Student Summative Evaluation of Teaching: code of practice

The following code of practice has been developed by the Association of University Staff (AUS) of New Zealand (Inc.) with Dr Cedric Hall, Director, University Teaching Development Centre (UTDC), Victoria University of Wellington. The code deals with the use of student evaluations of teaching for summative decision making (e.g. promotion, tenure, etc.). A draft of the AUS code was distributed to the centres responsible for academic staff development in each university and all committees of AUS for comment. We thank the individuals and groups concerned for their comments and advice. Appropriate changes have been made to the code to take account of the suggestions provided. The AUS code on student summative evaluation of teaching is for the use of AUSNZ members and New Zealand universities. The code is intended to encourage good professional practice in the use of student summative evaluation of teaching and teaching staff. AUS recognises that the contents of the code will need to be reviewed from time to time to take account of changing practices and educational developments within institutions. AUS recognises that student views can be a relevant consideration in overall evaluation of teaching quality, and that they can properly have a place in decision making in relation to tenure and promotion for teaching staff. However, varying practices in ascertaining student views have led (both in New Zealand and internationally) to instances of such decisions being based on invalid and unreliable data from student views. Bad practice in these areas reflects poorly on the institution(s), as well as being unfair to staff; in some instances, it may also be in breach of current legislation. This Code of Practice is based on the belief that any evaluation should provide valid (i.e. relevant and useful) and reliable (i.e. accurate) information on the quality of a person's teaching. AUS believes that teaching quality must be judged in context: the type and purpose of the teaching, the background of the students, the resources available and the voluntary/compulsory nature of the course, should all be considered. Validity and reliability, therefore, relate not only to the measurements that are made of a person's teaching performance, but also to the interpretation of the results.     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Learning from Moshe, Hu Hu Zhu and Khokha: Insights into the Global Application of the Formative Research Component of the Sesame Workshop Model

For over three decades, Sesame Workshop has produced high quality educational media for young children throughout the world. The success of these productions can be attributed in large measure to the application of a systematic production model that brings together professionals from a range of backgrounds. Using examples from the six studies presented in this special issue, this paper illustrates ways in which one element of the production process - formative research - has been used to create effective educational media in the United States, South Africa, Egypt and China. Beyond the value to the production process, lessons learned from formative studies provide insights into the development of new research methodologies. In addition, such studies, when looked at in a global context, offer perspective on the knowledge and learning of children of different cultures.     

The Tutor’s Approach in Base Groups (PBL)

In this article, the concept of approach related to tutor functioning in problem-based learning (PBL) is explored and the significance of a phenomenological perspective of the body in relation to learning and tutoring is investigated. The aim has been to understand the concept of approach in a context where the individual, thoughts, emotions and body are regarded as a whole in a learning process – a non-dualistic entity. The analysis is primarily based on Merleau-Ponty (Phenomenologie de la Perception. Editions Gallimard, Kroppens fenomenologi. Oslo: Pax) and Leder (1990). The outcome of the analysis is related to the pedagogical view that characterises PBL and tutoring in base groups. An earlier study (Silén Licentiate thesis n 3/1996. Linköping University) about tutor functioning in PBL was the starting-point for the exploration. On the basis of the phenomenological analysis, I assign approach the following meaning: - the total message expressed by ‘the lived body’ in interaction with its life world. The analysis indicates that the tutor’s approach influences group work in different ways. One of phenomenology’s most important messages implies that the tutor’s approach should be characterised by ‘presence’, attention on the students and what is happening in the group, and not on the tutor’s own actions and thoughts. The ability to be ‘present’ is possible when the knowing is rooted in the lived body. This conclusion brings to the fore the necessity of the tutor’s own understanding of the ideas of PBL and the underlying theories, and also highlights the importance of regarding tutor training as an ongoing learning process. The focus of the exploration has been on the tutor in PBL. In principle, I would argue that a corresponding line of reasoning is applicable to tutoring and learning in general.     

Context specificity of conditioning in flavor-aversion learning: Extinction and blocking tests

In three experiments using rats as subjects, we investigated the degree to which a conditioned flavor aversion transfers from one context to another. Experiment 1, using a one-trial conditioning procedure, found no effect of a change of context on a conditioned aversion. Experiment 2 employed a multitrial procedure and demonstrated that a conditioned aversion was extinguished more rapidly after a change of context. Experiment 3 showed that context change decreased the effectiveness with which a conditioned flavor could block acquisition of an aversion by a second flavor. It is argued that these data cannot be explained in associative terms, and that they constitute evidence of conditionality in a simple aversive conditioning procedure.     

