Rigorous & Flexible Evaluation Forms
IASystem™ course evaluation forms have been carefully designed and tested to support instructional improvement, curricular planning, and faculty development.
The IASystem™ form structure allows for customization without compromise of cross-campus global ratings, optional statistical adjustments, and the proprietary IASystem™ Challenge and Engagement Index. Online forms can be modified and customized for an entire institution, specific colleges or departments.
All forms are available for both online and paper delivery.
IASystem™ items and forms are copyrighted with all rights reserved by the University of Washington.
A – Small Lecture / Discussion
Designed for lecture courses with the opportunity for discussion. Items emphasize the clarity and quality of information transmitted, as well as the nature of the interaction between instructor and student.
B – Large Lecture
Designed for traditional lecture courses. Items emphasize the quality of course organization and information transmitted rather than in-class interaction between the instructor and the student.
C – Seminar / Discussion
Designed for classes that include a minimal amount of formal lecturing by the instructor. The items emphasize quality of discussion as well as course organization and interest level.
D – Problem Solving
Designed for classes teaching problem-solving or heuristic methods. Clear explanations, dealing with student difficulties, and quality of the problems that the course addresses are emphasized.
E – Skill Acquisition
Designed for classes in which students get "hands on" experiences, such as courses in clinical nursing, foreign languages, and social-work field experience.
F – Quiz Section
Designed for discussion sections that are usually taught by graduate teaching assistants, in conjunction with a lecture class taught by a regular faculty member. Items focus on the ability of the quiz section instructor to interact with students and provide clear and useful explanations.
G – Lectures / Assignments
Designed for use in large lecture classes (such as those in math) which rely heavily on homework problems and a textbook. Emphasis is on the instructor's ability to communicate with students and the value of assigned problems and readings.
H – Lab
Designed to evaluate lab classes generally taught in conjunction with classes in the physical sciences. Items emphasize the instructor's ability to introduce meaningful questions, assist students, and deal with unexpected problems.
I – Distance Learning
Designed for use in learning environments where students are not physically present in a traditional setting such as a classroom. Items relate to the instructor's responsiveness and the quality of support material.
J – Clinical / Studio
Designed to evaluate instruction provided through clinical or hands-on experience rather than traditional academic coursework. Such courses are often found in the health professions or the arts. Items focus on the instructor's ability to provide information, stimulate learning, and demonstrate skills.
K – Project / Studio
Designed for courses in which students work autonomously or in small groups to produce artistic, graphic, or other products. Items on this form emphasize student development of skills and effective instructor guidance and feedback.
L – English as a Second Language
Designed for use with English language learners, this form differs from other forms in language, formatting, the inclusion of demographic items, and the elimination of items 1-4, which are common to among other forms.
M – Study Abroad
Designed for use in courses taught abroad. Items relate to academic aspects of the course as well as the unique contribution of student experiences abroad to the student’s learning.
X – Educational Outcomes
Designed to be used across all course types. This form includes fewer items about instructional processes and adds items relating to educational outcomes of the course.
Student Comments
Four open-ended questions ask whether the course was intellectually challenging, which aspects of the course contributed to or detracted from learning, and how the course could be improved.
Form Structure
IASystem™ evaluation forms are composed of different item types to support both formative and summative decision-making, and to capture additional information that assists instructors in interpreting evaluation results.
Summative Items:
IASystem™ evaluation forms include four “global” items that provide a general evaluation of the course and instruction. Because these items are applicable to all courses and appear on all forms, they allow comparisons across programs. This kind of comparison helps administrators meet program review and accreditation requirements and provides them with information for tenure and promotion decisions. Average ratings also can be compared to a specific standard or examined for changes over time. These items are not customizable.
Formative Items:
Most items on IASystem™ forms ask about specific aspects of the class being evaluated. Their purpose is to provide faculty with information about what students think is working well and what could be improved. These items are customizable.
Student Engagement Items:
IASystem™ Student Engagement items provide information on students in the course, workload and expected grade. Some items are used to compute the Challenge and Engagement Index (CEI) and others can be used to correct summative items for bias by computing adjusted medians. These items are not customizable.
Demographic & Comment Items:
IASystem™ Demographic items provide more detail about enrolled students and Comment (open ended) items provides specific, qualitative course feedback from students. These items are customizable.
OPTIONAL – Instructor Added Items:
IASystem™ client institutions can choose to include the ability for instructors to add their own formative and comment questions to institutional course evaluation forms. Ad hoc instructor added items are reported on course level reports, but are not included in institutional-level data reporting.
