The purpose of the Student Perception of Teaching (SPOT) instrument is to provide a more holistic evaluation of teaching focusing on the students’ perception of the teaching and approaches that help students’ learning.
The SPOT instrument was approved by Faculty Senate in Spring 2024 as a replacement for the existing student feedback on instruction instrument (eSEI or Student Evaluation of Instruction). The new SPOT instrument will be utilized by the University (including all campuses) beginning in Fall 2024.
Details about the instrument are below and can be found on the ITS Help Center. (HSC instructors may want to reference the HSC-specific article as well.)
Personnel who will be involved with training/education include Melissa Latimer, Diana Davis, Marina Galvez, Chris Staples and Tracy Morris.
Introductory Text
The text below is the first text the students will see to understand and agree to the mindset of the survey:
This survey is specific to the instructor for this portion of the course. Please focus your feedback on the specific portion of the learning experience that they have control over. (Click to Agree)
Instructions
For each of the following elements, please indicate whether the technique has been beneficial for your learning, neutral to your learning, or has not been helpful for your learning. There is also a “not applicable” response category. You will have the opportunity to provide further details in open-ended questions.
Mandatory Questions (on-campus courses)
The following are mandatory questions for all courses, except online courses. For all these questions, the categories will be Beneficial to my learning (BL), Neutral to my learning (NL), Not helpful to my learning (NHL) and N/A.
- The manner in which concepts were presented was…. BL, NL, NHL, NA
- The methods the instructor used to present information (Discussions, visual, recorded lecture, case studies, charts, reading assignments, etc.) were… BL, NL, NHL, NA
- The variety of assessment methods used by the instructor (quizzes, in class activities, multiple-choice questions, exams, research paper, etc.) that determine the overall course grade was… BL, NL, NHL, NA
- The instructor response to questions (in-class, on-line, office hours) was… BL, NL, NHL, NA
- The ways that my instructor let me know how well I was doing in this course was… BL, NL, NHL, NA
- The computer based (e-campus, sole) and/or other technology learning materials in this class were… BL, NL, NHL, NA
- Did any of the following external conditions of the class compromise your learning? (select all that apply)
- Class size
- Technology
- Available learning tools
- Time of day (e.g., A.M., P.M.)
- Length of class (e.g., 50 min, 110 min)
Mandatory Questions (online courses)
The following are mandatory questions for online courses only. The same responses will be used (BL, NL, NHL, NA).
- The organization of the course material in the online course was… BL, NL, NHL, NA
- The instructor’s presence in the course, through recorded lectures, synchronous meetings, participation on discussion boards, etc., was… BL, NL, NHL, NA
- The timeliness of instructor feedback was… BL, NL, NHL, NA
- The clarity of instructions related to assignments and participation expectations was… BL, NL, NHL, NA
- The level of interactivity in the course with content and peers was… BL, NL, NHL, NA
Additional Questions
The following questions are area-specific and will be added to the mandatory/optional questions, where appropriate:
| Area | Mandatory Question |
|---|---|
| Laboratory | Expectations about specific lab procedures were… BL, NL, NHL, NA
|
| Service Learning | The way the instructor connected the service experience to the course content was…BL, NL, NHL, NA |
| Clinical Courses | The way the instructor connected practice/clinical experiences to profession skills was... BL, NL, NHL, NA |
| Performing and Studio Arts | What helped you to learn in this course? (open-ended) |
| Area | Optional Question |
|---|---|
| Laboratory | Lab procedure explanations were… BL, NL, NHL, NA
Lab safety explanations were… BL, NL, NHL, NA |
| Service Learning | The clarity of instructor’s expectations for the service-learning project was…
BL, NL, NHL, NA
The clarity of community partner’s expectations for the service-learning project was… BL, NL, NHL, NA My instructor’s monitoring of the community project was…BL, NL, NHL, NA |
| Clinical Courses | The instructor’s feedback was… BL, NL, NHL, NA |
Open-Ended Feedback
The following statements are placed before the open-ended question is offered to students. Students must agree to the two statements in order to access the open-ended feedback option. If students don’t agree, the survey is submitted without the option of open-ended feedback.
- Please provide constructive feedback by responding to each of the following items. While you are encouraged to express your thoughts and opinions freely, keep in mind the WVU values and supports open expression within a climate of civility, sensitivity, inclusivity, and mutual respect. (Click to Agree)
- I understand that my responses will be anonymous, and that my instructors, as well as the unit head and various University committees will also be able to read my anonymous responses. I understand that only the University Office of Students Rights and Responsibilities would have access to an individual in exceptional occasions, when a student has violated professionalism or if a student provides comments that could reflect an intention to harm themselves or others. (Click to Agree)
Below is the open-ended feedback prompt:
Please provide constructive suggestions in terms of how this course could be changed to improve your learning.