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The Senate of York University
Committee on Teaching and Learning
Forum on Student Evaluation of Teaching
Friday, April 4, 2008
10:00 a.m. ? 12 noon
Senate Chamber, N940 Ross
The Senate Committee on Teaching and Learning is extending an invitation
to
members of Senate, faculty and undergraduate and graduate students
to
participate in a Forum on the Student Evaluation of Teaching.
The Forum will help to enhance future evaluation of teaching at York
by
identifying:
1. Student, faculty and academic administrator perceptions of current
teaching evaluation practices at York;
2. Aspects of current processes that need to be improved;
3. New opportunities and strategies to increase the usefulness of
teaching evaluations from the perspectives of students, faculty
and academic administrators.
Please RSVP by Wednesday, April 1:
http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/senate/committees/scotl/Forum2008/SCOTLRsvp.htm
Agenda
1. Welcome and Introduction: Gary Spraakman, Chair, SCOTL
2. Insights into student and faculty perceptions of current teaching
evaluation practices
3. Panelist perspectives:
a) Art Hilliker, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science &
Engineering; President, YUFA
b) Kristian Rajroop, student representative on SCOTL
c) Jerry Ginsburg, Department of History, Faculty of Arts
d) Norma Sue Fisher-Stitt, Associate Vice-President, Academic
Learning Initiatives
e) Ros Woodhouse, Academic Director, Centre for the Support of
Teaching
4. Open Discussion
5. Summary and Next Steps: Gary Spraakman
Background Information
The Senate Committee on Teaching and Learning plays a leadership role in
advancing practices and policies to strengthen the learning and teaching
environment at York. Over time, it has provided guidelines on good
practice
for documenting and evaluating teaching. Recently, SCOTL has focused its
attention on increasing the usefulness of teaching evaluations and has
made
recommendations to provide faculty with salient and practical information
on their courses and teaching. At the same time, the University has
enabled
teaching evaluations to be conducted online, with the goals of increasing
the timeliness and security of information. These issues were considered
at
a SCOTL-facilitated discussion at the December 13, 2007, meeting of
Senate.
The background report for that discussion can be found at:
http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/senate/committees/scotl/reports/2007-08/Scotl071213.pdf
At Senate, SCOTL Chair, Professors Spraakman and Woodhouse opened the
session by identifying the value of evaluations in the context of UAP
objectives, pedagogical concerns and trends in postsecondary policy. Valid
instruments can complement other pedagogical strategies and create a
positive, interactive experience for students. The ensuing discussion
highlighted the need for critical perspectives on conventional approaches,
and the importance of innovation and transparency for fostering meaningful
dialogue about teaching and students academic experience. The Forum
provides an opportunity for all members of the York teaching and learning
community to participate in a more extensive discussion of our goals and
approaches to evaluating teaching, and to influence our future work in
this
area.
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