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Office of Faculty Advancement

Documenting Teaching Effectiveness

This page provides information for faculty members, Department Chairs and School Directors so they can decide what additional methodologies will be used to evaluate teaching.

There is ample evidence documenting variables affecting student evaluations of teaching. The differences in student perception can even be correlated to facial structure, and seem to apply differently for different professors. Aiming to minimize these effects, recent changes in the Faculty Manual were performed under the guiding principle that a more diverse approach to evaluate teaching effectiveness will minimize the effect of such biases.

Prior to adopting specific methodologies for measuring effectiveness, we recommend that: 

  • The faculty member has an open dialogue with the corresponding committees and discusses the methodology, the data to be collected and includes an objective assessment plan prior to the implementation.
  • The parties involved carefully select courses (levels and sections) that accurately reflect the faculty member’s abilities and expertise.
  • The faculty member takes advantage of the resources and protocols provided by OTEI, which will ensure consistency across evaluations.
  • A plan is established well in advance, so the faculty member has the opportunity to address any shortcomings in subsequent semesters and show (using the same methodology) the improvements.
  • Evaluators receive training on the methodologies to be applied before embarking in the evaluation process. 
  • Faculty consult with the guidelines provided by the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences (CAFLS). The site includes a compilation of discipline-specific resources and examples to make it easier for faculty to identify and provide appropriate evidence of teaching effectiveness.
students walking together on Clemson campus

How to Document Teaching Effectiveness 

The 2024 Faculty Manual specifically states that teaching must include feedback from instruction and course evaluation forms completed by students, where no single quantifier from these forms may substitute for a wide-ranging review of the responses (Chapter V, Section E.2.e.), and that requires the inclusion of at least two of the following metrics (Faculty Manual, Chapter VI, F.2.k.i):

Additional Metrics

Additional metrics to support the evaluation of teaching activities may also be acceptable. Faculty are strongly encouraged to develop the corresponding assessment plans in consultation with their academic units. The combination of sources should strike a balance between the needs of faculty members and the need for an objective evaluation. Examples of these metrics include, but are not limited to:

Please note that collectively, all these approaches are often considered components of a teaching portfolio. They give faculty the opportunity to provide not only the core information related to their teaching assessment approaches but also the context to interpret such information. Please visit Teaching Evaluations to obtain more specific information about each one of these methodologies.

Also, please note that besides providing much broader options for faculty to measure the teaching and learning impact of their courses, the new strategy also aims to minimize the potential biases introduced when a single assessment method is used, as current research indicates that it is unlikely that multiple metrics will be biased in the same way. Furthermore, and regardless of the amount of literature supporting the importance of using multiple methods when assessing teaching performance, it is critical to highlight the role of faculty engagement during the transition period.

students in chemistry lecture

Using Student Feedback

Check out this summary from Becky Tugman, extracted from one of the workshops we co-organized with OTEI.  

View student feedback summary

Frequently Asked Questions

This is a collection of questions received from faculty, Department Chairs / School Directors, and Chairs of TPR Committees.

Office of Faculty Advancement
Office of Faculty Advancement | 212 Vickery Hall