A new student evaluation of teaching system coupled with a new core set of questions is quietly making its debut at Cornell this spring. Commonly called Student Evaluations of Teaching, or SETs, the change has been under development since 2019.

“Cornell currently uses something like 200 different forms of course evaluation, and many of them feed into known problems of bias and aren’t always good at getting instructors the kind of feedback that they need to improve their courses,” said the project’s executive sponsor, Vice Provost for Academic Innovation Steven J. Jackson.

“In addition to a core set of questions, we wanted to deliver a common, mobile-friendly evaluation experience for all students. Making the experience easier and more intuitive for our students increases the likelihood of their participation.”

Jackson, a professor in the Department of Information Science and the Department of Science and Technology Studies since 2011, argues that better feedback from students can provide essential information for faculty about what is working and not working for students in their courses – an effect undermined by low response rates and sometimes by poor survey design. He also grasps the need for a department-wide perspective, having served as the Chair of Information Science. The SETs platform provides both instructor-level analytics and a dashboard for chairs, deans, and other leaders.