Evaluation of Instruction Policy

Effective August 11, 2014

Policy statement

Completion of evaluations of instruction is a professional expectation of pharmacists and student pharmacists. Students who fail to complete their assigned instructional evaluations in a timely manner are considered deficient in their fulfillment of professional obligations. The first failure to complete 90% of assigned evaluations for a given learning period will result in a warning. Subsequent failures will result in submission of a Professionalism Concerns Report (PCR), with consequences as outlined in the school’s policy on professionalism.

Background

Action to improve healthcare and healthcare education is a key component of professionalism for pharmacy trainees and pharmacists.1 One means by which healthcare education is improved is through the provision of timely, thoughtful, and actionable feedback.2 Students are expected to complete instructional evaluations of instructors and of courses, and guidance on providing effective feedback is provided.3 In order to maintain anonymity, individual response rates have not been tracked nor were consequences enforced for non-completion. Instead, group incentives for satisfactory aggregate completion rates have been provided; however in recent years, evaluation completion rates have been unacceptably low. Lack of adequate feedback compromises assessment of quality and reduces opportunities for instructional improvement. A potential explanatory factor for the lower evaluation completion rates was the increasing number of evaluations students were assigned. To reduce the overall volume of evaluations that students are expected to complete, the Educational Policy Committee recently implemented random allocation of evaluations for core didactic courses. Although this sampling approach has shown to provide adequately representative results, it magnifies the importance of student evaluation completion.4 Mandated completion of evaluations has been enacted at other health professions schools.5 To emphasize the importance of feedback for professional development, this policy considers completion of student evaluations of instructional activities as a component of professionalism and provides for sanction if expectations in this area are not met.

Applicability

This policy applies to all Doctor of Pharmacy students.

Definitions

Learning period - For didactic courses and pharmacy practice experiences, this is the quarter during which the instructional activity took place. For research experiences, this is the quarter during which the research experience is completed.

Responsibility

  • The Office of Educational and Instructional Services (OEIS) will be responsible for sending reminder emails to students whose evaluations are delinquent and for providing OSACA a list of students who do not complete their evaluations after the specified quarterly deadline.
  • The Office of Student Affairs and Curricular Affairs (OSACA) will be responsible for sending warning emails to students who fail to meet their obligation the first time, for completing a PCR for students who have a second instance, and for referring students to the Professionalism Liaison as indicated.
  • The Educational Policy Committee (EPC) will be responsible for review of this policy to ensure it is meeting its specified goals.

Procedures

The deadline for completion of student evaluations of instruction will be midnight of the Monday after the end of finals week for that quarter. Students who have not completed their evaluations by the last day of finals week will receive an automated email reminder. Students who have not completed at least 90% of their assigned evaluations by the deadline will be considered to have not met professionalism standards. For the first quarter in which this occurs, a student will receive a warning via email. Upon a second or subsequent failure to satisfy the expectation for completion of evaluations, a PCR will be filed and the Associate Dean of Professional Affairs and Curricular Affairs will meet with the student, who will determine if referral to the Professionalism Liaison is necessary. Accumulation of a third or greater PCR (whether resulting from failure to complete evaluations or other reasons) will lead to referral to the Student Status & Honors Committee.

References

  1. Professionalism: A Core Academic Competency
  2. Wright, S. L., & Jenkins-Guarnieri, M. (2012). Student evaluations of teaching: Combining the meta-analyses and demonstrating further evidence for effective use. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 37(6), 683-699
  3. Providing Effective Feedback on Educational Activities (login required)
  4. Kreiter, C. D. and Lakshman, V. (2005), Investigating the use of sampling for maximising the efficiency of student-generated faculty teaching evaluations. Medical Education, 39: 171–175.
  5. Barnett CW, Matthews HW. Teaching evaluation practices in colleges and schools of pharmacy. Am J Pharm Educ. 2009 Oct 1;73(6):103.

Related

Professionalism: A Core Academic Competency