Teaching Assessment: Practices for Graduate Student Instructors
Evaluation of Teaching: Self-Evaluation Techniques
by Karron G. Lewis, Ph.D.
Teaching is comprised of a set of basic skills which can be observed, practiced, and improved. These basic skills are:
- Introducing the topic (set induction)
- Questioning
- Dealing with student answers
- Stimulus variation (using a variety of teaching strategies)
- Use of the blackboard
- Use of teaching aids and other equipment
- Non-verbal cues
- Reinforcement
- Use of illustrations and examples
- Exposition or lecturing
- Encouraging group discussion
- Explanation
- Planned repetition
- Teacher enthusiasm
- Closure
Teaching employs the combining of these skills to develop a creative and efficient means through which knowledge can be transmitted to students. However, in order to critique and improve one's teaching it is more effective to break the teaching process down into individual skills. Each skill can then be focused on and practiced one at a time.
Teaching strengths and weaknesses can be analyzed subjectively or objectively.
Forms of Subjective Evaluation
- Keep a log or journal record of things that seemed to work well in each day's class and those which did not.
- Have an outside observer sit in on your class and write a written report of his/her impression of how the class went.
Forms of Objective Evaluation
(To be used by the instructor with audio- or videotapes or by an outside observer or colleague sitting in on the class.)
- Check lists - when a skill or technique which is listed on the form
is observed, the observer checks it off.
a. "Checklist of Teaching Skills"* (pdf)
b. "Lecture Feedback Form"* (pdf)
c. "Teacher Evaluation Form"* (pdf) - Observation forms - a single skill is observed and critiqued.
a. "Reinforcement"* (pdf)
b. "Questioning Skills"* (pdf) - Observation systems - a means by which classroom activities are coded
and analyzed to provide feedback for the improvement of instruction.
(These are frequently used by trained outside observers but there are
many that you too can learn to use to critique your own teaching.)
a. "Cognitive Interaction Analysis System (CIAS)"
*DIIA also has a file of additional evaluation instruments if you are interested in using something besides those that are provided on this site. The DIIA staff is also available to assist you in the development of your own forms or guidelines if you have other skills or techniques you wish to critique. Many of these forms are included in the Ongoing Course Assessment (OCA) tool. This is an online tool you can use to solicit feedback from your students throughout the semester.