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Tutoring and Demonstrating Ch. 8EXCERPT FROM
Chapter 8. IMPROVING YOUR TEACHINGGetting feedback: using student evaluation of teachingIn the main, good teachers have become so because they have learned how to improve their teaching. A challenge for all teachers is to find out about the effects of their teaching on students and to use this information for continuous improvement.You usually receive a good deal of direct feedback in the classroom. This might come from student queries or even from messages that you detect in student body language. Many people are adept at modifying and adjusting their teaching on the basis of this feedback. However, while some people may have reasonably good intuitions about how they are being received and be sharp in gauging student progress, these skills are not enough to gain a full picture of your effectiveness in the classroom. As well, evaluating teaching involves much more than finding out about the characteristics of your classroom performance. There is a strong argument for a more formal collection of information. Formal approaches to gathering information on teaching are usually referred to as evaluation. Evaluation is a professional responsibility that derives from a commitment to improvement. It involves gathering feedback from students and others on their perceptions of the effectiveness of the overall teaching and learning environment. As a general rule tutors and demonstrators may receive little formal evaluation of the quality of their teaching. Many departments conduct their own subject evaluations in addition to the University's Quality of Teaching Student Feedback Questionnaire. Usually these are written evaluations which take place towards the end of teaching in each subject, often during the last lecture. Many of these include specific questions on tutorials and practical classes. Another approach to evaluation is to use Staff-Student Liaison Committees. A number of departments have these committees, which meet several times during the semester to discuss aspects of the course, including tutorials and practical classes. Tutors and demonstrators can also use these simple evaluation techniques: inviting a colleague to visit a class to observe something in particular; asking the class to write a few comments on a scrap of paper in a few minutes at the close of a session; chatting informally with a handful of students after a session. Getting feedback: evidence from student achievementWith the attention given in recent years to canvassing students' opinions about the effectiveness of teaching, another important source of information may have been neglected. A great deal can be learned about the quality of teaching from the quality of the students' work. Students' judgements about their learning are very important, but the ultimate test must be what they have learned.It would be invalid and unjust to attempt to construct a performance indicator of teaching effectiveness from the standard of student work: too many other factors intervene, such as students' backgrounds (educational and social), levels of motivation, the influence of other teachers they encounter and so on. However, individual teachers are in a position to analyse patterns in their students' work which indicate areas not understood and perhaps poorly taught. They should know enough about the students' background to have realistic expectations and they know how they have tried to teach certain concepts and skills. In this sense, student assignments and comments in discussion can provide invaluable information about the effectiveness of particular teaching procedures. Next chapter: Chapter 9 Your career development: advice for graduate students
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1 August 2006
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