Gaining and responding to feedback on your teaching
Evaluation is "concerned
with the effects of our teaching on our students' learning, and the
ways we can change teaching so that it best brings about the sort of
learning we value" (Ramsden and Dodds 1989,
p. 2).
. When effectively carried out and appropriately
used, evaluation has the potential to:
- enhance student learning and the student experience
- facilitate and inform our professional development as educators
- promote quality assurance and improvement.
It is important to seek feedback
on your learning and teaching practice, both formally and informally,
from a variety of sources including your students, colleagues or peers,
and through your own process of critical
reflection. It is important that this feedback contributes to both
formative and summative evaluation. These terms refer to the general
purpose and timing of evaluation.
- Formative evaluation is generally carried out during the
course of teaching and can be used to monitor progress and determine
whether immediate changes need to be made.
- Summative evaluation is generally carried out towards the
end or at the completion of a course of teaching and can be used to
ascertain how effective it has been in supporting student learning,
the extent to which aims and outcomes have been achieved, and to assist
in planning future teaching.
For more
detailed information about course and teaching evaluation, please go
to the pages about evaluating your
course and the UNSW Course and Teaching
Evaluation and Improvement Process (CATEI).
Our resource Ideas
for gaining and responding to feedback explores:
- Ideas for gaining feedback from your students
- Ideas for gaining feedback from your peers
- Ideas for gaining feedback through self-reflection
- Ideas for responding to feedback
Online
resources
- University of Canberra Centre
for the Enhancement of Learning, Teaching and Scholarship, Evaluation
as Academic Practice.
- University of Tasmania Teaching
and Learning, Evaluation.
- Flinders University Teaching
for Learning, Giving Feedback.
- Fink, L. D., 1999, Evaluating
Your Own Teaching.
- University of Waterloo Teaching
Resources and Continuing Education, Receiving
and Giving Effective Feedback.
- Penn State Centre for Excellence
in Learning and Teaching, An
Introduction to Classroom Assessment Techniques.
- Harvey, J. (ed.) 1998. Evaluation
Cookbook, Institute for Computer-Based Learning, Heriot-Watt
University Edinburgh.
- Australian National University
Centre for Educational Development and Academic Methods, Gathering
Students' Views of Teaching and Learning.
- Learning and Teaching Support
Network (LTSN) Generic Centre, Peer
Observation of Teaching in Australia.
- Australian National University
Centre for Educational Development and Academic Methods, Peer
Review and Self-Evaluation Toolkit.
E-mail
an idea
Have you developed an idea
for gaining and responding to feedback on your learning and teaching
practice? Why not share it by e-mailing it to
lt@unsw.edu.au.
