Student Evaluation of Instruction

As Robert Haskell notes below in "Academic Freedom, Tenure and Student Evaluations of Faculty," university faculty have a vexed relationship with student rations of instruction. On one hand, faculty (particularly pre-tenure faculty) worry that evaluations will be treated less as instructional tools to help them improve than as gate-keeping resources. Yet student course evaluations can prove productive if used appropriately. The links below can serve to inform faculty and administration on some of the issues related to course evaluations, and several links offer suggestions for assessment instruments to be used throughout the semester.

Issues in Student Course Evaluations

Teaching and Learning Evaluation Forms (Carnegie Mellon): These downloadable PDF forms offer good questions for students to think about; forms are specific to different sorts of courses (lecture, studio, project, etc.). Includes forms for TA evaluation and Pilot Evaluations.
Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Student Evaluation of Faculty: Galloping Polls in the 21st Century (Robert Haskell, New England): From the abstract: "It is suggested that the literature shows the SEF infringe on instructional responsibilities of faculty by providing a control mechanism over curricular, course content, grading and teaching methodology."
Student Ratings Offer Useful Input to Teacher Evaluation (Michael Scriven, CREATE): A defense of student evaluations, including "nine" potential sources of validity for student ratings of instruction."
Fifteen Common Beliefs & Misconceptions (Carnegie Mellon)

Other Resources

Research Regarding Student Ratings (Evaluations) (UIUC)
Annotated Bibliography on Student Evaluations
What Do They Know Anyway? (R. Felder)
Course and Teachers Surveys (CATS) (Villanova)
Evaluation System for Courses and Instruction @ UCSB
Student Opinion of Instruction (Southeastern Louisiana)
Course Ratings @ K-State
Instructional Assessment System @ Washington
Course Evaluations for Online Courses @ Washington