Every term, students on the Boulder听campus听evaluate each of their courses and instructors using a questionnaire called the Faculty Course Questionnaire (FCQ).听The FCQ program is managed听within the听听(ODA) at CU Boulder.
FCQs鈥攁nd student ratings of instruction, generally鈥攔epresent students鈥� perceptions of their experience in a single course. The FCQ is not a substantive evaluation of the instructor, nor is it a comprehensive measure of course effectiveness. The FCQ is not designed to collect comparative information about other instructors, nor does it ask students to compare their experience with other courses in the major or in the department. It is intended as a formative assessment tool to provide actionable feedback to instructors with the goal of improving the learning environment.
It is important to note that the FCQ does not measure student learning or achievement. However, the new FCQ asks about specific instructor actions that have been demonstrated to create a supportive learning environment, such as the extent to which the instructor explained grading criteria, provided helpful feedback, and demonstrated respect for students.
The FCQ听is an important tool for students to provide feedback about course instruction. The inclusion of FCQs in annual faculty evaluation is听outlined in the . In recent years, there has been considerable effort by CU Boulder faculty and administrators to create a more valid and reliable FCQ, and to advocate for more robust models for evaluating teaching effectiveness. The accurate interpretation and use of FCQ data is essential to effective and equitable faculty evaluation. Personnel decisions about faculty using FCQ data can be life-altering and should be made with the utmost care and intentionality.听
Resources
听Using FCQs and Multiple Measures of Teaching for Annual Reviews (PDF with recommendations from the CTL & ODA on the scholarship on teaching and learning and educational evaluation)听
听Making FCQs Work for You 鈥� CTL's AssessingU Blog
听 from the Teaching Quality Framework (TQF)听initiative听(Google document)听
听 from the TQF initiative (Google doc)听