The Arts and Sciences course evaluation was created to help you develop professionally as a teacher. Questions on the evaluation focus on student engagement, which is essential for successful learning, as well as instructor performance. Well-designed courses create a structured but open-ended environment that encourages students to take primary responsibility for their learning, motivates and facilitates their continued engagement, and offers them ample opportunities for assessment of and reflection on their progress. 

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dcal/resources/evaluations.html

Learning environment needs empathy. But I am not sure if ethnicity needs special treatment! My experience suggests that such an issue would need more articulation in the process rather than the meta level interfaces.

I am also on the 'No' side.  Unless it is specifically relevant, don't ask  ;-)

I believe here also it will not be appreciated to ask about ethnicity.

I totally agree that unless we have the information, then it is very unlikely that we can confidently analyse any differences based upon ethnicity. I also think it is highly unlikely that simply asking the question can have any measurable adverse effects, particularly if we ensure that a 'rather not say' option is given. I would be very interested to hear of any specific research (rather than opinion alone) that points to contrary findings. As Charles Babbage said: ‘Errors using inadequate data are much less than those using no data at all’.

Agreed there are pros & cons for collecting ethnicity information in which to some students / stakeholders this can be sensitive.  Depending on the objective to collect such ethnicity information e.g. for betterment of research & development, for knowledge contribution, for customizing the future courses to better meet some students' expectations etc, may be such data collection is justifiable - same analogy during research survey i.e. we only collect the demographic data that we need for data analysis, no point collect additional data that we don't use.  Also when we collect such ethnicity information, we need to explain to the students the objective of such collection, include informed consent & confidential clauses, provide freedom to them whether they want to fill up / not to fill up.  Alternatively, instead of asking ethnicity information, we can ask less sensitive question like "Is English your Primary / Secondary Language?" if the objective is for presenter to slow down / adjust his or her English accent to cater for those students that English as a Foreign Language (EFL) / English as a Secondary Language (ESL) etc.

While many will forbide it, I think that ut is an important variable. Mayne the notions in the course are not familiar to specific origin? and so om....

The politicly correct trend, hide many important information

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

No, they should not ask for student ethnicity. Students should only be be measured by the yardstick of their self-evaluation, course evaluation as understanding/ intake of the lessons/ subjects as opposed to the language they speak, or, as we would say today, their ethnicity.

Ethnicity does not always say anything about economic background, which is what I think is at the root of this question. If we are trying to help under-privileged students, ethnicity is NOT always an indicator. Example: in the state of New Mexico, both extremely wealthy self-identifying as "white" Hispanics can tick the box labelled "of Mexican descent" as well as the very badly discriminated, recently arrived Mexican laborers and their children. In Arizona, "white" can mean upscale child of East Coast retirees, or trailer-park offspring of unemployed, migratory Midwestern farm workers. So if we are trying to help students with difficulties, asking for family earnings is a much better indicator than ethnicity. Angela Davis is African-American...do you think, with her university tenured salary, that she is earning what a working class woman in Harlem or Oakland is earning? 

I agree with Nicole in the sense that this will depend on what you are trying to find out. In South Africa race still appears on forms almost everywhere partly because of the need to assess the extent to which transformation in our post apartheid society is occurring

Studies have shown that teachers of non-mainstream backgrounds (black, Aboriginal) are viewed or assessed as less authoritative by students who were surveyed about a number of student experiences in post-secondary education.  The racial background was a determinative factor in the quality of instruction as indicated by students.  Thus, if students identify their own background, this will help teachers by showing that their evaluations are sometimes affected by race and not just on merit.  

NO, unless the study is looking at some relationship or experience to a phenomenon.

