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In general, research has found student evaluations of teaching to be a valid and reliable means to evaluate instruction. However, it is necessarily true that student evaluations reflect the students' perceptions and points-of-view. Therefore, it is important to view course evaluations as just one measure of teaching effectiveness-a set of data that can be used alongside peer evaluation of teaching, instructor self-evaluation, and other measures.

The Student Assessment of their Learning Gains (SALG) website allows instructors to gather learning-focused feedback from students. The SALG survey asks students to rate how each component of a course (e.g., textbook, collaborative work, labs) helped them to learn, and to rate their gains toward achieving the course goals. The SALG survey can be customized to fit any college-level course, and can be administered multiple times per course. A baseline instrument allows faculty to compare gains relative to incoming student characteristics.

In the on-going quest for improved learning in large-class settings, an active-learning approach for an introductory physics course yielded mixed results, according to a new report from the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Modified Peer Instruction in Large Introductory Physics Classes examined the use of collaborative, multiple-choice format question (MCFQ)-writing activities for students as a supplement to standard peer instruction methods.