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Suggested Procedure for Conducting Evaluation

Step 1: Guided Self Evaluation
Step 2: Natural Formative Evaluation
Step 3: Peer Evaluation
Step 4: Student Evaluation

Step 1: Guided Self Evaluation

One of the most neglected aspects of explicit evaluation is self-evaluation. Ideally and logically, this should precede all other forms of evaluation. Self-evaluation can assist you to:

• improve the educational experiences you provide for your students
• identify the professional education you need to further develop your capacity to teach well
• prepare for your performance review with your supervisor
• assess your readiness to apply for promotion and tenure

Once you have worked out what you need to know about your teaching you can then set about choosing the most appropriate source of evaluation.

For more information and appropriate tools you could use for self review, you might wish to visit the Self Evaluation web page

Step 2: Natural Formative Evaluation

Ideally you should take a regular review of where you are up to in teaching the course with your students. Formative evaluation gives a snapshot of learning at any particular point and allows for adjustment as necessary. A brief writing task, such as those suggested below, are a source of quick formative evaluation to ascertain for yourself that students are understanding correctly. Feedback given in this manner can be used to guide future teaching and to give a class some indication of their progress thus far.

The suggestions are linked to pages you can download and use in your classes. Students' contributions can be anonymous or work required that is not graded. Collect and briefly review students' responses before the next lecture. If your class is very large, analyse a random percentage of them.

• The One Minute Paper
  Students write for one minute on what their understanding is of the main idea of the lecture or the most intriguing point and one or two questions that remain uppermost in their mind.
• The Five Main Points
  Some lecturers have found that they made 120 main points according to their students who have been unable to distinguish anecdote from example from the concepts.
• Applications Card
  Students brainstorm some of the ideas discussed and then select two and illustrate ways that these ideas may be applied to everyday life.
• The Muddiest Point
  Students write for one minute the idea that is least clear to them at that moment.

Step 3: Peer Evaluation

Peer review is an intentional process of gathering information and evidence about the effectiveness of the teaching/learning process and the educational environment with a view to subjecting it to constructive critical scrutiny. The purposes include providing assurance that students are able to achieve what the course requires them to achieve and to improve teaching practices. Peers offer the capacity to critically review and improve and enhance teaching. Seeking and providing constructive critical peer feedback about teaching should be regarded as a fundamental aspect of the academic role. Peers are a valuable source of formative feedback on whether intentions are achieved in lectures and through the design of assessment.

1. Conduct self review in preparation for peer review

• Evaluate your strengths, achievements, constraints and difficulties.
  
• Identify the aspect(s) of your teaching role that you want feedback about.

2. Arrange a meeting with the peer reviewer in which you:

• Present your view of the aspect(s) you would like taken into consideration.
  
• Consider the reviewers’ indications of the aspects they consider are important in a review.
  
• Agree to a set of criteria developed through negotiation by which to conduct the review. These should represent the views of both participants.

3. Conduct review
These activities could include:

• reviewing course materials and documents
  
• conducting focus groups
  
• teaching observation, etc.
  
• Feedback from observations should be provided to the colleague immediately after any observation session according to the jointly established criteria.

4. Interpretation and explanation of the findings.

• The reviewer should prepare an interim report that is negotiated and discussed with the person being reviewed.

5. Response

The academic being reviewed should be given an opportunity to discuss and explain:

• beliefs about, & approach to, teaching & learning,
  
• reasons for the teaching & learning methods and changes made,
  
• constraints to teaching caused by decisions beyond an individual’s control, and
  
• experimental or trial approaches undertaken with their attendant risks.

6. Final report delivery

The final report should:

• be the property of the person being evaluated
  
• contain explanations and interpretations that satisfy both reviewer and colleague
  
• be accurate, fair, highlighting the strengths of the staff member’s teaching
  
• provide constructive criticism where appropriate
  
• address the agreed criteria  

For more information on peer review, you might wish to visit the Peer Review web page

Step 4: Student Evaluation

Flinders University has a standard instrument for gathering summative data from students about their response to teaching (Student Evaluations of Teaching -SET) and of topics (Student Evaluations of Topics -SET). These are administered by the Centre for learning and Professional Development at Adelaide University. Forms, questions and procedures are available from http://www.flinders.edu.au/SET.

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