I wrote John an email message sharing my opinion on something that he did. I waited for a couple of days and never received any reply from him. How should I interpret that?
(A) He enjoyed my sharing and found my sharing very helpful.
(B) He enjoyed my sharing and did not find my sharing helpful.
(C) He did not enjoy my sharing and did not find my sharping helpful.
(D) He did not care about my sharing at all.
Interpretation is one thing, but the big question is really: Based on my experience of not receiving feedback from him, if I ever have another opinion on some other things he does, will I share it with him?
If (A) "he enjoyed my sharing and found my sharing very helpful", I would be happy to share with him my opinion again.
]If (B) "he enjoyed my sharing and did not find my sharing helpful", I may be willing to share with him my opinion again.
I would not want to share my opinion again if it is really (C) or (D).
Without receiving any reply from him, very likely I would not want to write again.
This situation is very similar to the course evaluation students are asked to fill in at the end of the semester. Through the course evaluation, students give feedback to teachers about the teaching and learning of the course. Do students know how their feedback is used? If teachers do not find student's feedback on their teaching and learning useful, why do students ever spend the time filling in the lengthy survey? That explains the low response rate of students in filling in the evaluation.
Some of teachers (especially those in the administrative role) are very concerned about the low response rate of course evaluations and would be thinking of all kinds of ways to induce students to fill in the course evaluation. Why are we concerned about the low response rate? From a statistical standpoint, low response rate make the evaluation unreliable (bigger confidence interval).
As economists, we can think of all kind of carrots (e.g., giving students a coffee coupon) and sticks (e.g., releasing grades to students only after the evaluation is filled). But, the big question is whether students really spend time and effort filling in the survey and therefore contributing to the teaching and learning of the course. Filling in the survey without thinking is easy (all ones, all fives, all threes, for examples). The cost of filling in the survey is minimal but we can obtain the benefit of getting the carrots and avoiding the sticks. What is the value of mindlessly filling in the evaluation? Not much.
Yes, we can easily predict that by reducing the cost and raising the benefit of filling in the survey, more people will fill in the survey. If we want mindful evaluation, we need to reduce the cost and raise the benefit of MINDFULLY filling in the survey. And, we all know, mindfully filling in the survey is different from mindlessly filling in the survey. The information content of mindful evaluation is high. In stark contrast, the mindless evaluation is worse than useless. It reduces the value of a survey.
One way to encourage students to mindfully fill in the evaluation is to tell them that their opinion will be used to improve the course. But, don't just say it. We need to really improve the course based on their opinions. And, we need to let them know we are actually using their opinions in a specific way.
Most of us are willing to help if we know that our opinions are really valued!
On this issue of motivating people to work (or filling in the course evaluation), I strongly recommend the TED Talk by Dan Ariely "What makes us feel good about our work?" (https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work?)
| 2020-11-15 | General comments on participant's performance in a competition |
| 2020-11-04 | Yes, 1200+ personalized versions of the test paper! |
| 2020-02-18 | Let students focus on learning, teachers on teaching, and thus together achieve the intended learning outcomes. |
| 2020-02-10 | Online learning requires Discipline, DISCIpline, DISCIPLINE! |
| 2019-01-15 | Supposedly not difficult to get a B grade. |
| 2018-12-11 | This quality is more important than grades. |
| 2018-11-15 | Late dropping |
| 2018-11-15 | Unreliability of average SETL scores due to the high non-response rate |
| 2018-11-13 | Let go! |
| 2018-10-24 | No, please do not use my lecture time for your society's announcement. |
| 2018-09-26 | Scheduling an appointment |
| 2018-08-27 | None of my business |
| 2018-08-21 | Course evaluation bounds and response rate |
| 2018-08-09 | Be a responsible job applicant |
| 2018-02-10 | No calories browsing.... |
| 2018-01-24 | Would "uncertain" help your postgraduate study application? I would say, CERTAINLY NOT! |
| 2017-09-14 | When helping your friend is NOT HELPING YOUR FRIEND! |
| 2017-09-13 | My life as a student -- AGAIN |
| 2017-09-05 | You like easy grade, easy honor, easy graduation? |
| 2017-07-18 | My Facebook friends, please protect me just as I protect you. |
| 2017-07-12 | An internship |
| 2016-03-01 | You know me. But, do I know you? |
| 2015-12-17 | Why learning fails to happen despite the great design of the course and the great teacher? |
| 2015-10-20 | Can I trust you, my friend? |
| 2015-10-17 | If we have the second chance to "retake", failing or getting a low grade would not be so stressful. |
| 2015-09-18 | My first-hand experience on why learning is not taking place in lectures! |
| 2015-08-20 | Are you sure Econometrics is useless? |
| 2015-05-04 | Eating 100 bowls of rice in a day |
| 2015-01-31 | You say you love me. How can I tell whether you truly love me? |
| 2014-10-24 | I would be happy to write recommendations letter for your PhD or Master application if .... |
| 2014-10-23 | Master of Finance at MIT |
| 2014-10-06 | Are you sure what you saw was black? |
| 2014-03-05 | GOLDEN opportunity -- only to the hard-working students. |
| 2014-03-01 | What to do when your teacher's teaching style does not fit your learning style? |
| 2013-11-28 | A negative experience? Not completely. It can be made into a positive one! |
| 2013-11-27 | Many thanks for your appreciation of my teaching (II) |
| 2013-07-23 | My next stop is Barcelona! |
| 2013-06-01 | Her decision to pursue Master of Finance after her undergradaute study at HKU |
| 2012-11-10 | What should I do at HKU (activities versus study and many other things)? |
| 2011-09-12 | Coach, can you teach me to swim? |
| 2010-02-18 | How government policy with good intention can create frustration and political instability? |
| 2009-12-01 | Cherish our beloved ones who are still around us -- when we still can! |
| 2009-11-27 | Trust your teachers, but don't trust them blindly! |
| 2009-11-26 | You can give me a low score but please write some comments to help me improve my teaching. |
| 2009-08-26 | The similarity in health care service provision and fire fighting service provision |
| 2009-03-23 | Be brave. Visit your teachers. Ask them questions. Your teachers are a lot nicer than you think. |
| 2009-03-14 | How can you verify this is really you -- Dr. Ka-fu Wong of HKU? |
| 2009-03-09 | I dream to work in the business sector. Should I pursue a master degree before I join the private sector? |
| 2009-02-19 | Any economist can predict this... Can you? |
| 2008-12-21 | My students performed poorly in the final exam.
Help me help them.... please. |
| 2008-12-20 | Learning should not end with the final exam! |
| 2008-11-19 | Exchange in Europe can be very rewarding! |
| 2008-11-18 | UC Berkeley is my top choice for exchange! |
| 2008-11-02 | Why did we not have fresh mushrooms twenty years ago? |
| 2008-02-23 | Dialogue is preferred to monologue. |
| 2008-02-13 | If I were a single unemployed old man who lives on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) |
| 2007-12-17 | Is forecasting a pure guessing game? |
| 2007-12-16 | I want zero emission of CO2! |
| 2007-11-30 | How would I choose universities for exchange? |
| 2007-11-28 | Excuse me. Can you write a recommendation letter for me? |
| 2007-11-12 | No pain, no gain! |
| 2007-09-14 | Teaching is to be enjoyed, and so is studying. Grades should only be secondary. |