Projects

The Center for Teaching Excellence gratefully acknowledges the continued support of The Association of Former Students reflected most recently in these projects dedicated to the enhancement of teaching and student learning at Texas A&M University.

Develop and Implement an Effective Process for Peer Review of Teaching: Testing Phase

Center for Teaching Excellence, Office of the Dean of Faculties and Associate Provost

The Teaching and Learning Roadmap Committee of the Academic Master Plan and the Task Force on Faculty Performance Evaluations unequivocally identified a dire need for improving our current practices of teaching performance evaluation. Both groups recommended using approaches capable of assessing multiple indicators of quality while promoting teaching improvement through well informed feedback and constructive criticism.  Peer review of teaching has been recognized as an essential element for summative assessment of faculty performance in teaching as well as an effective formative process to improve faculty teaching performance.  Its use has been limited in scope and effectiveness, however, partly due to a lack of tools and training for faculty peer reviewers as well as a lack of suitable framework and effective process to implement and sustain peer review of teaching in academic units.

We are in the midst of developing a framework and associated tools for effective practice of peer review of teaching along with a discipline-based approach for implementation that promotes faculty buy-in and sustainability.  Our immediate goal is to create the methodology that will support more effective practices for evaluating and rewarding good teaching and promoting teaching improvement. We then need to test and fine tune our product. The final step is to facilitate its adoption by the various academic units. This project and its outcomes will demonstrate, to our peer institutions and stakeholders, that Texas A&M University’s commitment to improve teaching practices in order to enhance student learning.  It can also position our university at the forefront of the practice of peer review of teaching.

Supporting Faculty Learning Communities to Integrate Teaching and Research

Center for Teaching Excellence, Office of the Dean of Faculties and Associate Provost

The faculty learning community is being formed to support faculty members who plan to submit a proposal for NSF program, Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, which emphasizes projects that have the potential to transform undergraduate STEM education.  If you decide to participate, you will be expected to submit a proposal. Readings, conversations, activities, and homework are designed about the expectations that participants intend to submit proposals. Conversations among members of the learning community will increase their knowledge about research in learning, research questions, situating proposed research in context, and research methodologies. All four are core elements of a successful NSF proposal for the TUES program.

For more information about the Association of Former Students please visit their website at http://www.aggienetwork.com/.