1P11 Expectations for Effective Teaching and Learning

STI has defined and documented its expectations for effective teaching and learning in its Instructor Evaluation Handbook. This document includes STI’s Indicators of an Effective Instructor and the Classroom Evaluation Form, which outline and define STI’s instructor expectations. Effective teaching and learning expectations are communicated to faculty through in-service presentations, formal and informal evaluations, meetings with academic administrators, and formal training processes such as STI’s mentoring program for new instructors. All full-time faculty are evaluated on a set evaluation cycle, which is used to identify areas for improvement and to determine employment. Faculty who do not meet minimum expectations are placed on a Plan of Assistance and are given help to improve instruction. Part-time faculty are also evaluated by administration on a periodic basis.

Processes for communicating expectations and assessing student learning have been developed through committee and program faculty input and are led by a faculty HLC/Assessment Coordinator working with program faculty teams. Beginning in 1995, the STI Administrative Team made a commitment to support assessment initiatives through committees, professional development, in-service, monthly staff meeting agenda time, and a budget line item. Various committees have been convened to address assessment (Assessment Committee, HLC/Assessment Committee, and AQIP Education Design and Delivery Team). However, through trial and error, STI determined that program and faculty teams work best to address assessment. Program teams work directly with the HLC/Assessment Coordinator to design, conduct, and report assessment activities. Each year, the Coordinator presents workshops on documenting student learning and meets with program faculty in their office areas to help them complete the required Student Learning Report and the Program Action Projects in the respective databases. This dedicated in-service time and individual program meetings help faculty understand and complete assessment tasks. The Vice President of Student Affairs and Institutional Research and the Vice President for Academics supervise the process and help ensure that everyone complies with the expectations for conducting assessments and reporting. The Academic Planning Calendar and a magnet with directions communicate to faculty the dates and activities required for HLC work.

The syllabi, STInet, and STI Catalog are the primary documents used to communicate learning expectations to students.

The cycle for defining, measuring, analyzing, and communicating expectations and results for student learning are depicted in Figure 1.2.