Launch of new Student Course Perceptions Survey
The new Student Course Perception survey (SCP) is launching this term. Members of the Waterloo community have been hard at work to revamp the system of collecting student input since 2014, as part of our response to concerns about equity and efficacy with the existing surveys and their use. The SCP will be one instrument in a holistic system of teaching assessment that is currently in development; further information about other instruments (peer review and teaching dossiers will be released later this year).
Resources
Visit the new Teaching Assessment Processes website for:
- Frequently asked questions
- The core survey questions
- Resources for instructors reviewing their own SCP scores
- Resources for academic administrators reviewing SCP scores
The Centre for Teaching Excellence has also developed some guidelines for instructors: Teaching Effectiveness & the Student Course Perceptions Survey
Your input
This is the first step in a massive institutional culture shift that will require ongoing consultation and communication. Later this year, instructors and academic administrators (e.g., department Chairs) will be invited to share concerns and challenges via a survey. Your feedback will be critical to fine-tuning processes and resources.
Important Concerns
We know that there continue to be concerns around a number of things, including biases in SCP data. We will be able to assess associations between SCP scores and race this term, using data now collected by the university, and will be looking at this analysis across a couple of terms. We will also continue to assess associations with other variables, like gender. We do want to remind all colleagues that while the new instrument is launched, discussion about its use in summative assessment still needs to continue.
Contact Dr. Sonya Buffone with any questions or concerns.