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Course Evaluations

Methods | Effect on Professional Practice | Benefits for Professional Community | Benefits for Students | Course Completion | Representativeness

Introduction

This page presents statistical results drawn from course evaluations that we conduct at the end of each semester. It addresses our offerings' effects on learners' professional practice; benefits in supporting a professional community of educators; and effects on participants' own students. We also include short sections on course completion and on the representativeness of our samples.

Methods

We are careful to assess the validity and reliability of our survey findings, and to do this we employ multiple methods. Some of these are outlined below.

• Validity --
  • checks on the representativeness of those who respond
    • comparability in demographic and course-related factors
    • additional checks via wave analysis (comparing earlier with later respondents)
  • factor analysis to assess items' construct validity
  • screening for items' susceptibility to social desirability bias
• Reliability --
  • test-retest correlation for individual items
  • internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) of scale scores

Response rates by semester for end-of-course evaluations have been 45%-60%.

Effect on Professional Practice

Through surveys, as well as through teacher interviews and classroom observations, we strive to learn whether and in what ways our offerings make a difference in what educators do. A full 97% of survey respondents over the years have told us that the course has helped them improve their practice. Educators typically cite improvements in curricular or lesson design or in reaching and motivating students. In addition, positive opinions have been expressed by educators working in diverse settings -- urban, suburban, and rural -- and in different job roles including those of teacher, administrator, and technology coordinator. The 3x3 chart below displays some of these very favorable results by subgroup.


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Even when results are broken down by these nine subgroups, 93% to 100% within each group have reported course-related improvement in their practice.

Benefits for Professional Community

Another topic emphasized by our courses concerns one's ability to continually reassess one's practice and to share ideas with other educators. WIDE aims to help teachers and others build a professional community that can sustain continual learning. Here, too, our evaluations have produced very encouraging results. The chart below shows the percentage who have agreed or strongly agreed with each of four statements about WIDE's benefits in this area. The chart is broken down by public schools vs. private /independent/other schools to show once again that these benefits are cited by different types of participants.


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Regardless of subgroup, 70% to 92% gave favorable responses to each of these statements.

Benefits for Students

Even by course's end, a very high proportion of our learners -- 95% -- has reported that their participation has paid dividends for their students. Respondents often find that their students pay closer attention in class; ask more insightful questions; and/or understand the material more deeply. (Through open-ended responses, many have shared other benefits they have noticed, such as students taking greater responsibility for their learning.) The chart below shows the percent who have reported improvement in one or more of these three areas. Once again, we have obtained excellent results for diverse groups; here we display results for both foreign and US learners and for those from urban, suburban, and rural school districts.


In any given subgroup, 79% to 88% of learners reported one or more of these student improvements.

The Student Benefits page presents greater detail on this topic.
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Course Completion

In Fall 2003 WIDE World began using its current system of crediting course completion and of awarding certificates. During the years since, of several thousand educators who have participated in our six-session courses, 81.5% have completed their course and earned a professional development certificate. This success rate compares very favorably with typical completion rates for other online professional development programs. The chart below summarizes completion rates by demographic group.


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Representativeness

As mentioned above in Methods, every semester we check the representativeness of survey respondents. Typically we find very few differences in opinion between those with high and low participation. In 2005 we conducted a special survey to inquire about the experiences of learners who did not respond to our usual surveys and who completed relatively few course assignments. We learned that, by and large, these people also had formed positive opinions about the courses, and that their lack of participation was typically due to other factors.

-- Updated September 27, 2007