Indicative feedback

Indicative feedback is an online system where students provide brief information to the instructors of  their Bachelor and Master level courses. Running in Week 5, students are asked to provide feedback about their learning experience. Response rates are typically 40-50% and about half of students write comments. The results are available to teachers in Week 6; 73% of teachers find the feedback useful. While the feedback system is designed to be anonymous, this confidentiality can be removed in for instances of abusive comments.

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Discussing indicative feedback in class

Teachers receive indicative feedback by Monday of Week 6 and are encouraged to discuss it with their class. While not a full assessment of teaching quality, the feedback can help instructors identify potential areas for improvement during the current semester. The discussion allows teachers to address student concerns, clarify misunderstandings, and make adjustments where needed. Indicative feedback therefore serves as an important tool for enhancing the learning experience and course structure.

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In-depth evaluation

EPFL courses undergo in-depth evaluations at the end of the semester. Conducted in Weeks 13-16 (autumn) or 13-15 (spring), in-depth evaluations use a standard questionnaire to generate reports with  quantitative charts and student comments. Teachers and sections can request personalised in-depth evaluations to adapt the format, timing, or content to best capture relevant observations. Students provide feedback on various aspects of their learning experience. Responses are anonymous unless they contain abusive remarks, ensuring constructive insights for course improvement.

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Follow-up

Course evaluation reports are available to teachers and section directors after the course grades are  submitted. Teachers can track response rates and access reports via Moodle. In courses where over 30% of responses to the overall question are negative, teachers are encouraged to request a detailed analysis from a pedagogical advisor. Sections follow up with teachers to address concerns and coordinate actions taken. Feedback helps improve courses, making student input essential for enhancing education.

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More on the Indicative feedback

Generalities:

The indicative feedback process for all Bachelor and Masters courses is launched automatically during Week 5 of each semester. To maximise the response rate in the indicative feedback process, students express their level of agreement with a single statement: “The running of the course enables my learning and an appropriate class climate” with the opportunity to write comments. According to the 2011 ATMOS II survey, 73% of EPFL teachers find the feedback from students useful.

It is important to note that the indicative feedback is simply an ‘indication’ and not a reliable overall assessment of teaching quality. Students expressing a negative opinion about a course that does not necessarily mean that there is a problem with the course, rather it means that there may be issues which may merit further investigation and discussion.

Who gets to provide indicative feedback?

All EPFL students registered in Bachelor or Masters courses are invited to provide indicative feedback for each course. External students, taking courses at EPFL, are able to provide feedback as long as they are correctly registered. UNIL students taught in the same classes as EPFL students also participate (other UNIL students will have a separate opportunity for feedback). PhD students are able to give feedback on the master courses they are following, but courses of the Doctoral School are dealt with through another procedure. Teachers of all Bachelor, Master and CMS courses get indicative student feedback every semester. 

How do students access the indicative feedback questionnaire?

To complete the indicative feedback, students log on through the secure and confidential IS-academia environment using their GASPAR ID. Arriving in the student portal ‘Home’ Tab, there is a ‘useful links’ box on the right hand side where the ‘Indicative feedback (Ba/Ma)’ link will be available during Week 5.  This link brings students to the course feedback forms.  

Please note that comments will be most useful to improve teaching if they are respectful and ‘actionable’. A comment which states simply ‘this course is bad’ or ‘this course is great’ is not very helpful. Please provide more specific information about what is positive about the course and suggestions for how to improve.

Feedback is anonymous

Students are not identified in any feedback report. Students are responsible for ensuring that they do not write their comments in a way that allows themselves to be identified (e.g. by recounting an event that involved only one or a small number of people). In the case of criminally abusive or threatening comments, students’ anonymity cannot be guaranteed.

More on the in-class indicative feedback discussion

Feedback goes first to the teacher. The teacher should then discuss the feedback with their class, and decide what actions to take to improve the course. The section that offers the course can also see the indicative feedback. 