Ethnic identification or a reservation basis is required for uplifting particular class of people so that they are upwardly mobile. In India, we dont have such a process in course evaluations, but reservation policies do exist during entry level in higher education (college / university) and in employment for people belonging to socially backward communities

I believe following the experience of being in college that student ethnicity should be included on evaluation forms. This allows lecturers the ability to get an indication of how well a module is understood by all of those in her class. Often students have variations in their language ability and comprehension which is not identifiable if the individual does not come forward and make a difficulty known.. with Erasmus schemes and many students taking a year out to study in English speaking colleges it is easy to forget that for this student it may not be their first language but one they are choosing to try to improve. Having this option on an evaluation form allows lecturers to develop a more inclusive way of teaching a topic by being mindful of the module language and capacity to understand what is being said and how even written questions are formulated. Having a  student from abroad is further challenged by those she meets as in some countries different dialects of English are spoken in accents and tone that make comprehension difficult. Our Erasmus student discovered a multitude of englis dialects and accents on coming to an Irish college which delayed her ability to make friends due to trying to understand the English spoken in different parts of one country.. if culture and ethnicity are truly going to be embraced and learning enjoyed by all this question should be optional and answered on individual experience of understanding to ensure an inclusive learning experience

I totally agree with Georgina. I have worked with teachers who felt they had no responsibility for supporting students whose English was weak and I have seen bright and hardworking students penalised for this.  I understand that our role is not to teach English (unless that is our subject) but we have a duty to ensure our discipline is understood.   We often forget that students are customers and have paid a lot for our courses and our universities and colleges and have accepted them on this basis. Generic language, writing support services are often excellent but inadequate and students from other cultures may be embarrassed to access them. Yes to ethnicity on evaluation forms BUT MAKE SURE THE INFORMATION IS UTILISED!

This is an interesting question.

I would say collecting ethnicity data (though highly sensitive) is always useful to ensure diversity and provide equal opportunity to all, making the organisation/institution to be adequately represented. For example, if particular ethnic groups are underrepresented in a particular course, the institution could target that group and try to identify potential contributing barriers for the underrepresentation, see what can be done to improve the situation, if any.

However, if this information (ethnicity data) is not appropriately used, it could be perceived as not competitive, i.e. not selecting the candidates based on merit, and etc.

Good luck with the investigation.

Peter   

Georgina and Mary,

Then why not just ask about language vs. ethnicity?  I have students that speak fluent English and have ethnic backgrounds. Do the blindfold test..of many students and try to identify them based on what you don't see(language) vs what you see, possible ethnic trait which could/could not infer language barrier. Thoughts?

Some universities may have policies in place that require this information to be collected whether or not it is useful when analysing the results.

My argument comes from the fact that in Ireland English is spoken very fast leaving the student who is trying to improve their English language skills in the dark as to what is going on. We had a Swedish student Who had another ethnic race background and when she listened or joined us at break or lunch she got lost in our conversations due to the variation in dialect, pronunciation she used to many times ask us to repeat or explain what we were saying.  It took her many months to adjust her hearing to the speed at which we spoke before she knew and could participate with us. We also felt guilty because we forgot that we were failing to be inclusive not through ignorance as this girl's English was perfect. I also my Nigerian class mate also experienced. The same when he first came here to live every county has a different accent and in turn this variation is evident at grassroots level it matters not to me where my fellow student comes from however from an educational perspective in order to ensure the needs of every and all students are being met it should be an optional question on evaluation forms. However the real answer is what do the educational establishment s learn from these forms And how they chose to use the data. I would like to think our Erasmus students get the best chance to experience learning that is available to them and that they are integrating and able to participate and enhance the learning in not only the modules they do but for the lecturers also. This was one part of college we enjoyed finding out about the lifestyle and educational experiences of our exchange students was an additional learning bonus as we discovered and compared modules and learning methods. This will be interesting study however the importance of the findings will be crucial in improving the learning experience for all our students

For the purposes of establishing meaningful evaluation questions and ways to improve the structure, content, and style of the course, I think this could be valuable. I do worry however about if that data is available to the professor when the evals are returned which could  help them identify the person completing the form.

In most British universities, you can enquire about ethnicity but it should be optional.

