Perceptions
Official course evaluations
What is Perceptions?
Perceptions is an online tool for evaluating courses and instructors in a simple and efficient manner, as well as an online repository of survey results which are viewable by instructors and administration.
Why we made it
The Perceptions (originally "evaluate") project started off as a simple tool to collect, aggregate, and generate reports about the results for each course and instructor. It was intended to have the results from paper surveys (both historical and new) uploaded and saved in a database for easy referencing, cataloging, and analysis.
As development of the software progressed, someone finally asked "Why not collect the data directly on this site, and cut the paper out entirely?"
Since then, the tool has been widely adopted throughout campus, and has become the de-facto method for course evaluations at the University of Waterloo.
Features
Strict Anonymity Policies
No identifying data is every stored with survey responses on evaluate. We use a token system to create a unique survey item for each survey that needs to be filled out (one per student per course). This token allows a student to complete a survey for the specified course, then is deleted the moment that the survey is completed, removing the student's identity, as well as preventing a student from submitting the same survey twice.
Support
As a campus-wide tool, Perceptions is supported by FAST members to ensure no single point of failure. In the event that the primary maintainers or group is unable to provide service, contact a FAST representative to determine a backup support protocol.
Project Contacts
