Evaluation of Teaching

Teaching Engineering Wankat & Oreovicz It is natural to want to know how well one has done on a given task. In its simplest form, evaluation of teaching allows an instructor to obtain this feedback. Once collected, the data can be used to help the instructor improve the course, compare instructors, reward or punish the instructor, or inform potential students. Since improvement of teaching without this feedback is unlikely, we are in favor of this use of teaching evaluations. Unfortunately, the evaluation of teaching has become embroiled in controversy, partially because of the other uses of evaluations. In this chapter we will start with a discussion of formative and summative evaluations and the objectives of each; then we will consider the validity of student evaluations, correlations with other methods, and extraneous variables which affect student evaluations. Since student evaluations are only one of many procedures which have been used for evaluating teaching, we next discuss the various other methods. Many professors in psychology and education have devoted their careers to studying the evaluation of teaching. Although many questions remain, there is a large body of scientifically valid knowledge about the subject. We intend to tap into this knowledge so that the reader can intelligently discuss the issues surrounding the evaluation of teaching. This background information will give the reader a distinct advantage over most engineering professors who discuss these issues on the basis of ancedotal evidence and biases.