FAQ - Lecturers

The study commissions decide and report which courses are to be evaluated (according to the Evaluation and Quality Management Statue in German, at least one course of each lecturer per semester). Registration ist done via ZEuS (by 08.11.2024). Detailed instructions on how to do this can be found here. In addition to the obligation to evaluate at least one course of each lecturer, there is the possibility to have additional courses evaluated voluntarily. In this case, only the lecturer receives a report with the evaluation results of the respective course. The results are not made available to the deans of studies and the study commissions. Voluntary evaluations must also be reported via ZEuS by 08.11.2024.

Both course and examination planners as well as lecturers have the possibility to enter additional information regarding the evaluation in ZEuS in the tab "Interne Notiz", which can be found next to the tab "Externe Systeme". Please note: If no other information has been entered in the tab "Interne Notiz", surveys are set up as follows:

• the survey is assigned to the person mentioned in "Durchführende/r"
• courses with several parallel groups: a separate survey is created for each parallel group listed in ZEuS
• courses with more than one lecturer: one survey (for all lecturers listed in "Durchführende/r") is created

If courses are to be evaluated before the regular evaluation period or even before the registration deadline, this must be indicated in ZEuS in the semester-dependent course details in the tab "Interne Notiz". Here, for example, the note "Vorab-LVE" for prior evaluation (preferably with the desired evaluation period) can be entered.

According to the the Evaluation and Quality Management Statue of the University of Konstanz (in German) at least one course of each lecturer is evaluated per semester. Currently, approximately 1500 courses are evaluated each semester.

The questionnaire that will be used can be found here. This questionnaire is designed in a way that it can be used in all departments. Please note that the questionnaire is a questionnaire with filters that dynamically adapts to the response behavior. In case of online surveys, the questionnaire can be completed by students in either German or English through individual language selection. As part of the continuous development of the course evaluations, the Committee on Curricular Affairs and Life-Long Learning (ALW) adopted a shorter, updated questionnaire in the summer semester 2024. This amended questionnaire was the result of the joint efforts of Quality Management, Academic Staff Development (ASD) and selected researchers from a wide range of disciplines. Starting in the winter semester 2024/25, this questionnaire will be used university-wide.

This semester, the regular evaluation period takes place from 16.12.2024 - 26.01.2025 so that there is still an opportunity to discuss the results with the students. Lecturers whose courses are evaluated during the regular LVE period will receive a notification about the start of the online evaluation of their course(s) at the beginning of the regular LVE period.

Each teacher whose course(s) has been registered for voluntary and/or mandatory evaluation will receive a survey link and QR-Code from the evaluation software evasys. Teaching staff can then share this link or QR-Code with their students in the corresponding course.
As with the previous paper-based course evaluation, it is extremely important that students get ample time during a live/on-campus session of the course (around 10-15 minutes), as this will greatly increase response rates. This, in turn, is essential for getting meaningful results. After receiving the evaluation results, teaching staff should discuss the results with their students in order to ensure the quality of a course and its further development.

Evasys+ is an additional component of the survey software evasys, which has been used at the University of Konstanz for several years. Evasys+ is linked to all user information, survey data and results contained in evasys. By introducing evasys+, we aim to involve teachers and students more closely in the survey and quality development processes for course evaluations.

Evasys+ provides much more transparency, options and access to course evaluations. Using evasys+ is optional. You do not have to use it, but it offers the following advantages:

• Overview of all your course evaluations and results
• Option to open or close online surveys yourself
• Simplified process for selecting optional questions
• Direct availability of the online link or QR code to the survey
• Live insight into ongoing online surveys incl. number of responses
• Simple single sign-on using your university login data

Simply go to the evasys+ start page and enter your university login data. Instructions for using evasys+ and video.

The evasys+ instructions describe how to add optional questions in item 3.2. "Adding optional questions".

For data protection reasons, only courses for which six or more completed questionnaires are received by the office of course evaluations can be evaluated.

In case of online surveys, the lecturer receives the evaluation of his/her own course immediately after the end of the evaluation period. In the following semester break, the dean of studies as well as all members of the study commission of a department receive access to all individual results of mandatory evaluations as well as to the aggregated study commission report of the department via the password-protected area on the website of the Quality Management Unit. The individual reports posted on the website include, if requested by the departmental council, the answers to the open questions.

The purpose of the evaluation is to provide personal feedback to lecturers for the continuous improvement of their courses. For this, it is necessary that lecturers and students openly discuss the results. This requires a willingness for self-criticism and openness to suggestions for improvement on the part of the lecturer and, on the part of the students, the ability to offer constructive criticism. The results are not linked to financial consequences or compensation for lecturers.

In accordance with the Evaluation and Quality Management Statute of the University of Konstanz (in German) the evaluation results are deleted after five years.

For further questions, please contact the Office of Course Evaluations.