Teaching portfolios provide college faculty and department chairs with the means to recognize good teaching and promote the values of the discipline. Portfolio content should include information on what is taught and why, documentation of teaching strategies, evidence of teaching effectiveness, and a teaching improvement plan. (MSE)

This article addresses some of the contextual factors that influence faculty evaluation in a small, church-related liberal arts college and identifies five areas in which structural and normative constraints of the institution may affect individual faculty ratings. Provides recommendations for preparing evaluations which minimize the impact of…

Types of faculty evaluation methods and criteria are examined, and a technique for the use of criterion referenced student evaluation of teacher performance is detailed. The system, called Assessment for Instructional Development, draws on earlier evaluation theory but is adapted to correct linguistic, statistical, and methodological problems.…

Based on the idea that the skills needed to mentor a college faculty member in development of a reflective teaching portfolio are similar to those a composition teacher uses for student consultation, the process and guiding principles used by one mentor are described. Issues of portfolio organization and sources for objective feedback are also…

Offers suggestions for improving classroom lecturing in terms of the sender, the content, and the receiver. Provides guidelines for lecture preparation. Explores importance of format, delivery, and timing in presentations. Discusses value of assessing the lecturer and states good lectures attract students, while bad ones drive them away. (NL)

A model for course planning that provides a way of looking at college instruction and an approach to preparing effective courses is presented. It is suggested that: teaching is an experimental activity, there is no correct way to teach, a teacher sets up the conditions for learning, and both the course and teacher need to assume part of the…

Formative evaluation of teaching is discussed, and ways of obtaining diagnostic feedback that will lead to improved teaching in large lecture classes are examined. A Teacher Behaviors Inventory is included. (MLW)

The percentage of universities using student ratings to evaluate teacher performance is steadily increasing, but this method can be abused if it is the sole criterion of evaluation. Recent surveys of faculty attitudes towards teaching evaluation indicate that most faculty members are in favor of systematic evaluation, prefer student ratings to…

A guide to the evaluation and improvement of teaching was developed by the University of Washington Committee on the Evaluation and Improvement of Teaching and the university's Instructional and Faculty Development Board. The handbook contains questions and problems that departments are likely to confront in designing an evaluation program…

A handbook to help faculty plan and implement the evaluation of medical school courses is presented. Seven steps necessary to planning a course evaluation are specified: identify users and needs, ask specific questions, indicate how questions will be answered, select and/or design instruments, consider ethical issues, collect and analyze data, and…

A guide for faculty who want to improve their lecturing skills is presented. After identifying advantages and disadvantages of the lecture method, suggestions are offered for effective lecture preparation, with attention to organizing the body of the lecture, and beginning and closing the lecture. Vocal aspects of lecture delivery are addressed,…

A guide to help instructors improve or review their questioning skills is presented, with a focus on devising appropriate questions and interpersonal skills that maximize student responses. Questions that entail knowledge, comprehension, and simple application levels are distinguished from questions requiring complex application (e.g., analysis…

A method of student evaluation of preclerkship clinical medical teaching used at the University of Toronto (Canada) is described. The method has a high response rate, yields data on individual teacher effectiveness and course content coverage, is stable over time, and has been well received by students and faculty. (MSE)

Materials and approaches that college faculty can use to evaluate their instruction are described. This guide, prepared by a University of North Dakota (UND) faculty task force, describes new instruments, guidance for developing forms, ideas for interviewing and observing students, and suggestions for other approaches, including self-evaluation,…

Information on teaching at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is presented for both new and established teachers. Course and lecture organization, presentation techniques, and teaching aids are covered, along with exams, grading, and teacher evaluation. Class size and composition and classroom…