Discusses influences on the definition of scholarship (such as discipline, priorities of the institution and academic unit, and interests of the individual), traces recent developments in how the scholarly role of faculty members is viewed, and recommends an institutional approach for bringing fairness and quality into faculty reward systems. (EV)

Reviews the literature on teaching awards and then examines a specific case, the Alan P. Stuart Award for Excellence in Teaching at the University of New Brunswick, using Menges's three tests of effective awards. Suggests that examining the strengths and weaknesses of institutional teaching awards can help illuminate the processes involved in…

Discusses the often difficult process of evaluating teaching effectiveness in terms of student learning outcomes. Suggests approaches for micro- and macro-level teacher evaluation using student outcomes. (EV)

Describes the history, goals, and applications of the teaching portfolio as an alternative teaching assessment. (EV)

College faculty have a responsibility to help students unveil some of the mystery of professional judgment in student assessment, both to help explain instructional practices and to create a model for students' use when they become professional evaluators. Teachers can use a variety of methods to ensure that subjectivity in assessment is not…

Teaching effectiveness studies have concentrated on measurable direct outcomes of instruction: student satisfaction and learning. They have omitted an important part of the equation: the relationship between teaching and instructor job satisfaction. Job satisfaction also has implications for promotion and tenure decisions, program evaluation,…

Emerging themes in student assessment include: (1) faculty need to specify skills and knowledge expectations for effective assessment; (2) assessment criteria must be established; (3) there are many ways to assess student learning; and (4) faculty must become more involved in assessment. (MSE)

Suggestions on how to develop comprehensive systems of instructional improvement and evaluation are offered. In order to measure and evaluate instructional effectiveness accurately, criteria and guidelines for that evaluation must be set up. This first step is accomplished most effectively at the departmental level. (MLW)

Although there is a small body of research on effective teaching techniques, questions to be answered include those concerning criteria of effective teaching, reliability of current measures, and the possibility of developing an enlightened policy for evaluating teaching. (MSE)

A certification system for college faculty must effectively balance supply and demand, be criterion-referenced, choose criteria that command community confidence, be known throughout the market in which a given faculty member will operate, protect academic freedom, and provide a visible mark of distinction for faculty. While such a system has…

Research on college teaching supports classifying teaching as much an art as a science. The expectation that student evaluation of teachers can result in exact teacher rankings is unrealistic and stifles the artistry in teaching. However, current evaluation techniques can yield broader classifications of effectiveness and help improve instruction.…

Research on use of student evaluations of faculty as a source of information on good teaching is reviewed, and the differential importance of criteria expressed in the rating forms is discussed. It is concluded that while the data in the evaluations can have varied interpretations, they can also be an important source of information for…

A decade of interest in the evaluation of college teaching has produced both a wide variety of approaches and a concise set of practical guidelines for assisting college teachers in improving instruction. (Authors/MSE)