Why evaluate?
"… student ratings are (a) multidimensional; (b) reliable and stable; (c) primarily a function of the instructor who teaches a course rather than the course that is taught; (d) relatively valid against a variety of indicators of effective teaching; (e) relatively unaffected by a variety of variables hypothesised as potential biases; and (f) seen to be useful by faculty as feedback about their teaching, by students for use in course selection, and by administrators for use in personnel decisions" (Marsh, 1984, p. 707).
Improve student learning experiences
"Good teaching and good learning are linked through the students' experiences of what we do. It follows that we cannot teach better unless we are able to see what we are doing from their point of view" (Ramsden, 1992, p. 86).
We are able to improve the student learning experience if we find out how our students are learning and how they perceive the learning and teaching environment.
Students have different views of what is good teaching, and also differ in their approaches to learning and their preference for particular learning styles (PDF 288 KB) .
When we are able to collect their view points on learning and teaching through evaluation, the data can be an important means of improving student learning experiences, teaching activities and course design.
Curriculum improvement (review and accreditation process)
All curriculum need to be evaluated and reviewed on a regular basis so they remain relevant.
This is due to the dynamic external and internal environments which includes external factors such as changes in student profiles, professional and industry innovations, changing technological and knowledge advances, government policies, as well as institutional demands.
Professional development
As teachers, we may wonder about the quality of our teaching and courses, and what needs to be improved.
Post-evaluation uses the evaluation data to explore possible answers to questions of the quality of the course or teaching, and helps to build a systematic and systemic professional development program.
Quality assurance and benchmarking
Post evaluation is a key component in the quality assurance process. This is particularly so where the process extends beyond using the evaluation of quantitative data to ascertain how well learning and teaching practices align with the university's mission.
Evaluation processes can also evaluate institutional practices in relation to the dynamic education landscape (that is, benchmarking), provide it with information about areas for improvement, which can propel the university forward (that is, continuous improvements or quality enhancement).
Scholarly teaching and scholarship of teaching
Scholarly teaching is a reflection of:
- informed selection and integration of ideas
- course and program design
- assessment
- implementation
- evaluation processes (Shulman 2000).
According to Keith Trigwell and colleagues (2000, p.156), the goal of scholarly teaching is simply to "make transparent how we made learning possible."
The articles or artefacts (improved curricula, innovate and creative new teaching methods) produced as a result of evaluation processes can form a part of the scholarship of teaching when you disseminate and share them publicly.
You are developing a scholarship of teaching when your work as a teacher becomes public, peer reviewed and critiqued, and exchanged with other members of your professional communities so they, in turn, can build on your work (Shulman, 2000, p. 50).
Related resources:
- Standards for higher quality learning - interview with Keith Trigwell
- Teaching and learning scholarship - interview with Keith Trigwell
- What is the place of research in the scholarship of teaching and learning - Keith Trigwell lecture
Personnel decisions
University evaluation data also provides useful evidence of standard of practice for both awards and promotion.