Topinformationen

• Questions on evaluation practice at the Osnabrück University
• Questions regarding your registration
• Questions regarding the questionnaires
• Questions regarding the evaluation procedure
• Questions regarding the evaluation reports

Questions on evaluation practice at the Osnabrück University

What is the purpose of the course evaluation?

Course evaluations are intended to give lecturers feedback on the students' impression of their course. It is particularly important to provide concrete feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the course concept and teaching behaviour. Lecturers can use this information to reflect on their own teaching behaviour. In addition, the results of the course evaluation offer a good opportunity to enter into a dialogue with the students that can help to ensure the quality of the courses in the long term.

When will my school be evaluated? What does the rotation scheme look like?

It is scheduled that each department will be evaluated every three semesters. According to the rotation scheme, which is used from the beginning of summer semester 2006, divides the schools into three roughly equal groups.

• Group 1: Schools of Cultural Studies and Social Sciences (FB1), Economics and Business Administration (FB9) and Law (FB10)
• Group 2: Schools Biology/Chemistry (FB5), Mathematics/Computer Science/Physics (FB6) and Language and Literary Studies (FB7)
• Group 3: Schools of Educational and Cultural Studies (FB3) and Human Sciences (FB8) i

This cluster of Schools was chosen so that the evaluations would reach approximately the same number of students. Of course, an evaluation of courses is also possible for lecturers from other Schools. You can register your courses for evaluation here.

Can I also have my course evaluated when it's not my turn?

You are welcome to register your courses for evaluation even if it is not your school's turn according to the rotation scheme.

Questions regarding your registration

Fig.: Where to find the button "Additional lecturer(s)"?

How to evaluate a course, which is held by multiple lecturers?

If you want to evaluate a course, which is held by multiple lecturers, you can choose between these two options:

• You can directly specify further lecturers in the registration form under point 2. Please use the button "additional lecturers" after you have added a course (cf. orange arrow in the illustration). These lecturers will also receive the results report. In this case, your students only have to fill in a single questionnaire for both lecturers.
• All participating lecturers register the course as separate evaluations. In this case, your students will have to fill in one questionnaire per lecturer.

How to evaluate a course, which I teach in different groups?

If you want to evaluate a course which is held in several groups (e.g. several practice groups), you can choose between these two options:

• You can request a separate evaluation for each group. In point 2 of the registration form, please add each group as an independent course. Please number the groups for differentiation or add abbreviations (in the course title).
• You can evaluate all groups together. In this case, add only one course in point 2 of the registration form and select the number of questionnaires or TANs according to the total number of participants. A subsequent separate evaluation of the groups is then only possible after consultation with the Teaching Evaluation Service Centre!

Why is a minimum of 6 filled in forms required in order to receive a report?

Beginning with summer semester 2007, the minimum number of filled in forms was lowered from 8 to 6, mainly for pragmatic reasons. Since then, we make no exceptions to the rule.

There are several reasons for the rule. Firstly, a lower number of data sets contributing to the calculation of the averaged scores results in a reduced reliability of these scores. With decreasing reliability, validity and relevance of the results cannot be guaranteed. Secondly, with a decreasing number of participants, their anonymity is at stake. This is because individual answers, especially those to the open-ended question at the end of the form, can more easily be back-tracked to individual students.

Even if your course has more than 6 participants, there is a remaining risk that the minimum requirement cannot be met. You can try to prevent this by increasing the rate of return.

I am "only" a student tutor of a course. May I nevertheless register for evaluation?

Student tutors may only register for evaluation under their own name if this is approved by the supervising lecturer. It is sufficient if this approval is given to us by the supervising lecturer via email or telephone.

Infographic for Questionnaire Selection

Questionnaire Selection (digital courses)

Questions regarding the questionnaires

Which questionnaire fits my course best?

At present, you can choose between six different versions of our questionnaires. These questionnaires can be used either paper-based or online.

For hybrid or digital courses, there is, with one exception, one questionnaire variant each (e.g. FEVOR^hd) that includes aspects of hybrid and digital learning (e.g. digital implementation of the course, self-study).

• Lecture (FEVOR / FEVOR^hd),
• Seminar (FESEM / FESEM^hd),
• Practical/Exercise Class (FEPRA),
• Exercise Class/Practical (FEUEB / FEUEB^hd),
• Language Course (FESPR / FESPR^hd) and
• Competence Acquisition (FEKOM / FEKOM^hd).

If you are not sure which questionnaire fits your course best, you should inspect our sample forms as well as our decision guide. Examine which questions can presumably be answered by most of your students, and choose "your" type of questionnaire based on this.

• Decision Guide (face-to-face / digital course)
• Sample Forms

Questions regarding the evaluation procedure

How can I increase the rate of return?

Increasing the rate of return is especially useful for courses where the number of attending students is only slightly above the minumum participation criterion. There are two ways of ensuring a maximum response rate:

• The rate of return is noticeably higher if the forms are filled in during the course (either online via QR code/link or paper-based).
• From experience, the number of attending students drop towards the end of the semester. By evaluating a bit earlier, you should have more students attending your course which contributes to a higher response rate.

Questions regarding the evaluation reports

What is a report without norm values?

On the first page of the standard report (sample report), you will find the results of the overall indicators, consisting of subject areas and global questions. Beneath the absolute scores (raw scores), you will find a comparison of your individual results with results of other courses held at Osnabrück University (distinguished by plus- and minus-signs).

Since winter semester 2006/2007, we offer you an additional report (sample report), in which your individual results are displayed without this comparison. You can request such an additional report by sending us a short email after receiving the standard report or by indicating this request on the german "Faltblatt". Please note that the report without norms will be sent to you after the end of a semester though. In contrast to that you will get the standard report within a few working days after returning the filled-in forms.