Some instructors find it helpful to conduct assessments of their course, student learning or their teaching during, i.e., in the early or middle part of, the semester so they can use the results to make changes in the course or in their teaching methods. This form of assessment, or as it has been previously called, formative evaluation, is intended for individual self-improvement, and can take a number of forms, e.g., Small Group Instructional Diagnoses (SGIDs), Informal Early Feedback (IEF), Classroom Visitation, Peer Observation for Teaching Assessment (POTA), Focus Groups or alternatively, PICES utilized formatively. Current wisdom recommends that departments incorporate varying types of assessment into their curricula and faculty into all courses that they teach.

Assessment differs from evaluation in that it is not typically used for executive decisions and implies support for feedback and improvement is available. For assistance with the varying forms of assessment, i.e., SGIDs, Classroom Visitation, Peer Observation for Teaching Assessment (POTA), Focus Groups and IEFs, contact the Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE) at 496-6424, or with PICES, contact IDP, at 4945112, OR VISIT Room C-39, Stewart Center.