Note: this summary was published on Jan 22 and reported again in this blog.
I have sent out the mid-course evaluation survey (Jan 3, 2023) to 120 graduate students. Until now, 18 responses have been received and the response rate is 15%. 83% of the respondents (n=15) agreed to have a mid-course evaluation. 61 % of the respondents (n=11) decided to keep the anonymity of the respondents in mid-course evaluation (WG4). A few elaborated on their responses as follows,
- Keep it anonymous: “I do not see the need to disclose a student’s name. This would be a barrier to participation. Perhaps make the disclosure optional, or not disclosed at all.”
- Don’t keep it anonymous: “I believe in providing open honest feedback with course instructors…Mid course evaluations should be standard practice in all RRU courses.”
- Need more study: “Students should be free to create ongoing evaluation records that are submitted either anonymously or not to a body that is sworn to serve the institution’s interests as outlined in documents reflecting purpose and mission.”
I do not think anonymous surveys serve a purpose. What they do in actuality is promote the idea that it is not safe to speak up. Professors openly evaluate students why does this not work the other way. Royal Roads University should be encouraging adult to adult relationships that support open honest feedback. The hallmark of Emotional Intelligence, the ability to give and receive feedback in a constructive manner and be socially and emotionally aware.