Better Teaching Through Better Evaluation: A Guide for Faculty and Institutions

This paper surveys current literature and thinking on teaching evaluation in higher education. It is intended to help faculty, administrators, departments and institutions think through the main issues that need to be considered in developing a teaching evaluation plan. It is organized around these issues, which include definitions of good teaching, formative and summative evaluation of teaching, sources of evaluation information, use of evaluation to improve teaching, and features of effective evaluation programs. Along with discussion of these issues, it provides examples and models of successful evaluation approaches and includes a list of suggested readings for readers interested in learning more about particular aspects of teaching evaluation