Psychosocial Adjustment among Children Experiencing Persistent and Intermittent Family Economic Hardship

Much research on family economic hardship and its effects on children has been cross-sectional in nature, has focused primarily on white children, and has assessed the impact of episodic rather than chronic economic difficulties. In contrast, the present research was designed to study outcomes associated with persistent economic hardship among a heterogeneous group of children over time. Results showed that, for both black and white children, a broad range of difficulties was associated with enduring economic hardship. Children who experienced persistent family economic hardship were more likely than those who did not to have difficulties in peer relations, show conduct problems at school, and report low self-esteem. Children who experienced intermittent family economic hardship fell between the other 2 groups. Connections between persistent economic hardship and psychosocial adjustment were more pronounced for boys than for girls. Consistent with suggestions by a number of investigators, the impact of economic hardship on children in the present sample was mediated in part by its association with parental behavior.     

Verbal Intelligence: a key to basic skills?

Intra‐individual variability of cognitive measures, such as verbal and spatial ability tests, has frequently been reported to typify learning disabled children. To test the generality of such findings, longitudinal data from a large representative and non‐clinical sample of Swedish children (n = 812) were analysed. At age 10, the children were tested with a Swedish intelligence scale. At age 13, basic academic skills were measured by standardised achievement tests. Typical cognitive profile types, based on the verbal and spatial intelligence subtests, were identified through cluster analyses (CLUSTAN) of the girl and boy samples separately. The satisfactory solution arrived at was a five‐cluster representation for the girls (n = 497) and an eight‐cluster representation for the boys (n = 497). For both sexes, verbally as well as spatially oriented profiles emerged. However, the verbal orientation was more pronounced for girls, whereas the boys displayed greater variability and stronger spatial orientation. General intelligence at age 10 was a strong predictor for basic skills at age 13 (r > 0.70). Verbally strong children tended to achieve better than predicted by their overall level of intelligence, whereas spatially oriented children showed a less favourable development in basic academic skills. The results are discussed in relation to neuropsychologically‐based models of reading disability and theories of language and development.     

A Review of the Research on Childminding: Understanding Children’s Experiences in Home-Based Childcare Settings

This paper offers a discussion of the literature of an under-developed area of early years research—the exploration of childminding or home-based childcare and the contribution which this form of provision makes for children and families. Despite growing interest in childminding at the policy level and some international research on understanding home-based childcare settings and practices, there remains a relative dearth of studies conceptualising and reviewing the extant literature. This paper addresses this gap by presenting the findings of a comprehensive database search for literature and a review of published international work from 1990 to 2013. It offers a conceptual analysis of the notion of “home-based childcare”, with a focus on understanding caregivers’ practices, and the key issues and debates that characterise the field. The paper argues that home-based childcare not only offers a specialist type of service as family support, especially for vulnerable families, but that it provides a form of pedagogical approach to children’s developmental and educational outcomes that is distinct from any other types of early years care.     

How education policy is made meaningful – a narrative exploration of how teachers show autonomy in the development of teaching and learning

This study addresses how the autonomy of teachers in higher education, in relation to education policy and reform, can be understood. By taking a narrative-in-action approach, we studied health profession teachers’ activities and reasoning within their ongoing practice during one year. The findings show how the teachers created their own policies and in what way these policies became meaningful. As teachers in this study continuously made changes, the joint creation of policies contributed to their sense of togetherness and the re-building of a community of practice. In parallel, they increased the evidence-based standards related to their discipline and experienced a shift in perspective concerning teaching and learning. The importance of their jointly made policies can be explained by how they learned a student-learning view together, and built on their own ideas of what educational matters needed to be developed. At the same time, their activities and reasoning mirror ‘a debated but yet prevailing view’ on the discourse of quality and a number of ideals thereof such as transparency and standardisation, effective teaching and increased academisation.     

A qualitative study of communication,cultural identity,and open defecation

Open defecation persists as a global health problem despite efforts to build and implement better toilets. Based on nine focus group meetings held across two communities in rural Uttar Pradesh, India, this study shows that open defecation is a symbolic practice contributing to social and cultural identity formation. Major themes were derived regarding the positives and negatives of open defecation and latrine use. Open defecation was considered as a means for social communication, particularly for girls and women, and not necessarily as a healthier practice. Issues of politics and class relations emerged, with lower caste people expressing the lack of or poor quality toilets. Yet the persistence of historical and cultural identity played a part in people’s preference to go out to the field to defecate, especially for women to sustain their social connectedness and men to sustain their masculine identity. These cultural and communication aspects of open defecation should be considered in ongoing sanitation movements.