• Open Access

Assessment of teaching effectiveness: Lack of alignment between instructors, institutions, and research recommendations

Charles Henderson, Chandra Turpen, Melissa Dancy, and Tricia Chapman
Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 10, 010106 – Published 19 February 2014

Abstract

Ideally, instructors and their institutions would have a shared set of metrics by which they determine teaching effectiveness. And, ideally, these metrics would overlap with research findings on measuring teaching effectiveness. Unfortunately, the current situation at most institutions is far from this ideal. As part of a larger interview study, 72 physics instructors were asked to describe how they and their institutions assess teaching effectiveness. Results suggest that institutions typically base most or all of their assessment of teaching effectiveness on student evaluations of teaching. Instructors, on the other hand, base most or all of their assessment of teaching effectiveness on student exam performance and nonsystematic formative assessments. Few institutions and instructors use assessment practices suggested by the research literature. In general, instructors are much more positive about the methods they use to evaluate their teaching than the methods their institutions use to evaluate their teaching. Both instructors and institutions could benefit from broadening the assessment sources they use to evaluate teaching effectiveness through increased use of standardized measures based on student learning and greater reliance on systematic formative assessment.

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  • Received 23 September 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.010106

This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Charles Henderson1, Chandra Turpen2,*, Melissa Dancy3, and Tricia Chapman4,*

  • 1Department of Physics and Mallinson Institute for Science Education, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 19050, USA
  • 2Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA
  • 3Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
  • 4Department of Education, Nazareth College, Rochester, New York, 14618, USA

  • *Formerly at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008, USA.

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Vol. 10, Iss. 1 — January - June 2014

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