Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (2003) / Chapter Skim
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4 Evaluating Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: Principles and Research Findings
4 Evaluating Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: Principles and Research Findings
Pages 51-68
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From page 51... ...
is less reliable, useful, and valid than an assessment of an instructor's strengths anti weaknesses that is base(1 on multiple sources (Centra, 19931. Comprehensive assessments of teaching are iInformal assessments of a faculty member's work that are used primarily to provide feedback and reinforcement to a colleague for purposes of ongoing professional development and improvement are characterized asformative evaluations.
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From page 52... ...
play a strong role in developing policies and procedures. This is the case because evaluation criteria must be clear, well known and understood, scheduled regularly, and acceptable to all who wall be involved with rendering or receiving evaluation (Alverno College Faculty, 1994; Gardiner et al., 1997; Loacker, 2001; Wergin, 1994; Wergin and Swingen, 20001.2 Evidence that can be most helpful in formatively evaluating an individual faculty member's teaching efficacy and providing opportunities for further professional development includes the following points: 2Alverno College has sponsored a comprehensive research program on assessment of student learning and means of tying that assessment to ongoing improvement of both teaching by individuals and departmental approaches to education.
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From page 53... ...
· A summary of the professional attainments of undergraduate students who engaged in research under the tutelage of the faculty member being evaluated. Accountability to other departments should include evaluation of individual faculty members and discussion of departmental program content.
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From page 54... ...
· The faculty member's participation in seeking external support for activities that further the teaching mission. SPECIFIC SOURCES OF DATA FOR EVALUATING TEACHING QUALITY AND EFFECTIVENESS This section reviews evidence on the effectiveness of various kinds of input Under its Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement program, the National Science Foundation (NSF)
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From page 55... ...
The issue is whether different people or processes involved in PRINCIPLES AND RESEARCH FINDINGS evaluating responses, as is often the case with performance or portfolio assessments, are likely to render reasonably similar judgments (American E(lucational Research Association [AERA] , American Psychological Association [APA]
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From page 56... ...
Indeed, on some campuses, academic administrators are waiving the requirement for counting student evaluations as part of faculty members' dossiers (although such evaluations may be collected from students) when those faculty agree to introduce alternative approaches to teaching their courses and assessing student learning (Project Kaleidoscope, personal communication)
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From page 57... ...
Mean values of teaching effectiveness from student evaluations in each section were then correlated with the cIass's mean performance on the final examination. A meta-analysis of 41 such studies reporting on 68 separate multisection courses suggested that student evaluations are a valid indicator of teacher effectiveness (Cohen, 19811.
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From page 58... ...
The same studies foun(1 that the instructor's methods for teaching the course were more important, with active-learning classes receiving more favorable ratings than lecture classes. In comparisons of student ratings in ifferent (lisciplines, classes in mathEVALUATING AND IMPROVING UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING
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From page 59... ...
In this particular case, students within those disciplines who gave teachers high ratings also note(1 that those teachers assigned more work. The student characteristics most frequently studied for their effects in biasing evaluations of teaching include gra(le point average, expecte(1 gra(le in the course, academic ability, and age.
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From page 60... ...
In certain areas of the natural sciences and engineering in which women faculty members are a distinct minority, female teachers have been found to receive higher ratings than their male counterparts from both male and female students. Female teachers also were more likely than male teachers to use discussion rather than lecturing as a primary method for teaching, which may help account for the higher ratings they received (Centra and Gaubatz, 2000a)
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From page 61... ...
Even when peer evaluation does involve extensive classroom observation, problems can occur. For example, some research has shown that when an instructor's evaluation is based solely on classroom observation, the raters exhibit low levels of concurrence in their ratings (Centra, 19751.
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From page 62... ...
This study supports the use of colleague evaluations for summative decisions providing that the committee has previously discussed evaluative criteria anti expecte(1 stan(lar(ls of performance, anti has a number of different sources of data on which to base its evaluations. This is a particularly critical point because at present, although tenure and promotion committees at the college or university level always include faculty representatives, such faculty usually do not have the authority or the time needed to make their own independent evaluation of a candidate's performance in teaching, research, or service.
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From page 63... ...
Faculty who teach comparable courses or different sections of the same course or who are particularly knowledgeable about the subject matter can conduct reviews of selected course materials. They can analyze those materials with regard to such matters as the accuracy of information, approaches to encouraging and assessing student learning, and the consistency of expectations among instructors who teach Information about AAHE's peer review of teaching initiative is available at |
From page 64... ...
SeIf-Eva~uation by Faculty Reports on Teaching Activities anal Teaching Portfolios Most institutions require faculty to describe their teaching, student advising, scholarship, and service activities each year and in greater detail for promotion or tenure and other personne} (recisions. In response, faculty i°For example, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Brigham Young University are using such student consultants to provide instructors with "off-the-record" or private midcourse feedback on such factors as what they gained from a particular class and how others in the class responded to the material.
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From page 65... ...
When they are used for summative purposes, it may be difficult for committees on promotion and tenure to compare the contents of one faculty member's portfolio with those of another's. Recognizing this challenge, AAHE is now sponsoring a multiyear initiative to examine the most effective ways of developing and utilizing information in teaching portfolios for teacher evaluation and ongoing professional development.~i In addition, AAHE recently acquired and posted on the World Wide Web '~he Portfolio Clearinghouse," a database of some 30 portfolio projects from a variety of types of colleges and universities around the world.
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From page 66... ...
For summative purposes, however, most of the faculty queried in one survey agreed with the findings of research: self-evaluationslack validity anti objectivity (Marsh, 19821. Although quantifiable self-evaluations should thus probably not be used in summative evaluations, teaching portfolios can be useful in improving instruction if they are considered in conjunction with independent evaluations from students, colleagues, or teaching improvement specialists.
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From page 67... ...
However, evidence, if any, that links a particular faculty member to students' selection of supervisors and their future scholarly productivity and professional aspirations and accomplishments can be considered useful as supplemental evidence of teaching effectiveness.
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