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The English Department is a very collegial place AND we take our teaching
very seriously. The directors are pleased to have challenging
conversations among themselves about what constitutes good teaching. They
look at each other's assignments and the essays their students produce.
They, in turn, are observed by tenured faculty, including the Department chair.
Full-time, part-time, adjunct faculty, and graduate assistants are generally
observed by one of the writing directors. These observations are conducted
in the spirit of professional development, though of course a written account
will serve as one element of the instructor's file for evaluative purposes.
Instructor and observer agree on the observation day in advance and generally
meet beforehand to learn both what the teacher is going to cover and what the
teacher would like to have the observer look for in particular. These observations, however, occur in a much larger context, all of which serves
the purpose of development as much as assessment: student evaluations,
participation in the Teaching Portfolio Project (mandatory for full- and
part-time instructors; optional for adjuncts and graduate assistants), forming sessions, discussion of student essays and instructor comments, and a
case-study portfolio composed of the syllabus, all writing assignments, and all
of the writing from one student.
English Department course evaluations. Instructors are expected to
administer this evaluation at the end of each term in each section. They
should make one copy for themselves, give a copy for
their file to the Department secretary, and give one copy to either the Director
of First-Year Writing or the Director of Basic Skills (ENGL0150 and 0160).
"What Every English Teacher Ought to Know about
Using Student Evaluations." This is a brief, useful article on
what student evaluations mean and how to interpret them. Instructors are
expected to administer the English Department
University-wide course evaluations. Students fill out a brief survey at
the end of each term that is administered by the provost's office. The
results, which show how instructors rank vis-à-vis other instructors in the
Department, School, and University, are returned to each individual instructor
the next term. They are not shared with anyone else in the
Department.
The Teacher Portfolio Project.
This project serves primarily as a way to share the work we do in our classes in
the context of individual inquiry into our teaching. In this sense it is
more about professional development than assessment, but it provides a framework
of exploration and growth within which the more formal assessment in the
Department exists.
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