Want to know what other students think about an AU course You’re contemplating taking? Check out AUSU’s Course Evaluations!
Launched one year ago, the AUSU Course Evaluation tool allows students to provide info to other students on AU undergraduate courses. Students can add their own evaluations on the Course Evaluations page and view summarized evaluations on the Course Evaluation Results page. AUSU Course Evaluations can also be accessed from the mobile app, under both “Services” and “Links.” (Note: the AUSU Course Evaluation tool is distinct from the AU Course Satisfaction Survey that students are invited to complete toward the end of each course.)
Adding an evaluation takes only a few minutes. AUSU’s Course Evaluation uses the online Survey Monkey platform to walk students through the evaluation. After selecting the course from drop-down menus, students are asked to select fixed responses (strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree, not applicable) to approximately 15 questions about various aspects of the course.
Questions enlist the student’s opinion of such aspects such as course content, tutorial or Student Support Centre support, learning resources and assessment tools, and overall course value. The evaluation concludes with a comment box in which students can suggest areas of improvement for the course.
Take care with your answers, as you will not have an opportunity to go back and change any once you move to the next set. Students also need to remember which courses they’ve completed an evaluation for; because the AUSU Course Evaluation tool is completely anonymous, AUSU’s system doesn’t track who has filled them out.
Responses are aggregated so that other students can quickly view how students feel about the various aspects of a course. While this doesn’t answer every question a student might have about a course, the AUSU Course Evaluations provide some student feedback not otherwise available.
One element missing from the AUSU Course Evaluations is the ability to share specific information with other students. There is no method of explaining answers and no box for general comments. Students who formerly used the now-defunct AUSU Forums will also miss the ability to contact other students directly to ask questions about a course. However, students can still reach out to other students using the AU student group page on Facebook, for example.
If you’ve been putting off adding a course evaluation of your own, now is a great time to get started. Filling out an AUSU Course Evaluation is one of the tasks you can complete to earn an entry into AUSU’s #igo2AU contest. The contest closes November 30, 2016, and one lucky winner will receive a free AU undergraduate course.
The AUSU Course Evaluations are a great way for students to give?and get?anonymous feedback on courses. And, unlike AU’s Course Satisfaction Survey, AUSU’s Course Evaluations can be completed any time?even months after you finish a course. Check them out today on http://ausu.org under Services.
Barbara Lehtiniemi is a writer, photographer, and AU student. She lives on a windswept rural road in Eastern Ontario. Follow Barbara on twitter @ThereGoesBarb.