Re: Student Evaluations of Teaching

[Jack Uretsky <jlu@HEP.ANL.GOV>]

Hi all-
        Mebbe <I'm> missing something in all this.  How does one evaluate
the quality of university teaching by observing a few (or many) lectures?
Learning, after all, is what happens <between> the lectures, not during
them.  I guess there are some administrators who are aware of this.

                                        Regards,
                                                Jack

Adam was by constitution and proclivity a scientist; I was the same, and
we loved to call ourselves by that great name...Our first memorable
scientific discovery was the law that water and like fluids run downhill,
not up.
                          Mark Twain, <Extract from Eve's Autobiography>

On Mon, 27 Dec 1999, Steven D. Richardson wrote:

> Maybe I am missing something but what is the role of the administrator in
> all of this? If someone in a position of authority observes the teaching of
> someone several times, is that not also a valid tool? This presumes that the
> observation can and does lead to change, if needed. Does tenure lead into
> this as well? Outside the university, tenure is being done away with, so it
> seems. Is this viewed as helping keeping the quality of teaching where it
> should be? If one can be removed for failing to meet standards, won't they
> improve?
>
> Just my thoughts,
>
> Steve