Most people who work in student affairs have attended or planned a program that included an evaluation form. More times than not, it has a half-sheet of paper on which roughly five questions were printed. Generally, the questions all asked the same question, but in different ways:
Did you like this program or event?
Students who have had me for class have heard me refer to this method of assessment as "smiley face surveys." I gave this method that name for two reasons:
1. participants sometimes draw a smiley face on the evaluation, and/or
2. the sole purpose of the evaluation is to make the planner feel good about herself/himself.
As we focus more and more on assessing student learning and development, we're moving away from smiley face surveys. And although I have railed against them for a decade now, I propose a revision and reintroduction of this assessment effort. Hopefully we look at a single program or event as fitting in a larger curriculum for student learning and development. We should want honest feedback from participants in these programs and events. But here's the kicker: it has to be fast and easy.
Using the half-sheet of paper approach, we can quickly ask participants to share some important feedback with some simple open-ended questions. I know what you're thinking. Open-ended questions sound like we're going to ask students to write essays. Not at all. Open-ended simply means that the respondent has the freedom to choose what she or he feels is an appropriate response. For example, we can ask students to identify both their favorite and least-favorite part of the program or event. We can also ask them to describe something they learned in 3-5 words.
Here's the most important reminder for this or any assessment approach. Use the data you collect!
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