Introduction to SmartEvals

SmartEvals is our course evaluation system. We began evaluating courses with the system in Fall 2024 (only the 2nd 8 weeks courses, but now it is being used for all curriculum and BSP 4002 & 4003 courses.


There are two types of course evaluations that we deploy for these courses. Learn more about them: 

  • Early Course Feedback Survey - For courses longer than 45 days only, the early feedback survey is launched at the 20% mark in your course and is open for a week. This survey allows students to a time to give you feedback early in the semester, which is especially helpful for new courses or teachers trying something new. 
  • End of Course Evaluation - At the 80% mark in your course, the end of course Evaluation will be launched to students and be open for a week. 

The questions for survey are very similar, this allows you compare score improvements from the start of the semester to the end of the semester if you implemented an improvement or change after the Early Course Feedback Survey. 


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Getting Started

  1. Log into smartevals.com/davidsondavie (if your page does not look like the first screenshot below you may also be a department chair, switch to Instructor View and click on myEvalCenter in the top menu bar)
  2. Click Real Time Response Rates (if available) to view current and upcoming course evaluation response rates. 
  3. Click Questions to Improve to see some suggestions on how to improve one of your evaluation scores. Suggestions are customized based on your student feedback and will be more specific and reliable recommendations as your receive more student feedback. 

 


Navigating the myEvalCenter page

Boost Response Rates

In this section you can view helpful tips/videos on boosting your response rate, get QR codes, set up automated custom emails to your students, and add a custom thank you note that you can send to students who complete evaluations automatically.


Email Students

In this section you can write emails to go out to one course, multiple courses, or each evaluation period. Remember you will have two evaluation periods for classes longer than 45 days, the early course evaluation and the end of course evaluation. Emails set to go out automatically every evaluation period will go out for both early and end evaluation time frames.


Generate QR code

In this section you can generate a QR codes, this is helpful if you want to set aside 10 minutes at the end of a class to encourage students take the evaluation. Students can scan the QR code with their phone camera and take the evaluation before leaving class.


Preview Evaluations

In this section you can preview the questions that will be included as a part of your evaluation. You can tell Early from End of course evaluations quickly by their date, but if you preview your evaluation it is also noted at the top of the screen.  

Title of the course evaluation in preview mode


View Enrollments

In this section you can see a list of all students who will receive your evaluation. Course rosters may be listed twice, once for Early course evaluation and then again for their End of course evaluation.  


Response Rates

In this section you can monitor your current and upcoming course evaluation response rates. A pie chart will display showing the percentage of students who have responded, below you will see a total number along with the date that particular evaluation will open and close. If you click a course card to learn more, courses are listed in a table by Department first and then further Level Early (for early course evaluations) and End (for end of course evaluations). 


See Reports 

This section contains multiple ways for you to explore your data. PDFs can be downloaded for any class with more than 1 response. PDFs will not generate if only one student responds in order to protect their anonymity. However the data from their answers (if only one student responds) will still be displayed in larger charts that compare aggregate data over time.   


Dive Deeper with Reports: Survey Results 

The "Reports" tab is where you can navigate through the data and manipulate reports on the division, department, instructor, or course levels.  If this is your first time using SmartEvals, your Reports tab may be empty. When your evaluation period ends, there will be an overlap of time to allow administrators to view the data and complete any necessary reports. Less than a week after your evaluation period ends, reports will be available for you to see your results.  You will be able to compare your evaluations across current classes, to past sections, as well as compare your average scores to your department’s average results, and to your division’s average results (if/when available).