Fall 2026: A Community of Practice about Course Evaluations

Overview

This Community of Practice is designed for any faculty member in any discipline and position across campus to reflect on our current course evaluation instrument, MOCES. We will consider how this instrument is used across campus (for individual growth, annual evaluations, promotion and tenure, etc.) and what faculty would like to see captured from students' perspectives about their courses. We will examine alternative ways of gathering data about students' experiences of teaching and hypothesize what changes faculty would like to see to the current survey instrument and its associated uses. Participants will also receive a copy of C Thi Nguyen's book, The Score (2025).

Apply to join here.

Deadline: Friday, September 11

Summary

Meetings

September 23, October 7, October 28, November 11, and December 2, all from 12:00-1:15. Lunch provided.

CoP members should commit to attending at least four of these sessions. 

All sessions held in the Center for Teaching and Learning classroom (330B, Raynor Memorial Library)

Motivation and Rationale

In collaboration with the Committee on Teaching, the Center for Teaching and learning will host this Community of Practice in Fall 2026 to gather insights from our campus community, discuss various issues related to current survey tools and their use as they currently happen, identify different possible approaches to evaluating teaching and learning, and consider ways to improve participants' own thinking about the nature and function of students' experiences of learning. Insights from the Community of Practice will be shared directly with the Committee on Teaching to help inform their work to promote quality teaching and learning at Marquette in the spirit of our university's new Teaching Quality Framework (TQF).

This Community of Practice is designed to bring together diverse perspectives and disciplinary interests to discussing useful approaches to understanding different ways in which the current MOCES tool is used across campus, what particular positive insights and pain points are experienced by users, what a revised survey instrument might look like, and how we as a campus community can support educators in our fold to get the kinds of student perspectives most helpful to them individually and to our institution collectively. The CoP will draw on the expertise of its participants, research and scholarship, and insights from guest presenters.

Three more reasons to consider joining.

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If you are interested to learn how to enhance our teaching community by talking with a variety of people outside your home unit about teaching and learning at Marquette, you might apply. 

All communities of practice are characterized by three traits: Individual interest in a certain topic, a desire to learn with others in community, and a desire to put what’s learned into practice. If you have an interest in teaching observations, want to learn with others, and contribute to the development of peer observation practices at Marquette, this community of practice is for you. 

PLEASE REVIEW BEFORE APPLYING to JOIN

Who Should Join

Any educator in any role on campus is invited to join, as is any relevant staff member and program administrator. We hope for a richly diverse cross-section of disciplines, roles, and interests for this Community of Practice.

Guidelines

To apply to join the community, please complete this short questionnaire before Friday, September 11. All applications may not be accepted. Applications will be reviewed and accepted based on their relevance to the goals of the community.

Questions? Please contact Dr. Melissa Shew, Associate Director of Teaching Excellence.