Evaluating teaching
Review of a mini-conference on the role of student evaluations
Evaluation evaluation consultant Ralph Arreola shared his expertise with about 300 faculty and staff members.
Photo by Katie Willer
By Anita Gonzalez
Brief, March 8, 2006
How relevant are student evaluations in the practice of teaching? In light of the University's continuing focus on improving students' educational experience, student evaluations need to reflect a balanced perspective that encompasses the many facets of teaching. About 300 administrators, faculty and instructional staff members, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students attended a campus mini-conference February 23 on "Evaluating Teaching: A Comprehensive Approach," facilitated by higher education evaluation expert Raoul Arreola. Arreola is a faculty member at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and author of Developing a Comprehensive Faculty Evaluation System. Arreola's presentation focused on three main points: that teaching in higher education is a meta-profession--one that draws upon competencies from multiple areas including instructional design, delivery, assessment, and the expertise of one's content area or disciplinebecause of this meta-professional framework, student rating forms (i.e., University of Minnesota's end-of-semester Student Evaluation of Teaching or "SET" forms) should serve as only one measure for evaluating teachingstudent rating forms should be designed to address the technical issues and provide accurate, measurable data about the quality of teaching at the U Discussion gave some attention to the discrepancies involved in comparing student-rating data from different course levels. Research suggests that first-year students enrolled in required, introductory courses tend to rate faculty members differently than juniors enrolled in elective courses, Arreola said. It's most accurate to compare cohort data within each discipline, he advised. The mini-conference was cosponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning Services (CTLS) and the provost's Council for Enhancing Student Learning. It continued a yearlong program focus on evaluating teaching, which began last October with a mini-conference facilitated by Peter Seldin. CTLS supports the work begun at the mini-conference with online resources, individual and group consultations, and customized workshops. For more information on services available through CTLS, see Center for Teaching and Learning Services or call 612-625-3041.
Anita Gonzalez is an assistant education specialist for the Center for Teaching and Learning Services, Twin Cities campus.
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