Quality management in education
Within the framework of a differentiated system of quality assurance, ETH Zurich periodically reviews both the curricula and the individual courses and performance assessments and makes adjustments where necessary. The Download Guide to the internal quality assurance system at ETH Zurich (PDF, 369 KB) provides a comprehensive overview of the processes and organisation of quality assurance at ETH Zurich.
ETH Zurich promotes quality at all levels in order to satisfy the high expectations of society and ETH students, faculty and staff. Here achieving minimum standards and avoiding error are not enough: quality is understood as an expression of the institution’s culture of change and of learning.
Teaching evaluation comprises four processes: student semester feedback; student evaluation of teaching; graduate surveys; and departmental evaluation.
Feedback from students
To provide them with the best possible education, ETH has consulted its students regarding teaching and the competence of faculty since the early 1990s. In 2011 the institution revised its evaluation system completely, and this now proceeds on two levels:
- Semester feedback: Semester feedback is an optional mid-semester procedure which can be initiated by teaching faculty or student associations. The goal is to create a dialogue about the course between students and teaching faculty and, if necessary, to undertake adjustments which benefit both. The Unit for Teaching and Learning (UTL) is happy to help in setting up semester feedback.
- Teaching evaluation: Teaching evaluation by students serves to improve teaching and student learning. Course units and written performance assessments are evaluated in alternate years. Performance assessments which are part of the first-year examinations are evaluated every semester.
Graduate survey
The graduate survey supplies information on how former students regard their ETH Zurich education to persons responsible for teaching in the departments.
Student satisfaction survey
Regular surveys regarding student satisfaction have established themselves as a standard instrument of quality assurance at universities. In Spring 2015 the first survey was conducted on behalf of the Rector; it will be repeated every four years. Summary of the results
Departmental evaluation
ETH Zurich has each department evaluated by an international team of experts (peers) in a six-to-eight-year cycle. The aim of this evaluation is to position ETH’s departmental research internationally and to assess the goals and implementation of curricula and cooperation with industry and public administration. Evaluation of departments at ETH Zurich