Teaching as inquiry approach helps teachers to change their teaching practice to meet the needs of all their students, data-gathering and information to assist in monitoring student engagement, progress and achievement, adapting learning programmes and strategies, also identify students who need further challenge or additional support. Reflection also helps teachers design focused personal goals and select relevant professional learning to achieve these goals

googleweblight.com/?lite_url=http://www.ero.govt.nz/Review-Process/Frameworks-and-Evaluation-Indicators-for-ERO-Reviews/Evaluation-Indicators-for-School-Reviews/PART-TWO-The-Evaluative-Questions-Prompts-and-Indicators/Dimension-2-Effective-teaching&ei=unNZpidN&lc=en-IN&s=1&m=498&ts=1446965942&sig=APONPFk045XrlT5ajjls9HxBBNsKDbO9Mg

Boy, Debra,

You opened up a can or worms. Great information and observations. I hope this knowledge is helpful.

I think the answer to your question will not be the same in every case.

As misuse and false processing of These data are possible it should be well considered when to ask them. And when you ask to what Detail and use.

After you decided to ask, i think, this should be explained either personally or in a well formulated foot note, for what purpose you do this.

Cynthia:

Somebody has to do it :-)

Debra

Not essential.

It can be possible by defining another veriable.May be some possitive point occure in research. 

Debra,

Sorry for such a late post. Course evaluations are a chance for students to send a message about course content and delivery to the instructor.  For university students ( I assume that is your target audience) I think ethnicity can help an instructor measure if there are broad differences of  student perceptions of the professor's sharing of knowledge based on ethnicity.  One has to make a decision however, for small classes such self identity may be tantamount to a student self-identifying if in a minority of few count for that course.  That should be avoided but is not always avoidable for small classes.  For those classes it is preferable to use a separate method preferably by soliciting feedback by a third party,  It is necessary, in terms of evaluation validity,  for the respondents to not have their confidentiality broken.

For larger classes of students, it would be a smaller concern when a sizable though minority ethnicity is present, or where more than one is present. There it can be asked and the feed back may prove insightful for an instructor. Inclusiveness of content and examples that may be better understood by a minority ethnicity can improve learning, which is, I think,  the point of evaluation. 

In reflection on Ivo's comment about identifying ethnicity as a barrier to "bridge students through common learning and researching integrative and cooperative experiences" I think he is identifying an open ethnic identification in the classroom as a focal point of participation. I think that course evaluations are normally written and anonymous, at least that is my experience, perhaps Debra in Trinidad and Tobago, it is done openly?

One simple inclusive measure can be included that might otherwise cause some consternation for a few students. Allow the student choose more than one ethnicity if so desired; because it is the reality for some students that they are not only of one ethnicity, though some may choose that, and that is okay.  The dilemma it can cause for multi-ethnic students is that they are being asked to value one ethnicity over the other, and in essence perhaps, one parent over the other. That becomes an unnecessary diversion from the purpose of the evaluation, to learn if the student connected with the material taught. 

Disability, like blindness, is a physical trait not related to ethnic identity and is apparent to all students in the context of a class room. I applaud any  thoughtful attempts to integrate students socially in the classroom, but social integration is not educational integration, for that accommodations are needed, precisely because the person is different, and to make things equal - that difference needs to be addressed directly and not ignored; social and educational integration are not the same thing.

Asking for  ethnicity as an identifier is meaningless and discriminatory  - we simply cannot generalise on this determinant given the impact of acculturation and diverse contexts. I coordinate a postgraduate Masters course with 95% of the cohort classified as 'International" students. Whilst all have the requisite English language literacy level for admittance, their standards of academic literacies in management discourses with discursive assessment ranges from very low to acceptable to high. In order to empower the students with their studies and to better understand their epistemology of knowledge generation I asked students to indicate the university they had undertaken their undergraduate degree at, and the name of the degree. With this data I then offered parallel targeted academic literacy workshops to their tutorials. This led to a significant  improvement in quality of learning and assessment.

This question has no meaning other than in Western countries where mass immigration is being imposed without democratic consent, and where the educational establishment is promoting diversity at the cost of the native students, their heritage and history, in the name of creating a mongrelized culture in which corporations and leftist elites who hate European ethnicity are in control. 

What is the theoretical framework to use in research on sexual violence of African American College Males?

I dont think so. How does student ethnicity contribute to course evaluation? The interest is to get feedback on course content and delivery.