Although the mandatory requirment only applies to liberal arts classes, other undergraduate and graduate courses may adopt midterm course evaluation if deemed necessary by professors.
Midterm course evaluation was first adopted in the spring semester of 2013; however, it was not compulsory for any of the classes. Since Ewha was chosen to participate in Advancement of College Education (ACE) program this year, the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) has reinforced the midterm course evaluation program to enhance the quality of courses.
In several liberal arts classes, some professors not only actively notified students of the evaluation in classes, but also utilized the “message” function on Cyber Campus to encourage students to participate. On the other hand, some professors did not activate the “midterm course evaluation” tab and provided no information to students regarding the evaluation.
There were several professors who claimed that although they were notified that the OAA had reinforced the evaluation, no further instructions or details were provided.
“I did receive an e-mail regarding the evaluation, but I did not know how to activate the tab on Cyber Campus,” said professor Kim Sun, a professor of Chinese Language and Literature. “I am in accordance with the belief that it is important to directly listen to students’ individual voices, rather than through a standardized questionnaire. Therefore, I conducted a evaluation on my own in class, rather than utilizing the one on Cyber Campus.”
Students expected the results of the midterm evaluation system to be fully reflected in the remaining classes; however, doubts on its effectiveness also existed.
“Compared to the overall course evaluation that is conducted after all classes are over, I expect midterm course evaluation to be beneficial for students who are currently taking the classes,” said Kim Jung-hyeon, a sophomore majoring in Journalism. “I hope it brings more interactions between the professor and the students. However, I still doubt its effectiveness, as the content of the evaluation seems not so much different from the overall evaluation at the end of the semester.”
The ACE center, the managing department of the course evaluation program, presented a rosy prospect, asserting that the results of the midterm course evaluation will be analyzed and reflected throughout the remaining weeks of the semester.
“Professors will be able to analyze their strengths and weaknesses through the results of midterm course evaluation,” said Lee Dong-hwan, a professor at ACE center at Ewha. “This will enable them to make up for the weaknesses for the remaining period of courses. We hope that the feedbacks will greatly contribute to the improvement of classes.”
Park Kyoung-eun
kathypark226@ewhain.net