Teaching Assistant Development Program

Supporting Graduate Students' Academic and Professional Success

Evaluations

At UCR, assessments of TA instructors are based on student evaluations submitted just prior to the end of the academic term. These assessments help departments to determine future TA placements and help Graduate Division to identify TAs who could benefit from additional pedagogical support. They also form an important part of your professional portfolio as an educator. Below, you will find some resources for understanding and improving your student evaluations.

Questions Asked on Student Evaluations

 

Ensure Your iEval Information is Correct

It is important that the courses you are TAing are listed accurately in iEval, the online system that undergraduates use to evaluate their TAs. You will receive an email from the TADP Coordinator around Week 8 asking you to log into iEval and check that your courses are displaying correctly. PLEASE CHECK iEVAL IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIVING THE EMAIL. If you procrastinate, it is possible that ITS will not have sufficient time to make the necessary corrections before the evaluation period closes. If that happens, you may not receive any feedback on your teaching for that quarter. 

 

Address Bias in Evaluations

While feedback is an important and necessary part of improving as an instructor, the existence of implicit and even outright bias in student evaluations is a serious issue. Please take the following steps to address bias before and after the evaluation period opens.

Discuss Evaluations and Bias with Your Students Before iEval Opens

Studies have also shown that if you talk to your students in advance about issues of bias in evaluations, it impacts how they approach the evaluation process. Here are some resources you might use in having such a conversation:

  • UC Merced rubric and video for students on how to provide fair and useful feedback
  • McGill University short video on implicit bias in course evaluations
  • McGill University Guidelines for providing constructive feedback

Communicate with your students that evaluations are professional documents, not informal reviews. Encourage students to help you identify what elements are working well in the class as well as elements that might need improvement. Remind students to log onto iEval and to complete their evaluations before the evaluation period closes.

Review Evaluations and Contact TADP If You Need Assistance

Please review your evaluations as soon as they are available; if you find any statements that do not substantively address your teaching, but instead are hateful or discriminatory on the basis of attributes such as gender, sexual or gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, or disability, please contact TADP Coordinator immediately (tadp@ucr.edu). A Graduate Division committee will review the evaluation and make a determination on appropriate follow-up action.

UCR undergraduate and graduate students, TAs, faculty, and staff are expected to follow university codes of conduct and maintain a responsible, respectful, and safe campus community.

 

Improve Your Evaluations

Here are some tips from UCR TAs on how to improve your evaluations: