PIE Gains Steam, Draft Submitted

 The faculty committee in charge of the Post Instructional Evaluation (PIE), a program that would allow students to review their teachers at the end of a course, is close to finalizing a draft of their proposal.PIE has been refined by students and faculty for the past two years, and was sent to the faculty committee for a discussion on its implementation after being approved by StuCo last year. It was initially proposed so that students would have a forum for feedback on their instructors without fear of their grade being affected.“The format has been worked out and the proposal is proceeding to its final stages before implementation,” Student Council President Alice Ju said. “We're glad that the faculty have been so open to work with our proposal and we look forward to seeing it in use soon.”Overall, there are mixed feelings about PIE from both students and faculty. In respect to teachers, some already employ an end of the term evaluation, while others see no use for it.History instructor Betty Luther-Hillman said that she currently gives her students an end-of-term evaluation to improve her courses and teaching. “These evaluations have helped me to make changes. For example, I have changed essay assignments from year-to-year based on students' comments. Student comments also sometimes help me to decide which readings to keep or delete for the next year. On the other hand, sometimes student comments help me to know what worked well in a course.”English instructor Mr. Holcomb shared a similar view. “I didn't do the PIE forms this fall, but I used an iteration of them both last winter and spring. I think that the idea to have all teachers use them is a good one, and I'm waiting to see how the proposal goes.” He continued, “I think PIE can have the desired effect of pointing out to us what we are doing well and what we aren't.”Luther-Hillman acknowledged differences between PIE and common course evaluations.“Right now, PIE is different than the evaluations I give at the end of the term. The PIE evaluation is more about the teacher and less about the course,” she said.Although PIE has not yet been discussed in faculty meetings, the idea has been well-received by most students.Senior Amanda Li drew a parallel between PIE and customer satisfaction, while pointing out the differences between the document and METIC.“If we're paying for tuition, we should be able to provide feedback for the education we're getting, kind of like customer satisfaction when you think about it,” she said. “Also, the METIC can be limiting, because each teacher does it a different way, and PIE would be a surefire way for teachers to implement suggestions instead of brushing them off.”“Students would be more apt to respond with what they actually feel, without needing to worry about any fallout from negative feedback they might have had, since they know it's the end of the term and they're about to switch teachers,” lower Sam Kushell said.But like faculty, some students were quick to point out the pitfalls of PIE.Kushell also felt that many students might not take the evaluation seriously. “From my experience, students don't like to write up evaluations. Much of the time, at least for me, I'll just write a bunch of quick empty sentences that get me done with the thing and out of class sooner, but leave no deep or usable feedback for the teacher,” he said.Another drawback of PIE is that one cannot see if the teacher actually reviews the class’s comments. “While an end of term evaluation has benefits for the students, such as having a greater understanding and awareness of their teacher during the evaluation and skipping over the awkwardness that can ensue from mid-term evaluations, there would be little opportunity for a student to observe and acknowledge any progress a teacher has made in regard to any student suggestions,” upper Nick Diao said.Senior Reed Woolfson-Jarvis felt similarly. “I think METICs are more useful because they directly correspond to the group that the teacher is working with. PIEs could only be useful if there is something really wrong with how the teacher is teaching,” he said.Overall, many felt that the combination of METICs and PIEs would be a pragmatic way to improve classes and teaching methods.“I think that PIE is an excellent concept and would help teachers to further develop their techniques. In addition, feedback explicitly for the teachers will be beneficial alongside METICs, which are often directed more towards classmates," upper Hersh Bhargava said.