Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching

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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Bill Burke Program Manager for Educational
Development Teaching and Academic Support Center
How many have used end-of-semester student
evaluations? How many have used an alternative
approach?
My comments are based in part on Evaluating Your
Own Teaching by Dee Fink (published in
Improving College Teaching by Peter Seldin
(Ed.)
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Doing good teaching evaluations is like doing
good research
Need to identify the right questions to
ask Need to figure out how to get the data
to answer them
Teaching evaluations can serve two purposes
Formative feedback Summative assessment
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Use a multidimensional approach to evaluating
what is a multivariable activity
A good evaluation program should be ongoing,
strategic, comprehensive, multidimensional,
integrated, and evolving
Five sources of evaluation feedback
Student feedback Self-evaluation
Recordings Student performance Outside
evaluators All sources have unique values and
inherent limitations
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Student Feedback
Can be done during the semester and/or
end-of-semester 1) Questionnaires Obtain
feedback from whole class Anonymous Can
provide quantitative and qualitative data -
Questions may not be appropriate or relevant or
most informative - No chance to probe for
further clarification
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Misconceptions about student evaluations
Students dont know enough to evaluate
faculty Those multiple-choice forms cant be as
meaningful as open-ended questions and
interviews Easy graders and entertainers get the
high evaluations Rigorous instructors will get
low evaluations Students may rate me low now,
but theyll appreciate me later
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Fact Student input on some items (holding office
hours, returning papers in a timely manner) is
reliable and the best source
Fact High correlation between student ratings
and other sources such as peers and
administrators Fact Comparison of objective
questions, written responses to open-ended
questions, and group interviews yielded a
correlation of 0.82 Fact Conflicting findings
exist on grading and evaluations (But cant
assume high grades high ratings means no rigor)
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Fact Teachers assigning more work and more
difficult work tend to get higher evaluations
Fact Students dont change their opinions later
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Making student evaluations more meaningful
Have a clear idea about your teaching goals and
learning outcomes Do evaluations provide
feedback on these? If not, ask the students to
comment on specific items (write them on the
board)
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Making student evaluations more meaningful
Focus on specifics versus global items Focus on
teaching characteristics versus personal
characteristics Target one or two items to work
on Use more than one course (a variety of
courses over several semesters)
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Making Sense of Written Comments
Harder to make sense of written comments Some
are contradictory Need to impose some structure
through systematic analysis
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Making Sense of Written Comments
Cluster evaluations according to overall course
ratings Similar comments between high and low
raters? Cluster according to comments Do
patterns emerge? Use student demographic data
when possible and appropriate
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Making Sense of Written Comments
Make a list of common positive and negative
characteristics of teachers Put checkmarks next
to them based on student comments Helps
quantify the diversity of comments Produces a
visual as well as quantitative display
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Making Sense of Written Comments
Ask students to comment on What made you
rate the course as you did? What kept you
from rating the course higher?
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Student Feedback
2) Interviews (by you or a third party)
Focus group Whole class (e.g., Group
Instructional Feedback Technique
GIFT) Students identify unanticipated
strengths and weaknesses Interviewer can
probe - Whole class may not be represented
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Self-Evaluation
Personal observations during class Reflections /
journal Teaching portfolio Teaching
philosophy statement - personal and descriptive
Evidence of putting philosophy into action
Evidence of growth as a teacher You have a
voice here Evaluators need a rubric
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Evaluators need a rubric examples
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Self-Evaluation
Immediate and constant feedback Meaningful to
you - Subject to your biases, misconceptions,
and delusions
Self-assess your perceived teaching strengths
and weaknesses Get feedback to confirm or
refute
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Recordings
Audio and/or Video Provides objective
information - Information is true but may be
meaningless by itself in determining impact
on student learning
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Student Performance
Course assessments (exams, papers, etc.) Pre /
Post tests Classroom research projects
Provides evidence of student learning - Lack of
an unequivocal causal relationship
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Outside Evaluators
Observations of teaching Review of materials
Can offer positive and negative observations
without a personal cost Bring
professional expertise in content and/or
pedagogy - Limited number of class visits (snap
shot perspective) Need an agreement on what is
to be observed or reviewed and criteria for
judgment
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Outside Evaluators
Conducted by - Peers Low political
risk Empathy - Limited
experience and perspective Senior faculty /
Administrators Experience -
Political risk Instructional specialists from
a center Objective with no political
risk Expertise in instructional
strategies - Limited knowledge of
subject matter
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching
Use a multidimensional approach to evaluating
what is a multivariable activity
A good evaluation program should be ongoing,
strategic, comprehensive, multidimensional,
integrated, and evolving
Questions? Comments?
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Alternative Strategies for Evaluating Teaching