An evaluation is a process of assessing all of the lecturers’ activities inside and outside of the classroom, lecture halls or laboratories that are aimed at identifying strengths and weaknesses in order to enhance student learning.

The evaluation serves three major purposes, namely to:

• Provide feedback on teaching effectiveness, as perceived by students, lecturers and academic supervisors
• Promote improvement in teaching approaches
• Enhance student learning outcomes
• Offer feedback to faculty and contribute to management decisions on promotion and tenure
• Provide information to support programme development and accreditation

Using questionnaires the evaluation of learning and teaching is conducted in a “360 degree” approach, through four main ways:

• Students assess the lecturers’ teaching effectiveness by expressing their perceptions by completing an online questionnaire
• Lecturers assess one’s own teaching effectiveness by completing a questionnaire (hard copy or online)
• Lecturers’ assess their peers’ teaching effectiveness by observing peers’ teaching and expressing their perceptions by completing a questionnaire (hard copy or online) and conducting interviews with specific peers. Head of departments are responsible for selecting evaluators.
• Academic supervisors assess the lecturers’ teaching effectiveness by completing a questionnaire and conducting interviews with specific lecturers.

There are four primary instruments used, namely:

1. Student evaluation instrument

This tool is completed by students once each semester, to evaluate their lecturers’ instructional practices.

2. Self-reflection instrument

This tool is completed by individual lecturer on an ongoing basis, to evaluate their own instructional practices.

3. Peer observation instrument

This tool is completed by lecturers once each semester, to evaluate their fellow lecturers’ instructional practices.

4. Academic supervisor observation instrument

This tool is completed by Head of Departments or their delegates once each semester, to evaluate instructional practices of lecturers within their departments.

Student evaluations: student evaluations are administered to students once each semester, for the purpose of evaluating their lecturers’ instructional practices.

Self-reflections: self-reflection is administered by individual lecturers on an ongoing basis, to achieve the objective of evaluating their own instructional practices. One completed questionnaire must be submitted to CILT each semester.

Peer observations: peer observations are conducted by lecturers once each semester, for the purpose of evaluating their fellow lecturers’ instructional practices.

Supervisor observations: supervisor observations are administered by Head of Departments or their delegates once each semester, to assess instructional practices of lecturers within their departments.

Currently (2021), all evaluations of learning and teaching are administered on an online system known as the Education Surveys Automated Suite (EvaSys).

However, plans are underway to relocate all evaluation functions to a more manageable online system.

EvaSys is an automated education surveys platform, used by the University of Namibia (UNAM) to evaluate teaching and learning activities.

Students complete an online questionnaire to evaluate their lecturers and modules.  EvaSys is housed within the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Section (LTE) in the University’s Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CILT). 

If the survey link is inactive, the staff/student should contact the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) unit, at LTE Section.

Tel: +264612064671/3906;

E-mail:hshemuketa@unam.na/sshakaalela@unam.na .

The password consists of 5-characters (a mixture of letters and numbers, letters only or numbers only) and it is located at the end of the survey link. Kindly see an example below:

 http://evasys.unam.na/evasys/online.php?p=8E3DA

The password is 8E3DA.

At the end of the online questionnaire, you will be requested to click on “Submit”. Immediately after clicking submitted, you should be returned to the first page of the survey, this means your responses have been successfully submitted. 

The following reports are created in EvaSys:

1. Student evaluations reports: after students have completed the online questionnaires to evaluate lecturers.
2. Self-reflection reports: after the lecturer completed an online questionnaire to assess their own instructional practices.
3. Peer observation reports: after the lecturers have completed questionnaires to evaluate their peers’ instructional practices.
4. Supervisor observation reports: after the academic supervisor completed questionnaires to evaluate lecturers in their departments

Other survey reports can also be produced as it may be requested.

Faculties, schools, departments and individual lecturers can use students’ feedback in the following ways:

1. Analyse and compare how the evaluation feedback provided fits in with their own teaching goals and their faculty/school/department’s expectations for teaching
2. Check for patterns and themes in students’ feedback, to identify trends, take note of what has been done well and what needs improvement, while taking into account their own experiences, the context and characteristics of the course/module and student profiles.
3. Use student feedback to improve their own teaching methods, in order to enhance student learning experiences and improve student performance
4. Inform students that their honest opinions and constructive feedback are valued, and used for improving learning and teaching.
5. Inform students that lecturers are interested in both positive and negative feedback on the course/module.
6. Inform students about the kind of feedback lecturers find most useful.

EvaSys is an independent commercial system, thus it is not linked to any other UNAM systems.

All the data are stored in an EvaSys server.

Currently, evaluation reports are not accessible outside of EvaSys. One needs to be registered on EvaSys in order to obtain a username and a password to logon to the system. However, the rights to access information on EvaSys are restricted to administrators only.

A few individuals such as information and technology (IT) support technicians and managers who have direct official accountability for the functioning of the systems may also be permitted to access information on the system.

There may be a number of reasons (some of them not genuine) why students are reluctant to evaluate their lecturers/modules:

Students may feel that:

• There are no observable/tangible benefits for them in completing the questionnaire
• They are being used by lecturers who require student evaluation reports for appraisals, probation approvals and promotions.
• Their issues raised in evaluation reports are not adequately attended to by the university.
• Evaluations are just routine exercises without any genuine purpose, thus a waste of time and energy.

Nevertheless, student evaluations are important because:

• Students’ voice is an essential element of a comprehensive strategy for improving teaching and enhancing learning.
• Students provide vital data, right from the classroom where most of the learning and teaching occurs. These data manifest the realities of teaching and assessment practices in actual time.
• Data from students are used by lecturers to adjust their teaching and assessment practices in order to enhance student learning.
• Data from students inform the review of course content whereby academics incorporate essential employability attributes and soft skills requirements for programme development.
• Data from students inform management decisions on academic staff employment appraisals, contractual renewals, probation approvals and promotions.

Staff and student evaluations of learning and teaching are mandatory as per the UNAM Policy on Learning and Teaching of 2019 (see page 10).