We must take care how we use them and how we interpret them. In our university, we are required to evaluate teaching effectiveness. These materials have been entered into personnel files and used to make important personnel decisions. Only if the qualitative form is signed has it been available for such use. A confluence of events has now provided the entire faculty with an opportunity to answer some important questions about how to evaluate teaching.
Teaching is inherently a risky business.
Faculty experimentation in the classroom should be encouraged without fear of retribution. At times, there has been an over-reliance on student evaluation numbers to evaluate teaching. Sometimes there has been an over-reliance on just one number. We value, and we require, the input of students, but we should think carefully about how to get it and how to use it. Students often do not take the bubble form seriously.