. I currently work in higher education assessment a<\/span>s a Director of Assessment at East Tennessee State University\u2019s college of Pharmacy.<\/span> As part of my duties, I am <\/span>frequently <\/span>called upon to <\/span>conduct<\/span> classroom assessments.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

H<\/span>igher education assessment often employs the usage of summative evaluation of instruction, also commonly known as course evaluations,<\/span> s<\/span>ummative a<\/span>s<\/span>sessment of <\/span>i<\/span>nstruction (SAI), <\/span>s<\/span>ummative <\/span>e<\/span>valuation of <\/span>i<\/span>nstruction (SEI), among other titles, at the end of <\/span>a<\/span> course. <\/span>At my institution the <\/span>purpose of summative evaluation of instruction is <\/span>primarily<\/span> centered on evaluating faculty for tenure, promotion, and retention. What if there were a more student-centered approach to getting classroom evaluation <\/span>feedback <\/span>that not only <\/span>benefits<\/span> students <\/span>in future classes (like summative assessment does)<\/span>, but also benefits students currently enrolled in the class? Enter <\/span>f<\/span>ormative <\/span>e<\/span>valuation of <\/span>i<\/span>nstruction, (FEI).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is FEI?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

FEI, sometimes referred to as midterm evaluations, entails seeking feedback from students prior to the semester midpoint to make mid-stream changes that will address each cohort\u2019s individual learning needs. Collecting such meaningful and actionable FEI can prove to be challenging. Sometimes faculty may prefer to not participate in formative evaluation because they do not find the feedback from students actionable, or they may not value the student input. Furthermore, there is little direction on how to conduct this feedback and how to use it for continual quality improvement in the classroom. While there exists a lot of literature on summative evaluation of teaching, there seems to be a dearth of research surrounding best practices for formative evaluation of teaching. The few articles that I have been able to discover offer suggestions for FEI covered later in this post.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When Should We Use FEI?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In my opinion, every classroom can benefit from formative evaluation. When to administer it is as much an art as it is a science. Timing is everything and the results can differ greatly depending on the timing of the administration of the evaluation. In my time working as a Director of Assessment, I have found that the most meaningful feedback can be gathered in the first half of the semester, directly after a major assessment. Students have a better understanding of their comprehension of the material and the effectiveness of <\/span>the classroom instruction. There is very little literature to support this, so this is purely anecdotal. None of the resources I have found have prescribed precisely when FEI should be conducted, but the name implies that the feedback should be sought at or around the semester midpoint.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why Should We Conduct FEI?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

FEI Can Help:<\/strong><\/p>\n