Self-evaluation questionnaires

Academic year 2023-2024

Self-evaluation questionnaires

Mid-semester questionnaire

Try to complete this by the end of Flexible Learning Week.

Answers can be short - there’s usually no need to write more than a short paragraph for any of these questions.

Part 1: Self evaluation

  1. We’ve had 14 sessions. Of these, I attended: virtually all / most / some / hardly any
  2. This also means that I was asked to write 14 reflections. I submitted: virtually all / most / some / hardly any
  3. We’ve had 8 exercises so far. I submitted: virtually all / most / some / hardly any
  4. What has changed in my thinking about morphology so far (if anything)?
  5. How would I describe my participation in class activities? Am I happy with it?
  6. In what ways have I grown intellectually so far, if any? (It might be helpful to choose one submitted exercise from earlier in the semester and reflect on it)
  7. Is there anything I’m particularly proud of?
  8. (Unless answered above, and only if relevant:) If I had some difficult or special circumstances this semester, how did they affect my engagement with the course? Was I satisfied with that? What other support would I like to have?

Part 2: Course evaluation

  1. Compared to other courses, the workload on this course has been: low / about the same / high
  2. Are there ways in which I wish this course were more like other ones?
  3. Are there ways in which I wish other courses were more like this one?
  4. Is there something we’re doing that we should stop doing? Why?
  5. Is there something that we aren’t doing enough of?

Part 3: Group project

  1. My group project might still be in its infancy, but how would I describe my role and participation so far? Am I happy with it? (It might be too early to answer this question in any detail)

Part 4: Grading

  1. If I had to give myself a grade on this course so far, which of the following would it be and why? 1st (A) / 2:1 (B) / 2:2 (C) / 3rd (D) / Fail

For reference, here’s the university’s Common Marking Scheme: https://www.ed.ac.uk/timetabling-examinations/exams/regulations/common-marking-scheme

Here’s an attempt in PPLS to make sense of it: http://students.ppls.ed.ac.uk/assignments/psychology/extended-common-marking-scheme/

Instructor’s mid-semester questionnaire

Part 1: Self evaluation

  1. How would I describe my guiding of class activities? Am I happy with it?
  2. In what ways have I grown intellectually so far (if any)?
  3. Is there anything I’m particularly proud of?

Part 2: Course evaluation

  1. What are the biggest differences between this course and others? How do I feel about these differences?
  2. Are there ways in which I thought this course should be more like other ones?
  3. What has worked better than expected?
  4. What has worked less smoothly than expected?
  5. What am I still surprised or unsure about?

Part 3: Group projects

  1. How would I describe my role and participation in the group projects so far? Am I happy with it?
  2. What is the main contribution of our projects?

Final self-assessment questionnaire

This is the final self-evaluation questionnaire. Responses should be posted in the usual way, as a portfolio entry. It would be useful to go back and re-read the entire portfolio in preparation.

Students are also invited to schedule an “exit interview” with Itamar to talk about how the semester went.

Self-evaluations should be submitted at least a day before the exit interview. In the meeting itself, we will use the self-evaluation as a starting point to:

  • Agree on the final mark.
  • Discuss how the course has gone, including any feedback.

Part 1: Self evaluation

  1. We’ve had 29 sessions in total (including final presentations). Of these, I attended: virtually all / most / some / hardly any
  2. This also means that I was asked to write reflections on 25 sessions. I submitted: virtually all / most / some / hardly any
  3. We’ve had 12 exercises. I submitted (or wrote up but forgot to actually submit): virtually all / most / some / hardly any
  4. Did I submit the mid-semester self-evaluation? If so: what do I think has changed since then? If not: why, and how did I try to catch up?
  5. What has changed in my thinking about morphology? (It might be useful to reflect on my final hexagon exercise or a previous exercise from my portfolio)
  6. What has changed in my thinking about linguistics, either as a whole or about individual subfields? (For example, now that we’ve deconstructed morphology and rebuilt it from the ground up, to what extent would we be able to do that with another subfield?)
  7. How would I describe my participation in class activities? Am I happy with it?
  8. In what ways have I grown intellectually?
  9. What skills have I gained, or developed, which will be useful after my degree?
  10. In what ways has my relationship with my classmates evolved over the semester?
  11. Is there anything I want to work on in the future? How?
  12. Is there anything I’m particularly proud of? Why?
  13. [Unless answered above, and only if relevant:] If I had some difficult or special circumstances this semester, how did they affect my engagement with the course? Was I satisfied with that? What other support would I like to have, either from the instructor or from the School/University?
  14. If English isn’t my native language: is there a note I want to leave here for myself, in my own language, which would make it easier for me to express myself or to reflect?

