Do Good Course Evaluations Mean You Are a Good Teacher?
BY: Allison M. Hunt, Assistant Director of Instructional Technology
Why is teacher effectiveness so important? I think the obvious answer is that the measure, in part, determines one’s future in academe (i.e. promotion and tenure). Accreditors are also scrutinizing the ability of institutions to provide evidence to show whether students are actually learning what instructors purport the students are learning. Accreditors are here to keep universities accountable which means the pressure is put on administrators and faculty to pony up the evidence. So…. what evidence do you have to show that YOU are an effective instructor? What tools do YOU use to measure your effectiveness? -Are your methods and beliefs supported by research?
One important thing to remember about course evaluations completed by students at the end of the semester is that they represent a single datapoint, which is not sufficient to make a holistic determination about one’s effectiveness as an instructor. Hativa (2014) notes that “students are not knowledgeable enough to evaluate all aspects of teaching quality” and additional sources of information should be used.
This article is a snapshot of evidence-based tools that measure teacher effectiveness. The research all agrees there is not one magic tool to use. Instead, institutions would be wise to include multiple methods of assessment.
The chart below summarizes the findings from various authors and experts in the field. Each author discusses the validity and reliability of each tool and the purpose of each. The VU faculty handbook is included to reflect current practice.
In sum, it looks like there is a discrepancy between what the research is recommending and what the institution is doing. In particular, teaching portfolios and learning outcome measures could be included to measure teacher effectiveness. These discrepancies are common across institutions and were highlighted in Henderson’s (2014) article. His findings are shown below.
It’s important to remember that each tool measures different aspects of teacher effectiveness. Nilson (2003) would break down two of the resources as follows:
As mentioned earlier, a multitude of resources is preferred as the strengths of one tool can cover the weaknesses and shortcomings of any single source (Nilson, 2003; Berk, 2005; Hativa, 2014). Wouldn’t it be nice if the research could simply identify the qualities or skills of a teacher? This way instructors can focus their energies appropriately. Well, this would be nice, but the research has a hard time coming up with anything solid.
Berk writes that the act of teaching is too complex to measure. However, there are some researchers who have identified dimensions and actual qualities of teacher effectiveness. -These are items that could be included on student evaluations.
Hativa (2014) identified general teaching behaviors which cannot be directly observed or measured. These are simply correlated with a global item, “overall teacher effectiveness” through student evaluations.
General Teaching Behaviors:
- Clarity
- Organization
- Engagement/Interesting
- Interaction (questioning, discussion)
- Rapport (interest in and concern about students and their learning, motivating students)
These general teaching behaviors are further categorized into general instructional skills under two dimensions:
Cognitive Dimension=Communication of material
- Lesson clarity
- Course & lesson organization
- Engaging/interesting presentation
Affective Dimension=Interpersonal Rapport
- Interactions, questioning & answering
- Rapport with students
Calaguas, G. M. (2012) identified 67 behaviors through PCA (Principal Components Analysis) loaded on four identified dimensions:
- Teaching-related behavior
- Subject matter expertise
- Relational expertise
- Personality
*Whatever data sources chosen, the reliability, validity, and methodology are paramount to produce data that is worthwhile to interpret.
The Course Evaluation Task Force is currently evaluating the processes of student/course evaluations, including, but not limited to, the purpose of evaluations, the current methods and processes, the questions asked on the surveys, and the interpretation of the results. The task force has the tremendous goal to provide such recommendations rooted in research. However, we cannot forget that student evaluations are just ONE source to measure teacher effectiveness. -What do you rely on?
Resources
Berk, R.A. (2005). Survey of 12 Strategies to Measure Teaching Effectiveness. Vol. 17, No. 1, 48-62. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.
Calaguas, G.M. (2012) Teacher effectiveness scale in higher education: Development and psychometric properties.
Retrieved from: http://www.consortiacademia.org/files/journals/1/articles/108/public/108-424-1-PB.pdf
Henderson, C. et al (2014). Assessment of Teaching Effectiveness : Lack of alignment between instructors, institutions, and research recommendations. Physical Review Special Topics: Physics Education Research. Retrieved from: http://journals.aps.org/prstper/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.010106
Hativa, N. (2014). Student Ratings of Instruction: Recognizing Effective Teaching. Oren Publications.
Nilson, L. B. (2003). Teaching At Its Best, 2nd edition. Anker Publishing, now Jossey-Bass.
Valparaiso University Faculty Handbook: http://www.valpo.edu/generalcounsel/assets/docs/Faculty%20Handbook.pdf
2.3.4.1 Teaching (Qualities)
2.3.5.1 – 2.3.5.3 (Annual Evaluation Principles, Components, & Expectations)