Assessment tools for evaluating teaching quality

When assessment of quality is the focus of teaching observation, particularly when a written assessment of a faculty member will result, a range of assessment tools should be employed. These may include:

Self review: This may range from a relatively brief account, to something much more substantial, for example:

• a few comments included in the papers that you prepare for your regular staff development review;
• a citation and record of achievement prepared for a specific purpose, such as an application for a UK National Teaching Fellowship, or for promotion. These reviews must usually conform to a specified format;
• a much more substantial teaching portfolio.

• Flinders University offers further ideas for evaluation and review, including a self-evaluation inventory
• There is more on recording achievements in the section on records and evidence of teaching activity

Student evaluation:

• Formal student evaluations typically take the form of end-of-module questionnaires. Staff should be given the opportunity to respond to the results.
• Student feedback may also be given via student representatives at staff-student committees
• Student feedback may be given informally and directly, or can be solicited via other techniques, eg
  • Interviewing Students about Their Learning Experience
  • Interviewing Students about What They are Learning

Peer review:

• Peer review is similar to peer observation of teaching, in that it may be done for developmental purposes, but it also incorporates an evaluative aspect. The University of Wisconsin-Madison gives a more detailed definition.
• Further information, including a list of characteristics of good teaching that may form the basis for criteria for peer review, is given on the University of Reading's website.
• We recommend the University of Tasmania's Guide to Peer Review of Teaching, which offers a wide range of summative and formative observation schedules for lectures, tutorials, laboratory sessions, supervisions etc.
• Flinders University also has guidelines and some examples of the types of report that might result from a peer review

Each of these tools can address some issues of teaching quality and effectiveness, but not all issues. Triangulation, or viewing from a combination of perspectives, is essential to arrive at a reasonably valid and accurate evaluation of teaching quality and effectiveness.