Are you about to buy, change, or redesign, or build a course evaluation system?  If so, this invitation might enable your institution to get a better system and at lower cost.

Last year, The TLT Group, Washington State University, and six interested TLT/Flashlight subscribers received a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) for a project that to rethink the whole process of getting online evaluations of courses and faculty from students.  Too many institutions use course evaluation systems that distort teaching and learning, rather than supporting its improvement.  BeTA (BEtter Teaching through Assessment) is developing:

Ø       Materials and training to help institutions develop local, flexible strategies for gathering online feedback from students in ways that can improve teaching while simultaneously aiding in faculty personnel decisions. The process helps develop approaches that fit both research on teaching and the priorities of individual institutions, departments, and individual faculty. Part of the strategy focuses on achieving high rates of response to these surveys.

Ø       A web-based software system to implement this approach that’s being developed for BETA by Washington State University.   Some institutions may want us to host BETA for them, so they have no new computer systems to install and so that they can make use of ideas, surveys and items from other institutions.  Other institutions will want to adapt our source code and run their own version of the system locally so that they can link the course evaluation process to their own administrative systems.

For details on BETA, see http://www.tltgroup.org/beta/betahome.htm .

Because software for BETA is still in the design phase, there’s still time to influence its specifications.  We know that some institutions, dissatisfied with current systems, are considering building their own systems or purchasing expensive commercial systems. Such institutions may wish to consider joining the BETA project and participating in the design of this open source system.  Later you could either use the system we host, or acquire the code and adapt it to work with your internal systems.

We will accept up to two additional proposals to join BETA; we have already accepted proposals from Northern Arizona University and the University of Southern Indiana. 

Proposals should include a paragraph or two describing your reasons for wishing to join the project, and your particular needs. Preference will be given to institutions that a) already have a task force to re-examine or redesign their student feedback system and b) that can strengthen BETA by forcing us to consider contrasting needs (e.g., different philosophies of course evaluation; different administrative routines or systems).  Institutions may be from any country in the world, not just the United States.

We are especially interested in proposals from two-year postsecondary/tertiary institutions. Participating institutions must be, or become, TLT/Flashlight Network members and also invest US$5000 to support the staff work needed to work with you.  (Note: if your institution is a subscriber but not yet at the Network level, and you resubscribed recently, you may be eligible for a discount if you upgrade to Network status now. Contact sallygilbert@tltgroup.org to ask about this.)  Participating institutions must also send 1-2 members of their BETA team to a project planning meeting at Valencia Community College in Orlando, Florida on Feb. 12-13, 2004. Many important decisions about the design of BETA will be made as a result of discussions at this meeting.

Proposals for this round were due January 20, 2004. If you're interested in applying in the future, please contact Steve Ehrmann (ehrmann@tltgroup.org )