Implementation of

Teaching Effectiveness and Student Engagement Strategies:

A Reward Scheme

 

 

"To improve student learning, you do not change the structure. You change the instructional practices of teachers. The schools that seem to do best are those that have a clear idea of what kind of instructional practice they wish to produce, and then design a structure to go with it.” Richard Elmore, Harvard University

 

“It’s not rocket science—the better the teacher teaches, the better the student learns.”  — Harry K. Wong, Author, The First Days of School; How to Be an Effective Teacher.

 

 

1-Introduction: Teaching effectiveness is one of the pedagogical pillars as it helps students to learn more. Effective teachers have become aware of the contemporary methods to evaluate their professional practice in their teaching career. There are numerous ways to evaluate teaching or to monitor effectiveness. Similarly, student engagement in classrooms is important to have the students actively participate in class discussions and thoroughly understanding the course content.

1.1 Background:  There were 274 (154 male an 120 female) faculty members attended the “Teaching Effectiveness and Student Engagement” workshop held at the College of Business Administration (CBA) on December 15-17, 2014. Subsequently, the faculty members at the CBA are encouraged and motivated to implement the effective teaching techniques, academic strategies, and innovative methods in their classes.

 1.2. A Reward Scheme: The CBA announces a reward scheme to motivate the faculty members to implement the learning outcomes gained out of the workshop as well as their own ways of making their pedagogical practices effective and student-centred. The reward scheme offers the following:

No.	Name of Award	Level of Award	Number of Award
1.	Best Faculty Award for Teaching Effectiveness	CBA Level	1 Award
2.	Best Faculty Award for Student Engagement	CBA Level	1 Award
3.	Best Faculty Award for Teaching Effectiveness	Department Level	1 Award per Department (Total 9 Awards)
4.	Best Faculty Award for Student Engagement	Department Level	1 Award per Department (Total 9 Awards)
5.	A Best Faculty Award (Combined for Both Teaching Effectiveness and Student Engagement by AACSB) Yet to be Confirmed.	CBA Level	1 Award
Total Awards for per Semester			21

 

 

1.3. The Aim of Reward Scheme: The primary aim of this reward scheme is to encourage the faculty members to effectively use innovative teaching methods in their courses and to actively engage students in their classrooms.

1.4. A Steering Committee:  A steering committee will administer the reward scheme. The steering committee will be formed during the first semester of every academic year and the term lasts for one year. The steering committee members will be nominated by the College Council in the beginning of every academic year.  With regard to the current academic year 2014-2015 (since the scheme has been developed in the middle of the academic year), an Ad-hoc Steering Committee (ASC) has been formed to establish the scheme. The ASC consists of the following members:

1. Vice Dean for Quality & Development
2. Vice Dean for Academic Affairs
3. Vice Dean for Female Campus
4. Head of AACSB Accreditation Unit
5. Head of Quality Unit
6. Head of Quality Unit at the Female Campus
7. A Secretary

 

2. Evaluation Criteria: The following evaluation criteria will be used to identify the best faculty member for each award.

1) Course Specification (Syllabus/Course Description, whatever the name is used)

       (Should indicate effective teaching and student engagement strategies)... 10%

2) Student Evaluation (through a specifically designed instrument)... 30%

3) Course Evaluation (the current online student evaluation of course and faculty)... 20%

4) Peer Evaluation (a group of three or more authorized peer evaluators... 20%

5) Preparation of the Teaching Portfolio...  10%

6) Recommendation from the Department Chairman... 10%       

Please note: There is no minimum or maximum score to obtain the award. The top candidate(s) scoring the highest grade will be selected from the award.

 

2.1. Eligibility: Every faculty member, whoever is the designated primary course instructor including (i) Professor, (ii) Associate Professor, (iii) Assistant Professor, and (iv) Lecturer, are eligible to participate in the reward scheme.

 

2.2. Important Rules: 

1) These awards are given in the end of every semester.

2) These awards will be given at the All-hands meeting through public recognition.

3) No monetary value added to these awards.

4) All the awards will be in the form of:

     (i) a Certificate of Achievement and

     (ii) a Plaque (commemorative inscription indicating the achievement)

5) Additionally, every participant, whoever did not qualify for an award, will be given a “Certificate of Participation” in order to encourage their participation

6) Peer evaluators are selected by the steering committee in consultation with Department Chairmen and provided adequate support and evaluation criteria for assessment.

7) If a department chairman is applying for the award, the 10% grade allocated for the recommendation of the department chairman will be assessed by the Steering Committee in consultation and consensus with the Dean of the CBA. 

8) Demonstrators, teaching assistants, research assistants, and any lecturers who are conducting tutorials under the supervision of a designated course instructor are not eligible to participate in the reward scheme, but will be considered in the future.

9) The members of the Steering Committee and the Dean of the CBA are automatically become ineligible to participate in the reward scheme.

10) In the event of any conflict with regard to the selection process, the Steering Committee’s decision is final. No other body is responsible for addressing any grievances from the participant.

 

3. Process of Entry into the Reward Scheme:

3.1. A male faculty member is required to fill-out an application (available in Appendix A) and submit (hard copy) his course specification to Office of the Vice Dean for Quality and Development at the CBA on or before the first week of the semester.

3.2. A female faculty member is required to fill-out the application (available in Appendix A) and submit (hard copy) her course specification to Office of the Vice Dean for Female Campus at the CBA on or before the first week of the semester.

3.3. Please note that the course specification submitted cannot be replaced later since it carries 10% grade for the reward. So, please ensure that the document submitted is effective and accurate.

3.4. No electronic submission will be accepted

3.5. Once the applications are received, the Steering Committee will scrutinize the applications and confirm the acceptance with a reference number on or before the fourth week of the semester.

3.6. Once the reference number has been assigned, the committee will start to assess the faculty member credentials towards the reward.

3.7. The ASC will hold four meetings per semester.

    3.7.1. The first meeting will be held after the 4th week of the semester to determine the nominees to evaluate the course specifications based a set rubric.

    3.7.2. The second meeting will be held on the 6th week to arrange and schedule for the peer review visits to classes.

    3.7.3. The third meeting will be held on the 8th week to analyse the peer evaluation, and student valuation scores obtained from specially designed instruments.

    3.7.4. The fourth meeting will be held on the 12th week to analyse the scores obtained from all sources of evaluation.

    3.7.5. The final meeting will be held on the 15th week of the semester

 

4. Assessment Mechanisms:

Note: The Assessment mechanisms will be designed shortly and disseminated to potential participants in the beginning of the semester or earlier.

 

Sources:

Elmore, R. in Wong, H. “Teachers are the Greatest Assets.” Teachers Net Gazette. May 2009.

Wong, H. “Teachers are the Greatest Assets.” Teachers Net Gazette. May 2009.