New online course evaluation system successfully launched

bluePULLMAN, Wash. – In the fall, students in about half of Washington State University’s classes used the new online course evaluation system, eXplorance Blue, which involved six colleges and the Global Campus. Four of the colleges had overall response rates of 70 percent or higher.

Faculty and students had a smooth experience on the whole, indicated by a low level of help requests, said Kimberly Green, director of the Office of Assessment of Teaching and Learning (ATL), which is managing the new system.

For spring, Blue will be limited to the same colleges and programs that participated in the fall   while technical staff make adjustments in preparation for scaling up next fall.

“We were pleased with a successful migration of online course evaluations for most colleges that used Skylight in the past,” Green said. The new system’s automated email reminders and mobile-friendly interface may have helped response rates, she said: “Students were able to use mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, to complete course evaluations.”

For spring semester, most courses in these colleges will offer evaluations in Blue: College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences; Honors College; College of Nursing; College of Pharmacy; College of Veterinary Medicine; and Voiland College of Engineering. Online courses offered through Global Campus will also use the new system.

Other colleges will move into Blue over the next four semesters, coordinated at the college level. By fall 2016, all WSU classes on all campuses will use eXplorance Blue for course evaluations.

For more information, see http://atl.wsu.edu/online_course_evals_surveys/overview.html.