Part 2: Course evaluation

  1. Compared to other courses, the workload on this course was (in what ways?): low / about the same / high
  2. Compared to other courses, the degree of anxiety or stress - if any - was (in what ways?): low / about the same / high
  3. We covered the following topics: Words and morphemes; affix ordering; allomorphy; argument structure; lexical semantics; lexical processing; acquisition (briefly); computational modelling (briefly). Which one was my favourite? Why?
  4. Which one was my least favourite? Why?
  5. Were my contributions to class discussion valued and acknowledged?
  6. Are there ways in which I wish this course were more like other ones?
  7. Are there ways in which I wish other courses were more like this one?
  8. There is the possibility of arranging a tutorial slot for next year’s course. The tutorial would be dedicated to additional exercises. Thinking about my engagement this year, how often would I realistically attend an additional weekly tutorial session? What if we had a tutorial session instead of a regular session (“lecture”)?
  9. Next year’s course could also increase the focus on other topics, for example more on acquisition, or a new block on other approaches to morphology. What do I think a good balance would be?
  10. Looking at my degree as a whole, how do I see this course fitting in? [This can also be a simple copy-paste to or from my answer to the LEL feedback form, as in Part 6 below]

Part 3: Group project

  1. How would I describe my role and participation in the group project? Am I happy with it?
  2. What is the main contribution of our project? What did we try to do, and did we achieve it?
  3. What did I learn from working on this project (in terms of content, skills, or both)?
  4. How could the group have worked (even) better together?

Part 4: Final mark

Since the university requires number marks for this course, what mark am I assigning myself?

It might help to think about the following questions:

  • What skills have I developed?
  • How did I help others in their learning?
  • Did I try to edge out of my comfort zone?
  • Did I reflect on my progress consistently, and adjust my approach when necessary?

For reference, here’s the university’s Common Marking Scheme: [https://www.ed.ac.uk/timetabling-examinations/exams/regulations/common-marking-scheme]

And here’s an attempt in PPLS to make sense of it: [http://students.ppls.ed.ac.uk/assignments/psychology/extended-common-marking-scheme/]

Part 5: Being acknowledged for my contributions

Itamar might be invited to give presentations on this course, or on this way of teaching and learning, in conferences and seminars in the future.

  • Am I ok with excerpts from my portfolio being reproduced anonymously? Yes / No
  • Am I ok being acknowledged by name as a participant in the course? Yes / No
  • Am I ok with my group project being made available to future students on this course? Yes / No

Part 6: LEL feedback (optional)

The traditional way to give LEL feedback is through departmental feedback exercises (and the Staff-Student Liaison Committees, or SSLC, which have already met). Here is the link for this year’s Hons/MSc feedback form, which all students are encouraged to fill out (once for all courses; separate arrangements for PhD/DPT students).

This is an important opportunity to reflect on the place of any individual course within the degree programme, as well as on the programme as a whole. Staff take this feedback very seriously but don’t always get much concrete, actionable input.

With that in mind, it’s worth thinking about the following:

  • What feedback will I submit about this course? (No need to enter this in the self-evaluation!)
  • What feedback will I submit about my other courses? (Definitely no need to enter this in the self-evaluation!)

