Issue 25(1)

The cobbler's children go barefoot.

College and university teachers rightly stress that students think critically about the quality of information, the methods by which that information is obtained, and the rules of evidence in their fields. Unfortunately, educators generally do not use that same degree of care when evaluating their own teaching, relying instead on the use of student evaluations.

In Fresh Approaches to the Evaluation of Teaching, Christopher Knapper, Patricia Cranton, and several contributing authors point out the need to go beyond the mere piling up of student opinions to achieve a level of analysis. They contend that both qualitative and quantitative measures, rooted in specific professional, educational, and institutional objectives, are useful means of evaluation. They call for gathering of significant information and not simply the amassing of meaningless statistics that give the illusion of objectivity.

Contributors discuss the roles of teaching portfolios, peer evaluations of course materials, peer observations, and measures of a variety of student outcomes. The discussions of portfolios for use not only by individuals, but also for departmental and institutional evaluation, are particularly informative and persuasive. The authors offer a frank discussion of the pitfalls and possibilities of using teaching awards as a possible measure of effectiveness. In another chapter, they evaluate the potential uses of a variety of technological tools (e.g., electronic teaching portfolios) in assembling some of the measures.

The tone of these articles does not imply that any of the methods under discussion will be a panacea, but that they must be evaluated carefully, as part of a larger strategy, and in consonance with individual, departmental, and institutional goals. The authors also note that it is critical for institutions to recognize the importance of evaluating teaching quality through real impacts on tenure and promotion decisions.

Although it is too short to address any particular area in great depth, this collection offers a wealth of good information. If it serves only to begin realistic conversations about the goals and methods of evaluation, this work will have achieved much.

The information and perspectives presented are important for advisors. The quality of advising is extremely difficult to measure in any simple way. This volume can provide advisors with useful perspectives and techniques that may be adapted to their work as professional or faculty advisors. For example, the creation of advising portfolios seems to be a fruitful area for development because it allows advisors not only an immediate look at the quality of their work but a much larger view as well. With honest, objective-based measures, advisors may find assessing success while improving the ability to serve students.