What is Student Ratings

Teaching is the bedrock of the learning environment; however, few instructors receive formal instruction on how to teach. While the quality of teaching adults can be assessed in numerous ways, these authors used their experience of creating faculty development programs at small, liberal arts universities to discuss instructor selection, student ratings, mentorship, and peer review. Looking through the lens of formative assessment (evaluation for improvement rather than judgment) and faculty development, this chapter looks at creating a faculty evaluation system which will grow instructors. While many of the items discussed in this chapter could be used with full-time faculty, the focus for these authors is the adjunct community who teach in many adult education programs.