Instructor’s final self-assessment questionnaire

Part 1: Self evaluation

  1. How would I describe my guiding of class activities? Am I happy with it?
  2. In what ways have I grown?
  3. Is there anything I’m particularly proud of?
  4. How well did I accommodate different learning preferences, or different individual circumstances?
  5. What else do I want to work on in the future? How?
  6. How many times was I touched when reading students’ honest reflections?

Part 2: Course evaluation

  1. Compared to other courses, the workload on this course was (in what ways?): low / about the same / high
  2. How did the following components of the course go? Words and morphemes; Affix ordering; Allomorphy; Argument structure; Lexical semantics; Lexical processing; Acquisition; Computational modelling; Exercises; Reflections.
  3. What are the biggest differences between this course and others? How do I feel about these differences?
  4. What should the course structure be like next year?
  5. What concrete things are on the to-do list for next year?
  6. What else should I think about for next time?

Part 3: Group project

How would I describe the role I played in the group projects? Am I happy with it?

Part 4: Top three

And finally, just for fun, my list of top 3 in-class moments.

Assessment structure

Assessment structure (as discussed in class)

What we want to evaluate:

  • What we’ve learned and how we’ve grown (portfolio: reflections)
  • How well we’ve learned the skills (portfolio: exercises)
  • How we can apply the new knowledge and create (project)

Accordingly, self-assessment will rely on the following:

  • Portfolio (Learn Journal) with self-reflection and answers to exercises
  • Self-evaluations at midterm and end of semester
  • Optional “exit interview” at end of semester
  • Group project (any medium, can be creative) - devote time to this in class some Thursdays
  • Project topic due around Weeks 5-6
  • Project presentation around Weeks 9-11
  • Projects due Week 12: Thu 11.04.23
  • Portfolios and self-evaluations due Week 14: Tue 22.04.23

Working in pairs or small groups on the exercises is permitted and encouraged! There’s no need to disclose anything in the journal, though I imagine that the reflections and self-evaluations will discuss collaboration.

Students give themselves marks at the end of the course, based on their self assessment. The instructors reserves the right to change these; in practice, this means raising marks when students are too hard on themselves.

See also Bloom’s taxonomy:

Bloom's taxonomy

Portfolio, self-assessment and feedback

What’s a portfolio for?

Learning is an active process: it happens best when we’re all engaged. Learning is also something that we can learn how to do better. Think of a hobby you might have or a skill you’ve learned: you’ve probably perfected it for a while, paying close attention to what did or didn’t work.

That’s why both students and the instructor will reflect on how the course is going and what they’ve learned. After each class we’ll all write short self-reflections. I’ll also comment on yours and you’ll be able to comment on mine. Together, these will form our portfolios. At the mid-term point and at the end of the semester, we’ll take stock of what we’ve learned, as documented in the portfolio.

Since we’re also learning some specific skills in formal linguistics, we will work on exercises as well. You’ll write up short answers to these in the same system, and the datasets will be discussed either through the feedback system or in class.

What do we need to do?

After every class you’ll need to write one self-reflection and answer one exercise. Afterwards you need to read my feedback on your entries.

What happens is:

  1. We have class.
  2. We reflect on what we’ve learned and what our expectations are for next class.
  3. We write down brief (1-paragraph) reflections in one entry, e.g. one titled “Week 1, Tue: Reflection”.
  4. I comment on these, and you might comment on mine.
  5. I will also distribute exercises, usually datasets to be explored. In this case, you will also suggest solutions to these problems, though often there won’t be just one solution, e.g. in a short entry titled “Week 1, Tue: Exercise”.
  6. I give feedback on the exercises either individually in the journal or in collaborative discussion in class.

So: after any given class, you’ll write a short self-reflection and an answer to an exercise. Within a reasonable amount of time, I’ll react to these journal entries. The collection of all journal entries and my feedback is your Portfolio.

When should we do everything by?

There is no deadline, though I recommend that you do so as soon as you can. You decide how much effort you put into this course and plan your time accordingly - that’s not my business. I will write my reflections on the same day and try to give everyone individual feedback within a week.

