Longbored Surfer

2006.03.06 End of Class Surveys

Surveys at the end of a class are understandable. You want to see how well you performed, so you come up with a way for your students to 'anonymously' submit feedback so you can improve your future classes. What I don't understand is when you do almost none of the instruction, and still expect the feedback.

Recently I attended a class that lasted less than an hour. It consisted of a group of people arriving to a room with a TV/VCR that had already been set up (by me). The 'instructor' got in front of the class, welcomed us, then stumbled to figure out how to turn on the TV, and push 'Play' on the VCR. After we watched this prepared video, the 'instructor' was supposed to check the group's comprehension, by asking questions with blatantly obvious answers.

Participation during the Q&A part was required, since there were some people who were actually taking the training serious. After that, we left, and were asked to fill out a survey. I'm going to highlight my favorite questions from the two surveys I was asked to fill out (one for the course itself, another for the 'instructor'):

  • Did you enjoy participating in this course?
    No, strongly disagree, 0… whatever way you prefer to get negative feedback.
  • Do you think it was time well spent?
    See answer above.
  • How Good were the communication skills of the Instructor?
    Gee… I was told about this course the day before it was supposed to happen… F--.
  • Was the instructor able to go through the training in an engaging manner?
    You read the follow-up questions to me off of a piece of paper, and you expected me to care about this 'training'. No points here.
  • Was the course completed within the stipulated time?
    You said an hour, it was less, it shouldn't have ever happened… 0-5… you're on a roll.
  • Which part of the course did you enoy the most?
    When we got to leave.
  • Which part of the course did you least enjoy?
    Being there.
  • How do you think this course can be improved?
    Never have it again.

Don't act like having us watch a video, then reading us questions off of a piece of paper is 'training' in any form. I understand that we have to watch this video every year, that doesn't upset me. Just don't act like you're 'training' me.

P.S. Don't ever get in front of a classroom again.

Tag(s): work

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