Frequently Asked Questions

What is CATEI?

CATEI is the UNSW Course and Teaching Evaluation and Improvement processes for student feedback on courses and teaching. It is available in both an on-line and paper-based versions. It is implemented by the UNSW Institutional and Reporting Office (IARO). It is accessed through your myunsw details.

How frequently is CATEI done?

It is recommended that courses are evaluated as a minimum every two years. All teachers are expected to evaluate an aspect of their teaching annually. This is negotiated in consultation with your head of school or course coordinator.

How do I find the CATEI site?

On UNSW webpage click on myunsw, enter your staff number and zPass. Once onto your site, click staff profile, and a CATEI icon appears on the left hand side of the page. Click on the CATEI icon and you will enter the CATEI Portal which has several options:

CATEI User Management – enables faculty authorized CATEI contact to set up forms and identify problems with form establishment.

CATEI Forms Set-up – enables school and faculty-based CATEI contacts to set-up forms and give viewer authorizations. Please see your CATEI contact person in your school to set-up forms required for your courses. You will need to provide them with details of tutors or scenario group leaders for setting up forms B and C

CATEI Reports - this gives you access to reports you have been authorized to view. Reports for CATEI Forms B and C (i.e large and small group teaching) can only be accessed by an individual teacher. To view your individual report once you click on the ‘CATEI report tab you will once again be asked to provide your staff number and unipass.

CATEI Response rate – gives the overall response rates on forms for both on-line and paper-based formats.
If you have any problems contact your school-based CATEI contact.

CATEI forms are available on the CATEI site?

School-based CATEI contacts can set up CATEI forms to assist you with student evaluation of courses and teaching.

There are 3 CATEI specific forms:
CATEI Form A – Evaluation of a Course
CATEI Form B – Large Group Teaching – useful for lectures where you have taught the same students three or more times.
CATEI Form C – Small Group Teaching – useful for facilitated small groups where you have taught the same students three or more times and where you have a recommended minimum of 6 students.

The forms use the standard CATEI questions as before and can automatically download Faculty specific questions as well as provide access to a data bank of alternative questions.

What options are available for the use of CATEI forms?

There are two options for the use of CATEI in Medicine.

CATEI on-line – students complete the evaluations on-line once a course is completed and additional teaching evaluations if they have been set up for specific teachers. Students receive several automatic emails reminding them to complete their CATEI evaluations.

CATEI paper-based – the forms can be set up on-line and will have a unique identifying number. The number of students in the course will need to be typed into the form. The forms can then be:

• distributed manually to students by a student volunteer,
• collected by a student volunteer on completion,
• placed in an envelope marked CATEI and with course name and number on the front of the envelope, and
• returned to the Office of the Dean c/-

Note: There is no need for completion of batch sheet as in the previous system

What forms are best to use in the clinical schools?

Most clinical schools will find CATEI Form A the most useful. Forms B and C are not as useful, as the small group and large group teaching sessions rarely have the same teacher for 3 sessions or more to the same group of students. The Faculty Program Evaluation and Improvement Group (PEIG) have developed an instrument for the evaluation of the ‘Student Experience of Clinical Teaching’. This form is currently being piloted.

When are CATEI reports available?

Once the closing date for completing the evaluations is passed and after exams or major assessments are complete the availability of reports depends on which version was used and which forms.
CATEI On-line – reports are available immediately with a general rule being after any exams have been completed.
CATEI paper-based – the reports are available on-line for CATEI forms B and C within two weeks of their being processed by IARO. Reports for CATEI form A are available once exams have been completed.

How do I get my CATEI reports?

On UNSW webpage click on myunsw, enter your staff number and unipass. Once onto your site, click on your ‘staff profile’ tab, and a CATEI icon appears on the left hand side of the page. Click on the CATEI icon and you will once again be asked to provide your staff number and unipass. If you have any problems contact your school-based CATEI contact.

How do I CATEI reports for courses I manage – Course and Phase Coordinators?

Your Head of School can authorize you to have Faculty View status to enable you to see CATEI Form A reports. Please discuss with either your Head of School or David Micallef in Office of the Dean.

What information is available in the CATEI reports?

The report has the same format as the previous forms but provides additional information in the quantitative data linked to scores related to Learning and Teaching Indicators and Graduate Career Assessment scales.

The qualitative comments made by students can be accessed by clicking a link on top of the report page. This will take you directly to all the comments made by students commented typed in if on-line version was used, and the scanned images of comments students wrote for paper-based versions.

Who has access to CATEI reports?

Results for CATEI for A can be accessed by other people given authority by Associate Dean and/or Head of School e.g., Faculty CATEI Coordinator, Course Coordinators, Phase Coordinators.

Results for CATEI Forms B and C – can only be accessed by the teacher being evaluated. The teacher can then provide a summary to their Head of School or course coordinator when required.

What if I do not want any evaluation of my teaching?

Most course coordinators have requested that CATEI Form A be completed at the end of courses. It is the responsibility of individual teachers in consultation with course coordinators and heads of schools to organize that they evaluate a piece of teaching once a year. If you do NOT wish to have your teaching evaluated you will need to let your CATEI contact know in plenty of time before CATEI forms B and C are set-up for a particular course you teach on.

If a teacher wants to evaluate a one-off teaching session what do they use?

A number of alternatives are available. One of the simplest is at the end of the teaching activity, to give students 2-3 minutes to write on a sheet of paper, anonymously,

• Up to 3 things that helped their learning.
• Up to 3 improvements that could be made.

or

• 2-3 of the most important things they learned.
• 2-3 questions they have.
• 2-3 ways the teaching session could be improved.

Where do I get help with CATEI issues?

Each school has a nominated CATEI contact (school coordinator) who can facilitate access to set up your CATEI forms if you choose a paper-based format. If you wish your students to complete the CATEI forms on-line from the website your school CATEI contact (school coordinator) or course convenor can set up your access.

Do courses need to be evaluated every time?

No, Heads of School, Phase Coordinators, Course Convenors and other course authorities have responsibility for planning a roster of courses to be evaluated to ensure students are not overloaded.

Can CATEI be used for postgraduate courses?

CATEI has been mainly designed for student feedback on undergraduate courses and teaching although some units in the Faculty have used CATEI on-line successfully with postgraduate programs. Contact Leah Bloomfield on 938 52504 or Karin Banna 938 51928 for details.

We hold general education courses in summer session. Do we use CATEI?

A separate form for the evaluation form for General Education courses is also available on the CATEI site.

What do I do if I need other types of evaluation apart from CATEI?

Alternative evaluation guidelines, instruments, and suggestions are in development and can be referred to the chair, Program Evaluation and Improvement Group, Professor Patrick McNeil on

Where do I get more information about CATEI?

More information is available on the Learning and Teaching website.