Students’ opinions unveiled: The Results

How we arrived at our numbers

Ryerson’s Instructor Course Evaluations (ICE) are conducted every semester by professors in each course.

Students rate the effectiveness of both their courses and their professors on a scale of one to five, one being a positive rating, five being negative.

The results of each student’s 11-question survey are compiled and averaged together to come up with an overall rating for each faculty member, program or department of study.

The Eyeopener took the numbers for the program ratings and averaged them to determine where each program or department ranked.

We separated two questions dealing with the workload of the program, because they didn’t reflect the effectiveness of the course or professor.

Who filled them out

Fall 1999: The highest response to the ICE surveys came from the chemical engineering students, with just more than 92 per cent of students responding. The next closest were the theatre students (77 per cent response rate) and students in the applied arts program (76 per cent).

The lowest response to the evaluations came from architecture (49 per cent of students filled them out), midwifery (48 per cent) and child and youth care (42 per cent).

Winter 2000: Midwifery came out on top with a response rate of almost 84 per cent, followed by graphic communications management (77 per cent) and the French and Spanish department (77 per cent).

The applied arts program had the lowest response rate, at 31 per cent, followed by retail management (39 per cent) and child and youth care (45 per cent).

ICE Survey Questions

1. The faculty member presents the course material in a well-organized manner.
2. The faculty member deals fairly with students in this course.
3. The faculty member is available during the posted office hours.
4. The faculty member responds clearly to student questions.
5. The faculty member demonstrates an enthusiasm for the course material.
6. The faculty member treats students with respect.
7. Rate the [difficulty] level of the course material.
8. Rate the amount of material in this course.
9. The tests and other evaluations in this course provide a good measure of student accomplishment.
10. Overall, the faculty member was effective.
11. Overall, the course was worthwhile.

Where the programs were ranked, Fall 1999

Based on an average of 9 of the 11 ICE survey questions

1. Child and Youth Care: 1.27
2. Politics: 1.34
3. Image Arts: 1.36
4. Radio and Television Arts: 1.41
5. Midwifery: 1.46
6. History: 1.51
7. Psychology: 1.53
8. Business and Technical Communication: 1.53
9. Social Work: 1.54
10. Philosophy: 1.54
11. French and Spanish: 1.56
12. Nursing: 1.58
13. English: 1.63
14. Sociology: 1.66
15. Community Services Interdisciplinary Studies: 1.66
16. Chemical Engineering: 1.68
17. Environmental Health: 1.69
18. Geography: 1.72
19. Urban Planning: 1.76
20. Architecture: 1.76
21. Civil Engineering: 1.76
22. Early Childhood Education: 1.77
23. Hospitality and Tourism Management: 1.77
24. Economics: 1.82
25. Business Management: 1.83
26. Theatre: 1.86
27. Nutrition: 1.87
28. Interior Design: 1.88
29. Retail Management: 1.89
30. Journalism: 1.9
31. Electrical Engineering: 1.93
32. Mechanical, Industrial and Aerospace Engineering: 1.93
33. Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science: 1.94
34. Fashion: 1.97
35. Administration and Information Management: 2.0
36. Applied Arts: 2.73
37. Graphic Communications Management: 3.44

Where the programs ranked, Winter 1999

Based on an average of 9 of the 11 ICE survey questions

1. Midwifery: 1.23
2. Community Services Interdisciplinary Studies: 1.37
3. Applied Arts: 1.38
4. Politics: 1.47
5. History: 1.49
6. French and Spanish: 1.5
7. Child and Youth Care: 1.56
8. Environmental Health: 1.57
9. Psychology: 1.58
10. Radio and Television Arts: 1.6
11. Business and Technical Communication: 1.6
12. Philosophy: 1.62
13. Economics: 1.64
14. Sociology: 1.66
15. Civil Engineering: 1.66
16. Chemical Engineering: 1.67
17. Journalism: 1.68
18. Social Work: 1.69
19. Theatre: 1.71
20. Image Arts: 1.71
21. Fashion: 1.74
22. Architecture: 1.74
23. English: 1.76
24. Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science: 1.77
25. Nursing: 1.78
26. Urban Planning: 1.8
27. Mechanical, Industrial and Aerospace Engineering: 1.82
28. Nutrition: 1.82
29. Geography: 1.83
30. Early Childhood Education: 1.83
31. Business Management: 1.84
32. Hospitality and Tourism Management: 1.89
33. Electrical Engineering: 1.91
34. Administration and Information Management: 1.98
35. Graphic Communications Management: 2.07
36. Retail Management: 2.19
37. Interior Design: 2.29