Inspiration Day 2007

To Evaluate or not Evaluate (Our Teaching),

That is the Question

Let me ask you some questions•Can you think of a time when you have been asked to evaluate something? •A class when you were a student? •A seminar you’ve attended? •Our IT services at BI?

•Did you believe your feedback was useful?•Who can give us feedback on our programmes and classes?•Are university students capable of ’critical thinking’?

Two Dimensions of Teaching Evaluations

•Driven by the teacher to improve teaching

•Carried out by administration staff – as a quality assurance tool

Key Questions Today:

• Which factors impact students’ evaluations of teachers?

• What recent research findings can we learn from?

• Process evaluations - some personal experiences

•

• Which of the following factors can lead to higher student evaluation of teachers ?• Factors very important quite important not important• 1) Giving high grades___________________________________________________ _• 2) Giving less work__________________________________________________ ____• 3) Having high ability,• & highly motivated students_________________________________________ ___• 4) Having smaller classes_________________________________________ ________• 5) Having a popular time• e.g. middle of the day____________________________________________ ______• 6) Good ‘student perceived’• learning outcomes____________________________________________ _________• 7) Having teachers who are researchers______________________________________________________

• 8) Having a level & speed • in the classroom which is • easy________________________________________________ ___________ _• 9) Teachers who vary teaching• methods to attract different• types of students________________________________________ _____________• 10) Being well prepared & inviting • questions______________________________________________ _____________• 11) Having a Likeable teacher______________________________________________________________• 12) Being an experienced teacher _________________________ __________________• 13) Teaching an ‘easy’ or popular• subject_______________________________________________ ______________• 14) Having a good language level• In the language you teach in____________________________ _ _______________• 15) Availability for help________________________________ _ ___________________• 16) Being a teacher with• a high status title_____________________________________ _________________

What Recent Research Findings Can We Learn From? Summary by G Warner-Søderholm

Will Teachers receive higher student evaluations by giving higher grades and less coursework (John Centra)

• 72% believed course difficulty impacted their evaluations• 68% believed that grading leniency mattered• 60% believed course workload mattered• Smaller classes get higher evaluations!• Teachers in their first year get lower evaluations!• Instructor helpfullness matters!

• ”Teachers will not likely improve their evaluations by giving higher grades and less coursework. – They will however improve their evaluations and probably their instruction if they respond to consistent student feedback about instructional practices”

• ”Given the increased emphasis on using evaluations in tenure and promotion-a teacher’s temptation to maniplulate grades is a possibility”

Judging University Teaching – Keith Trigwell – a brief summary:

• Good teaching is oriented towards high quality student learning

• Good teaching is scholarly

• Teaching involves planning, compatability, content knowledge, being a learner, reflection and a way of thinking about teaching and learning

• ”Unless the criteria being used to judge teaching are consistent with criteria being used to develop teaching, little will be achieved”.

Good Practices- Improving Student Evaluations – Brainstorming Activity

Faculty workshops?

Checklist - Good Practices:

What are the Dangers of Evaluations Being Controlled by Administrators as ’Quality Assurance Tools’ ?

• Without any underlying intention of improvement• As a control function• Adminstration dominated quality assurance decisions• An over-reaction to external quality assurance should be

avoided• Questions of assessment should be secondary to these

questions:• - What do we want our students to know?• - What do we want our teachers to know?• Evaluation for accountability has become an essential

part of today’s higher education

Case Work – BI’s Formative and Summative Evaluation Strategy Plan:• Formative Evaluations:

• Stage 1: Week 3 – class evaluation meeting• Stage 2: Meeting between lecturer & class representative• Step 3: ’Contract agreed’ between class rep. & teacher• Step 4: Head of year /programme analyses reports• Step 5: All class representatives meet to evaluate all

programmes & report to admin.• Step 6: Neccessary actions taken

• Summative Evaluations:

• 1) Confirmit evaluations sent to students at the end of semester• 2) Processed data sent to lecturers 2/3 months later

Conclusion• Evaluation is a continuous process – essential before,

during and after a course. Evaluation at the end is the least valuable to the teacher

• For students, the quality of teaching is about how effectively teaching engages them and urges them towards a deep approach

• We need to question the validity of external quality assurance processes yet be accountable and use feedback effectively