FSEC hears report on judging teaching

By MARA McGINNIS
Reporter Assistant Editor

A report prepared by the Faculty Senate Teaching and Learning Committee says that the university must encourage, nurture and reward faculty teaching accomplishments just as it does with research accomplishments in order to maximize instructional effectiveness.

The detailed report was presented at the April 19 meeting of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee by Ronald Gentile, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, and chair of the senate's Teaching and Learning Committee.

The purpose of the report was to outline recommendations for the assessment of instructional effectiveness and how to implement those recommendations.

Under the first recommendation, all course syllabi should contain general goals for the course; specific objectives that must be achieved to demonstrate sufficient mastery of the content to receive a passing grade; how attainment of goals and objectives will be evaluated; what additional support, tutorial remediation, etc., is available and how to access it; attendance policies; what else is required in the course and how it will be evaluated, and the overall grading scheme.

The report also recommends that deans be responsible for assuring that all promotion-and-tenure decisions include teaching portfolios (in accordance with UB's adopted "Checklist for Promotion Dossiers Prepared after September 2000") and that those portfolios include for each course taught:

- course syllabus

- student evaluations of instruction (in accordance with the Faculty Senate resolution on Student Evaluations of Instruction adopted Feb. 15)

- instructor self-evaluations of their teaching philosophy, methods and effectiveness

- evidence of the effectiveness of instruction, or how students who passed the course benefited from the instruction. For example, pre-test and post-test gains, type of student projects produced, student testimonials on specific effects of the course, etc.

- information on course policy and procedures for identifying students having difficulties and what is done to provide them with opportunities to remediate those difficulties and pass the course

Thirdly, the document says that the provost, in collaboration with the deans, initiate and fund a high-profile, long-range, systematic and comprehensive professional-development effort for faculty to continue expanding and improving their instructional repertoires.

Gentile acknowledged that the new Educational Technology Center (ETC) provides one step toward improving instructors' technological techniques. However, faculty members pointed out that a similar unit-the Office of Teaching Effectiveness, charged with improving teaching and expanding instructors' repertoires-was eliminated a few years ago for budgetary reasons. The report recognizes that many faculty perceive that "UB's administration is supporting instructional technology at the expense of instruction, or that we have found a high-tech solution to a low-tech problem."

Efforts to develop faculty teaching skills, according to Gentile, would include graduate courses on teaching and learning, instructional technology, mentoring and supervision, innovative teaching and testing strategies, etc., which could be audited or taken for credit; workshops, speakers and other programs, with follow-up discussions and reflections, and advertising and encouragement for faculty to participate in both intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary programs.

In regard to students and the culture of learning, the committee said UB should promote the following list of possible student academic responsibilities:

- knowing and following university policy regarding drop-add dates, making up incomplete grades, etc.

- understanding and following each course syllabus

- preparing for and participating in class

- informing the instructor, in advance if possible, if for any reason a deadline cannot be met or a class must be missed

- requesting of the instructor the need for extra help as soon as possible

- understanding that not all topics in a course will be of interest or immediate use, but that questions about assignments be asked before it is due

- meeting with other students to discuss the material and perhaps requesting that the instructor help set up extra-curricular discussion groups.

Furthermore, the committee added as a recommendation that the Methods of Inquiry program be maintained, strengthened, better publicized and placed high on the list of courses recommended by undergraduate advisors.

The final recommendation calls for the provost, in collaboration with the deans, to initiate discussions with the various campus student organizations to obtain their input about issues related to assessments of instructional effectiveness.

Louis Swartz, associate professor of law, expressed concerns about such an abstract, general approach to assessing instructional effectiveness, specifically those regarding course syllabi, since he and some other law professors prefer not to use syllabi. He said he thinks if such uniform standards are to be adopted as policy there needs to be "systematic consultation process with each of the units allowing them to come up with their own guidelines regarding these issues."

Senate Chair Peter Nickerson assured the group that deans would receive this document and would be asked to consult with their faculty about it before the various recommendations are voted on as resolutions.

The faculty, however, noted that the extent to which the deans consult their faculty varies enormously and Swartz added that there may be a more systematic way to handle the consultation process regarding these issues and recommendations.