Assessment form replDavid Brookshire ICES
Instructional Course and Evaluation System, or ICES has been used for the past 30 years to provide faculty student feedback. The old mainframe computer that runs ICES has been retired and along with it, the ICES software. The university has chosen IDEA, or Instructor Development and Educational Assessment, to replace ICES.
The IDEA system is one of the most popular student feedback systems in the country, and is used currently by more than 200 universities.
On the surface, IDEA seems just like ICES: students give feedback by completing a paper survey near the end of the semester in each of their courses.
Deputy Provost Richard Holder said, “Like ICES, the IDEA results will be used as part of faculty performance evaluation in most UNM departments. However, unlike ICES, which merely gave professors averages on each survey question, IDEA gives professors two additional kinds of feedback: (1) information on students' perceived learning; and (2) suggestions on teaching techniques that can increase student learning.
Wynn Goering, vice provost, Academic Affairs, said, “The delivery of useable feedback for improving teaching is a real plus of the IDEA system.”
For students, the forms allow reporting on their own learning gains and the types of instruction that they experienced. The forms are generalized, asking the same questions for all classes, meaning that some questions may not apply to all courses. That does not affect the instructor ratings because each course section has its own learning objectives determined by the instructor. Students should be able to complete the forms quickly during class time.
The Office of Support for Effective Teaching, OSET, is assisting faculty and departmental administrators make the transition from ICES to IDEA. Nick Flor, OSET Teaching and Technology Faculty Coordinator, and associate professor in the Anderson School of Management, has been holding lunchtime meetings with faculty and staff for nearly a year.
“Questions and concerns always arise when you do something new, but overall faculty members and department chairs who have attended our brown bags are looking forward to making use of the IDEA system and its emphasis on assisting faculty to adjust instruction based on student input,” Flor said.
For more information visit the IDEA website at idea.unm.edu, or send an e-mail to idea@unm.edu.