Frequently Asked Questions About Course Evaluations

Click the sections below to see relevant questions/answers by audience type.

Updated November 2021

I'm a student, and I think I mixed up the ratings for one of my courses. I gave the instructor low marks instead of high. Can I correct this?

The Office of Assessment has a long-standing policy against amending or expunging possibly erroneous submissions from students. We encourage you to mention this error to the course instructor so that they can interpret the results accurately.

Can I see a copy of the student course evaluation questionnaire as it appears in Watermark?

To see screenshots of the course evaluation questionnaire in Watermark, please click here.

Additionally, a list of items included on the questionnaire is included here.

I can’t find the survey to evaluate my course. Where should I look for this? 

The Office of Assessment, Trinity College, manages course evaluations at the undergraduate level—this includes courses leveled 1-499 only. If your course does not fit within these parameters, your course evaluation form may be housed in a separate sub-account of the Watermark platform under Duke, or managed through a separate process. Please refer to the links and contacts below.

What are the student course evaluation items and response options?

To see screenshots of the course evaluation questionnaire in Watermark please click here. Additionally, a code book of course evaluation items and responses is included here.

Which instructors will be evaluated?

Students can evaluate any instructors the department has chosen to include. Students may or may not choose to evaluate all instructors. 

When are course evaluation results made available to instructors?

All course evaluations results for all courses are published simultaneously  in Watermark at the end of each semester. Results are not released until the Trinity college has 95% of all final grades reported for the respective term. Course evaluation reports are made available within 3-5 days of the close of final exams. For questions about the end of semester timeline please refer to the academic calendar, here. 

I'm an instructor, how do I receive a summary print out of my course evaluations?

All instructors and department personnel obtain summary reports of course evaluation data via Watermark. Reports are simple PDF documents that are downloadable (as individual documents or batches) from the Watermark website.  

I'm a graduate student teaching assistant. Am I allowed to see my course evaluation reports?

Yes, if your department has included you in the course evaluation process, you may view your evaluation reports online through Watermark. If you have difficulty logging into or navigating the Watermark website, please contact the Office of Assessment (assessment@duke.edu) for assistance.  

If I'm the secondary instructor of a course, can I still get a copy of the report?

Yes, co-instructors have access to course evaluation reports. If you have difficulty logging into or navigating the Watermark website, please contact Office of Assessment (assessment@duke.edu) for assistance. 

As an instructor, how do I compare my course data with those of other faculty?

In the Detailed Report export from Watermark, instructors are able to see their own data in addition to how they compare both in their department and undergraduate classes overall. If you have difficulty logging into or navigating the Watermark website, please contact Office of Assessment (assessment@duke.edu) for assistance.  

It looks like some of my course evaluations are missing. What should I do about this?

Crosslisted courses will be consolidated (meaning you will see all results for a crosslisted course under one section). If your course is not crosslisted and is missing, or is crosslisted and there are no sections listed, then follow-up with your DUS or DUSA. Departments manage which courses are included for evaluation within Watermark during the course review period. 

A colleague and I co-taught a class this past term. We disagree about whether our evaluation data should be available to students. What is your policy?

If either instructor fully completes the SACES request to opt-out of sharing their course evaluation results, then the course will be removed. 

I decided I no longer want some evaluation data to be public. How do I remove those courses?

The policy for Student Accessible Course Evaluation System (SACES) was changed in a vote by the Arts & Sciences Council in fall 2021. As a result, the process for instructors to share undergraduate evaluation results now functions by default opt-in. If you wish to opt-out of results sharing in a term, you must complete a submission of the SACES webform in the window after reports are made available and before the deadline*. When reports are made available each term, instructors will be notified of the start of the new window to opt-out. Late requests to opt-out will not be approved.

*The deadline to opt-out takes place each semester on the first of the month in which Shopping Carts open for the following term. The deadlines typically will take place on October 1 for spring and summer terms, and March 1 for fall terms. The dates will be posted on the course evaluation calendar each semester. Please note that spring and summer opt-outs have a combined, and therefore longer window than the fall.

Due to the Office of Assessment work schedule and the timing of SACES updates, in nearly all cases the Office of Assessment will not make post-deadline changes to SACES. 

My name recently changed. What does this mean for accessing Course Evaluations?

Shibboleth authentication is used to sign-in to Watermark, so your account log-in credentials will not change. Please contact the Office of Assessment (assessment@duke.edu) to report any questions or concerns.

I can’t find my course evaluation or results. Where should I look for this? 

The Office of Assessment, Trinity College, manages course evaluations at the undergraduate level—this includes courses leveled 1-499. If your course does not fit within these parameters, your evaluation may be housed in a separate account of the Watermark platform under Duke. Please refer to the links below. 

I'm a new staff member in my department, and I was told that I need access to the course evaluation reports. Can you give me access?

Please ask the Chair or Director of Undergraduate Study for your department/program to complete the Change in Access form. This form notifies the Office of Assessment, Trinity College of any changes that need to be made to department personnel's access to assessment and course evaluation reports. Access to the reports is restricted only to those persons who have a work-related need, and, therefore, the Chair or DUS also must indicate which personnel no longer require access and should be removed on the form. 

What should our department do with old course evaluation materials, including complete and incomplete Scantron forms, PDF versions of course evaluation reports, and other materials that remain from the pen and paper process? 

Please refer to the following memo for more detail regarding the Trinity College's recommendation on archiving course evaluation results. The Trinity College currently recommends maintaining a rolling seven year record of course evaluation results for each instructor. Any materials that fall outside this window should be returned to the instructor of record. All reasonable attempts must be made to return these materials to the instructor of record before disposing of any course evaluation materials.

 

How do I set-up evaluations for courses that have multiple lab or discussion sections?

Due to varying program preferences in management of lab and discussion section evaluations, ALL labs and discussions are included in the course list for evaluation. Any removals of these sections for evaluation is the responsibility of the department during the course review window. For specific guidance on methods for evaluating TAs in separate sections of a course, see the section Adding TAs to Course Evaluations on this page.

Below are few options for how to set-up evaluations for courses with multiple sections, and along with the reporting implications for each method:

Consolidate sections into one course evaluation form

If it is preferable to limit the course evaluation forms students are expected to complete for a particular course, then you may choose for all sections to be affiliated with the lecture component of the course. On the reporting end, this method allows for results of all sections to be viewed in one report. This is appropriate if the sections are taught by the same instructor, or if varying instructors and/or TAs are also consolidated under the same section.

Evaluate discussion/lab sections separately (multiple course evaluation forms)

If, on the other hand, it is important for each course component to be evaluated separately, acknowledging the different learning experiences of the lecture versus the labs or discussion sections, then you may wish to keep the sections separated within Watermark. In this case, the student would have multiple course evaluations for different components. Instructions for how students should interpret different course evaluation forms, and the instructor/TA questions on each course evaluation form should be clearly communicated to them in each course component (lecture, lab/discussion section), and time should be allocated in each course component for students to complete them. Results for this method will not be able to be consolidated under a single report, so it is only recommended for cases where the learning experience should be evaluated and reviewed distinctly from the course lecture.

Asking about discussion/lab sections in the custom questions (one course evaluation form)

If neither of the prior options is optimal, you could instead ask your students about their other course component (lecture, lab/discussion section) experiences generally using the custom questions process. However, instructors and TAs would not have direct access to the results of these questions. To see who has access to what question, please review here.