Teaching Evaluation Teacher evaluation

Teaching evaluation tool: Review

The "Training Evaluation Form" from the Computer Science Department of Baker College contains 11 quantitatively-graded items that are evaluated by the student on a scale of 'strongly agree' to 'strongly disagree' or 'excellent' to 'poor.' There is also the option of a neutral or 'average' rating for each of the quantitatively-scored items. Some of the statements the students must pass judgment upon ask if the training met expectations such as: "I will be able to apply the knowledge learned." Others directly relate to the construction of the course such as "the content was organized and easy to follow" and "the training objectives for each topic were identified and followed; the course materials were pertinent and useful." Although these do not directly reference faculty performance, the teacher's presentation of the material will obviously impact student perceptions of the usefulness of the material. Responses on these areas can help administrators reformulate the course syllabus as well as evaluate teachers.

Other statements directly relate to faculty performance, such...

By establishing these standards, teachers have an idea how they will be graded when framing their approach to course content. The final question is cumulative: "How do you rate the training overall?"
It is interesting that the evaluation form does not merely ask one quantitatively-assessed question, although it ends with a final overall grade for the teacher. The structure of the quiz suggests that many subjective perceptions can affect students' views of teacher quality. Also, a teacher's performance might be adequate but students might not see the material as useful, which can indicate that a reevaluation of the course structure, not just the teacher, may be in order. Teachers may succeed at different components of pedagogy as well. Some teachers may…