Art by Vivian Hsia
Transparency Item: The Perspectives section of the Graphic is comprised of articles based on opinion. This is the opinion and perspective of the writer.
Course evaluations are Pepperdine University’s way to show commitment to excellence in teaching and learning and to receive feedback through anonymous online evaluations, according to the Pepperdine Community.
While these evaluations used to provide students with extra credit, they now do not. In spring 2022, the Seaver Faculty Senate, formerly the Seaver Faculty Association, passed a proposal banning extra credit for students completing course evaluations.
Extra credit for course evaluations is essential for students for many reasons. Banning professors from allocating extra credit when students complete the evaluation is a mistake.
These evaluations promote efficient and progressive change among the faculty and Pepperdine to improve the quality of instruction, the Pepperdine Community wrote.
In partnership with Information Technology, Pepperdine uses the newest services to inform future instructional development and strategic decision-making within the University, according to the Pepperdine Community website,
Banning extra credit for evaluations removed the ability for professors to incentivize students to complete their course evaluation. It got rid of the only way most students would do course evaluations, and was not only illogical, but it takes away the time and patience it once took most students to put into their evaluations.
Incentives are an effective way to ensure students and employees stay motivated to work to the best of their ability, according to IRIS FMP, a trusted leader in international payroll & HR services for businesses.
Students need incentives, and extra credit made them complete the course evaluations in the first place. I noticed extra credit also ignited students to take time to answer each question with a bit more thought than they might have without the extra credit points.
If students are offered something with a goal at the end, they have something to put effort and care into and to work toward.
“I wish Pepperdine would still offer extra credit for course evals because they push us a lot to fill them out and I agree that they’re important, but some people aren’t interested in doing them,” sophomore Cate Cartier said. “Offering extra credit acted as an incentive. Plus, everyone is desperate for extra credit and professors mandating them only makes students not want to do them, especially if they don’t get credit.”
Anonymity is key to Pepperdine’s course evaluations to remain unbiased and truthful.
Pepperdine University uses a third party course evaluator to provide “an extra layer of security for the students,” according to the Pepperdine community website.
Student names are used only for delivery of the survey to ensure each student receives a survey for each course in which they are enrolled, but once the entire evaluation is completed and submitted –– each response is recorded anonymously, according to the Pepperdine community website.
Essentially, students’ names are not recorded with their individual response. When the professors and school check the evaluations, they only see the aggregate results, according to the Pepperdine community website. Faculty cannot determine the identity of the student who submitted an evaluation.
Since the surveys were always anonymous, there was no point to take away the extra credit element. If anything, it was a positive attribute to course evaluations.
“I think that this change will definitely negatively impact the amount of people that participate in course evaluations,” senior Delaney Clyburn said. “I know I would almost forget about doing my course evals during finals week with everything going on, until professors would remind us that it was extra credit.”
Some worried that by giving students extra credit during the course evaluation, it would sway them to write a more favorable review.
In actuality, the student could still write an anonymous negative evaluation if that is how they felt, without any worries for repercussions or future awkwardness if they had the professor in another class.
In addition, only professors and departments can see course evaluation feedback after grades are posted, according to the Pepperdine community website.
Banning professors from giving extra credit for course evaluations was a mistake and the reasoning for this decision clearly lacks rationality.
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Contact Victoria La Ferla via email: Victoria.laferla@pepperdine.edu or by instagram @vlf_insider