We appreciate the time and effort which students put into providing useful feedback to their teachers.  If students have questions about the indicative feedback system, they should ask a class delegate or section adjoint.  For technical questions about the operation of the feedback within IS-Academia, please contact [email protected].

More on the In-depth evaluation

While the indicative feedback provides timely in-semester feedback, the in-depth evaluation provides valuable detailed feedback. This feedback is typically collected with a multi-dimensional student evaluation questionnaire, administered centrally on behalf of the sections. 

Administering the evaluations – standard and personalised

Every course at EPFL will have a standard in-depth evaluation towards the end of the semester. This standard evaluation will be:

• Online
• Conducted during weeks 13-16 (autumn semester), or weeks 13-15 (spring semester)
• Using a section standard questionnaire (see below).
• Shared with teachers and sections via an automatically generated quantitative report, plus student comments. 

Teachers or sections can request a personalised evaluation in which any or all of the above criteria can be changed to best suit the needs of the teacher/section. For example, a teacher can request that their evaluation be conducted on paper, during the exams, using a modified questionnaire, and benefit from  analysis by a pedagogical advisor. 

• If a teacher wants a personalised process (change in any or all of the 4 variables) they should complete this form by the Friday of Week 8.

Link to form: Request for personalised evaluation

• If a section wants a personalised process for any course, they should the respective pedagogical advisor by the Friday of Week 7. 

For paper-based evaluations, the printing, distributing and collection of the questionnaires is managed by the section administration. 

The EPFL student standard ‘evaluation of teaching’ questionnaire

The links below are examples of standard questionnaires. As many sections have added specific questions, please contact the pedagogical advisor for your section to see the specific standard questionnaire which will normally be used for your course.

• Standard Bachelor/Master Questionnaire in French
• Standard Bachelor/Master Questionnaire in English

How do students typically complete the in-depth evaluation questionnaire?

Students provide in-depth feedback by logging on Moodle (see figure below) during weeks 13-5 of the semester. Their list of courses for which the evaluations are currently open is displayed. Please note that  some courses may not be there, because some course evaluations are set to open at a later date or will be administered on paper.

Most of the questions ask you to express your personal (dis)agreement with statements related to your experience in the course. For instance, “I could get advice and useful feedback on my work during the semester” with a 4-part Likert response scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree). You also have the opportunity to write comments. Please note that comments are most useful when they are respectful and ‘actionable’. A comment which states simply ‘this course is bad’ or ‘this course is great’ is not very helpful. Please provide details about what you found positive about the course and your suggestions for how the course can be improved. 

Feedback is anonymous

All the feedback provided to the teacher is completely anonymous and will not be linked to your identity. However, in the case of criminally abusive or threatening comments, anonymity cannot be guaranteed.

More on the follow-up to the in-depth evaluation

Rapports d’évaluation des cours

All reports produced for courses as part of the compulsory in-depth student evaluation (standard and personalised) are made available to the teacher(s) and to the director of the section responsible for the course who, in turn, reports to the Associate Vice-President for Education.

These evaluation reports are made available to the teacher(s) and the sections immediately after the grade submission date for that particular semester. Teachers can check the response rates during the evaluation period, and obtain the reports after the evaluation period by logging in to their Moodle account.

Course evaluation follow-up

The aggregated and anonymised feedback goes to the teacher and to the section providing the course. Based on the feedback, specific actions may be taken and additional support might be provided to the teacher to help improve the course for the next semester. 

The teacher (and the section) can request a detailed analysis from a pedagogical advisor after receiving the automated report. Such a request can be made at any time and is recommended whenever the negative response to the global question (“Overall, I think this course is good”) is above 30%. The section will follow up with the teacher to address potential issues, and will report to the AVP-E and the Dean on actions taken.

We appreciate the time and effort which students put into providing useful feedback to their teachers.  If you have any questions about the in-depth evaluation system, please ask your class delegate or section adjoint.  If you have any technical questions about the operation of the in-depth evaluation, please contact [email protected].