Teaching evaluation is a relatively new task for higher education in our country, both in theory and practice. Currently, this concept is being understood and implemented in many different ways. This article aims to provide some information about the basic concepts of teaching evaluation and some specific implementation methods in higher education.
Teaching evaluation is a relatively new task for higher education in our country, both in theory and practice. Currently, this concept is being understood and implemented in many different ways. This article aims to provide some information about the basic concepts of teaching evaluation and some specific implementation methods in higher education.
Concluding at the National Conference on the quality of higher education on January 5, 2008, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan emphasized: “Regarding lecturers, the Ministry of Education and Training has been and is continuing to issue regulations on lecturers and lecturer standards for each job position. All university lecturers must have the capacity to teach and research and must be evaluated by students and colleagues on their professional qualifications, pedagogical skills, educational management capacity, etc. [1]. In the set of standards for assessing the quality of university education, issued under Decision No. 65/2007/QD-BGDDT dated November 1, 2007, Article 7, Standard 4 on Training Activities also stipulates that “…there must be a plan and a reasonable method for assessing the teaching activities of lecturers” and “…learners are allowed to participate in assessing the teaching quality of lecturers at the end of the course” (Article 9, Standard 4). Standard 6 on Learners) [2]. Thus, evaluating the teaching activities of lecturers or what can be called teaching evaluation is an indispensable requirement for a training institution to ensure and improve the quality of education.
However, the concept of teaching assessment (TAE) is currently understood and implemented in many different ways. This article aims to provide some information on the basic concepts of TAE and some specific implementation methods in higher education.
There are many reasons to collect information on the evaluation of lecturers' teaching. Lecturers want to know whether their teaching is effective or not. Managers want to know whether their courses attract many students. Principals and deans want to have specific evidence in evaluating their staff. Data from educational evaluation will help lecturers adjust and improve teaching content and methods, or in other words, "self-regulate teaching activities" [3], creating a better learning environment for students. This data is also the basis for managers to refer to in promoting, upgrading or increasing salaries [4].
Traditionally, two types of evaluation can be distinguished: formative evaluation and summative evaluation.
Formative assessment focuses on collecting and using “diagnostic” information to improve teaching and learning. This type of assessment aims to identify areas for improvement rather than assessing what has been done or promoting teaching achievements [5]. This type of assessment is mainly carried out by teachers at any time during the semester, either in the classroom or in other locations (internet, laboratory, field trip, field work, etc.). Feedback can be obtained from different sources such as: teachers’ self-assessment, student assessment, peer assessment and supervisor (for young teachers and trainee teachers). The tool used can be a survey form (paper or online).
Summative evaluation is conducted to review the effectiveness of a teacher's teaching activities. The results of the summative evaluation are used to appoint lecturers or for promotion, rewards or salary increases. Faculty and school leaders can also use these results to decide to change the content, training program or subjects taught by the teacher. This evaluation is usually conducted after the end of a subject or at a certain time during the teacher's working process. To ensure comprehensiveness and representativeness, this evaluation is conducted in many different forms such as:
It is important to note that the two types of assessment must be separate. Formative assessment is prospective, meaning that it helps teachers develop their strengths and overcome their weaknesses in their teaching. In contrast, summative assessment is retrospective, meaning that it aims to assess specific achievements that teachers have achieved. Teachers will often try to hide their weaknesses if they know that the results of formative assessment are used to make certain decisions regarding their careers. If these decisions need to be made, the data collected must be independent of the formative assessment process. Therefore, information collected in formative assessment should not be used for summative assessment unless teachers voluntarily agree, and those participating in formative assessment should not provide information for summative assessment [6].
Student ratings of teaching are often used in both formative and summative assessments. In most universities abroad, this is mandatory. For promotion or promotion purposes, student ratings should be collected repeatedly and throughout the academic year using a variety of methods. The data provided will be accumulated in the teacher's portfolio to demonstrate progress in teaching. Information collected from students can be used by teachers to improve their teaching, to identify strengths and weaknesses in teaching different subjects and different classes. Information collected from students after a few years will also be useful for supplementing and updating the content of subjects.
By using the same questionnaires, student evaluation of teaching has the advantage of assessing all teachers against a common standard and making it easier to make comparisons between courses and disciplines. The data collected can also be used to review the training objectives of the department. Structured questionnaires are often used for large numbers of students and for courses with similar objectives and teaching methods. For classes with small numbers of students, some open-ended questions should be used to collect more direct information about the teacher and the course.
Student-based assessment has the following limitations:
* There are some specific areas of teaching quality where students cannot have an accurate assessment, such as course objectives, course content, and assessment of student learning activities [7]. Therefore, to minimize this, it is necessary to use a variety of different opinion collection techniques in addition to the conventional questionnaires.
* There are some factors that are difficult to control such as students' motivation to learn, the complexity of the material, and the difficulty level of the subject. Therefore, when analyzing the results, it is necessary to rely on many different data sources and compare between different subjects.
* Teachers often have different abilities, solutions and teaching goals that a set of available questions cannot adequately assess their teaching activities.
Regarding the assessment content, it is necessary to focus on basic issues such as: Teaching content and methods of teachers; Teaching materials and class time of teachers; Teachers' responsibility and enthusiasm for teaching towards learners; Encouraging creativity, respecting learners' independent thinking in learning; Fairness in teachers' testing and assessment; Consulting and guiding learners' learning activities; Pedagogical style [3]. For example, the survey form that Hue University of Education is using includes 3 contents:
Part A consists of 20 questions, divided into 5 groups:
- Group 1: From question 1 to question 5 includes content related to knowledge.
- Group 2: From question 6 to question 10 includes content related to teaching methods.
- Group 3: From question 11 to question 13 includes content related to the use of learning materials and tools.
- Group 4: From question 14 to question 16 includes content related to testing and evaluating students.
- Group 5: From questions 17 to 20 include content related to relationships and communication between teachers and students.
The response requirement in this section is for students to choose the following levels: 1. Completely disagree 2. Disagree 3. Agree 4. Completely agree.
Part B consists of 5 multiple choice questions. Each question has 4 different options about methods that lecturers commonly use in teaching and testing and assessment.
Part C consists of two open-ended questions, which are for students to write comments and suggestions for the lecturer being evaluated.
Teaching evaluation is a relatively new task for higher education in our country in both theory and practice. Currently, many universities in the country have implemented this task, especially after the official dispatch No. 1276/BGDĐT-NG dated February 20, 2008 of the Ministry of Education and Training on Guidelines for organizing feedback from learners on the teaching activities of lecturers. Despite initial difficulties, teaching evaluation is an inevitable trend and a mandatory task, so it is necessary to prepare fully in both theory and practice to successfully carry out this important task, contributing to ensuring and continuously improving the quality of training.
•Dr. Le Dinh
University of Education (Hue University)
Author:i333
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