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Student feedback in online course evaluations

I recently read through all of the online course evaluations for the Winter and Spring quarters. Most evaluations are positive, as are most comments, but there are always some courses which generate enough negative comments to cause concern.  The majority of comments are concerned with the instructor's interaction with individual students. When an instructor provides prompt and meaningful feedback on student work, replies to questions sent via email and participates actively in class discussions, students are happy. Issues which also generate positive comments, though less often, are clear instructions and good organization. I think all of these are related to the isolation of the online learner. Contact with the unseen instructor is very important in an online class and when feedback is not prompt or is generic, students are not happy.

Creating the online class may be considerable work, but staying active in the class and interacting with students is what makes the biggest difference when it comes to course evaluations.

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