Evaluating Teaching and Learning: A practical handbook for colleges, universities and the scholarship of teaching

Every semester, colleges and universities ask students to complete innumerable course and teaching evaluation questionnaires (CTEQs) to evaluate the learning and teaching in courses they have taken. For many universities it is a requirement that all courses be evaluated every semester. The laudable rationale is that the feedback provided will enable instructors to improve their teaching and the curriculum, thus enhancing the quality of student learning. In spite of this there is little evidence that it does improve the quality of teaching and learning. Ratings only improve if the instruments and the presentation of results are sufficiently diagnostic to identify potential improvements. This practical guide to conducting evaluation of teaching and learning is wide in scope and range. It caters for diverse methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative and offers practical solutions that allow assessment at a wide range of levels: from classrooms to entire programmes to departments and entire institutions. Packed with proven questionnaires and protocols that have undergone appropriate testing procedures to establish validity, reliability and diagnostic power this vital handbook provides a practical guide for any academic wanting to gain greater understanding of the way to improve the learning and experience of their students. With detail on all aspects of the main evaluation techniques and instruments the authors show how effective evaluation can make use of a variety of approaches: Observation Dialogue Qualitative data Questionnaire Mentoring Reflection at class, course or programme level. While the book also looks at the specific national frameworks for the evaluation of teaching in use in the USA, UK and Australia. Complete with downloadable resources and templates held on a dedicated companion website this guide will help all academics to improve evaluation in higher education settings.