You can get Learn notifications for when I give you feedback, but you could also just check your journal before class or at the end of the week.

What kinds of things should I write in my self-reflection?

Here are some examples of prompts for reflection:

  • What did I find surprising in today’s class?
  • What did I learn?
  • What do I expect next time?
  • What do I want to improve on?
  • How much effort did I put in?
  • How do I like this material compared to other sessions?
  • How do I like this material compared to other courses?
  • What did I find especially useful this time?
  • What did I find especially unhelpful this time?

Prompts for in-class discussion

Questions for self-reflection (already done in your journals):

  • Name something you’re good at
  • Say what you’re at uni for
  • Two memories with marks

Questions for group discussion (in groups of 3-4)

  1. What are you taking this course for?
  2. What do you want to get out of it?

Questions for class discussion

  • What do we really want to evaluate?
  • How would we like that to be assessed?
  • What would you like to create?

Ungrading resources

Groupwork

How to work in groups (class discussion)

The rationale: why do group projects at uni?

  • Teamwork and collaborative work are prevalent in the real world (and in academia).
  • Another chance to learn from one another.
  • Another chance to learn additional skills, e.g. communication.
  • With this project students get agency in getting to create something of value to them.

Working in groups:

  1. How do members communicate? [communication]
    • Email, group text, collaborative doc, Slack/Discord/Teams - whatever works, as long as it’s clear what the platform is.
  2. When and how often does the group meet? [time management]
    • As necessary. Sometimes it’s good to plan a regular meeting (once a week? Twice a week? Every other week?) and sometimes it’s easier to decide ad-hoc.
  3. What are the steps between now and the completed project?
    • Does the project go from parts to a whole, or from a draft version to a full version? [project planning, time management]
    • Some projects imply a certain sequence: for example, first do the lit review, then the methods, then the materials, then the analysis, then the conclusion, then the introduction.
    • Others benefit from creating a small draft version of the final product, then slowly adding and enhancing.
    • In practice, a given project will include both aspects.
  4. What does a (productive) meeting look like? [communication]
    • Usually some subset of the following:
    • Stating aims for the meeting
    • reports back on what’s been done since the last meeting
    • other updates
    • items for discussion
    • recap of action items and whose responsibility they are
    • decision on time of the next meeting
  5. What roles do members assume? [project planning]
    • Is one person in charge of co-ordinating everyone? Does everyone know what they’re responsible for? Is someone responsible for the lit review and someone else for materials, or is the setup different? There are no right answers, only communication and co-ordination between group members!
  6. Do members work in parallel or sequence? [project planning]
    • Depends on the task: sometimes member A needs to finish a task so that member B can start their own work on it, and sometimes they can make progress concurrently.
  7. When do groups check in with the instructor? [project planning]
    • Whenever they need to! We will also have regular check-ins.
  8. How is work distributed? [communication, project planning]
    • It doesn’t need to be distributed equally - few teams in the real world work under completely equal division of labour.
    • Rather, each member should do the work that speaks to their strengths and contributes to the project as a whole, keeping in mind their own commitments elsewhere.
    • This means that some members might choose to do less than others. This isn’t a problem as long as the plan and expectations are clear to all members.

Group projects in our course

Once we’ve reached week 3, students will form small groups (4-5 members) to work on joint projects and learn from one another.

Possible forms for the project could be:

  • A traditional essay
  • A proposal for an experiment
  • A comic strip
  • A video, collection of short videos
  • A podcast
  • A listicle
  • A poem, painting or other work of art

See here for some examples and motivation:

The expectation is that each group will decide on its topic and the form of its project together with the instructor by the mid-semester mark (Flexible Learning Week).

How do I find a topic?

You’d want to think about the kinds of things you’re interested in, and what you might want to create.

  1. In terms of content: are you interested in a specific language or language family? Are you interested in a specific phenomenon or phenomena?
  2. In terms of form: are you looking to create novel analyses? Are you more interested in communicating ideas to a general audience (or a general linguistic audience)? Do you want to learn or practice a certain skill?

Groupwork resources