{"id":17298,"date":"2015-11-09T15:24:21","date_gmt":"2015-11-09T15:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/cital-blog\/?p=222"},"modified":"2015-11-09T15:24:21","modified_gmt":"2015-11-09T15:24:21","slug":"do-good-course-evaluations-mean-you-are-a-good-teacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intra.valpo.edu\/cital\/do-good-course-evaluations-mean-you-are-a-good-teacher\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Good Course Evaluations Mean You Are a Good Teacher?"},"content":{"rendered":"
BY: Allison M. Hunt, Assistant Director of Instructional Technology
\n<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n

Why is teacher effectiveness so important? I think the obvious answer is that the measure, in part, determines one\u2019s 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\u2026. what evidence do you have to show that YOU are an effective <\/i>instructor? What tools do YOU use to measure your effectiveness? -Are your methods and beliefs supported by research?<\/p>\n

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\u2019s effectiveness as an instructor. Hativa (2014) notes that \u201cstudents are not knowledgeable enough to evaluate all aspects of teaching quality\u201d and additional sources of information should be used.<\/p>\n

This article is a snapshot of evidence-based tools that measure teacher effectiveness. The research all agrees there is not one magic tool<\/i> to use. Instead, institutions would be wise to include multiple methods of assessment.<\/p>\n

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.
\n\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

In sum, it looks like there is a discrepancy between what the research is recommending and what the institution is doing. In particular, <\/b>teaching portfolios<\/b> and <\/b>learning outcome measures<\/b> could be included to measure teacher effectiveness. <\/b>These discrepancies are common across institutions and were highlighted in Henderson\u2019s (2014) article. His findings are shown below.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to remember that each tool measures different aspects of teacher effectiveness. Nilson (2003) would break down two of the resources as follows:<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2019t it be nice if the research could simply identify the qualities<\/i> or skills<\/i> 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.<\/p>\n

Berk writes that the act of teaching is too complex to measure. However, there are some researchers who have identified dimensions<\/i> and actual qualities<\/i> of teacher effectiveness. -These are items that could be included on student evaluations.<\/p>\n

Hativa (2014) identified general teaching behaviors which cannot be directly observed or measured. These are simply correlated with a global item, \u201coverall teacher effectiveness\u201d through student evaluations.<\/p>\n

General Teaching Behaviors:<\/b><\/p>\n