Individual Consultation

If you are concerned about your effectiveness in the classroom, about a new course you are designing, or about other classroom issues, including such topics as academic integrity or managing student behavior, you may want to consult with the director of the Faculty Development Center. The Center works with faculty across disciplines and has resources available on alternative teaching approaches, evaluation and improvement strategies and methods of working effectively with students.

Videotaping

One of the most effective ways of evaluating your teaching is to observe yourself in action in the classroom. The Faculty Development Center can arrange to have your class videotaped, free of charge. To schedule a time, simply call the Center one week in advance. Instructors who use the service note that videotaping does not disrupt classroom activities and that students soon forget that the camera is there. Consultation is available and encouraged during your review of the tape. The Center can also arrange videotaping if you wish to practice the presentation of a conference paper.

Classroom Observation

While student evaluations provide some feedback on teaching, the may not provide a clear or comprehensive picture. You may prefer to have the FDC director come to observe your class and offer feedback. After the class he will meet with you to answer questions you may have about your classroom effectiveness and teaching techniques.

Student Small Group Evaluations

Getting useful student feedback during a course is often difficult, and end-of-semester written student evaluation results, while extremely useful, come too late to make changes that will improve the class for the students offering advice. To help provide you with helpful information on the classes you are currently teaching, the FDC suggests a mid-semester student small group evaluation. The evaluation takes approximately twenty minutes at the end of a class period of your choosing. The FDC director will visit your class and, after you leave, divide your students into small groups. Each group is given ten minutes to select a spokesperson, agree on what is working well in the course, what needs improvement, and what suggestions they have for carrying out the improvements. At the end of this time, the director records the responses from each group and then presents the results to you later in a private consultation.