Skip to main content
UNSW Sydney Logo
Teaching
Mobile search
mobile nav menu button

Header nav

  • About Us
    • Towards 2025: Strategic goals and priorities
      • Scientia Education Experience
      • Scientia Education Academy
      • Inspired Learning Initiative
      • Education focussed careers
      • Students as partners
      • Student Surveys
    • More...
  • Teaching
    • New to teaching
    • Educational design
    • Assessment and feedback
    • Evaluating education
    • More...
  • Education Technologies
    • Overview
      • Moodle
      • Lecture Recordings+
      • theBox
      • Turnitin
      • myExperience
      • Known system issues
    • More...
  • Events & News
    • Learning and teaching forums
    • Connections seminar series
    • Learning analytics research
    • eBulletin news
    • More...
  • Grants & Awards
    • Awards
    • Grants
    • Gathering evidence of your teaching practice
    • More...
  • Development Programs
    • Beginning to Teach (BTT)
    • Foundations of L&T (FULT)
    • Graduate Certificate (GCULT)
    • Peer review of teaching
    • More...
  • Contacts
  • About Us
      1. Towards 2025: Strategic goals and priorities
        1. Scientia Education Experience
        2. Scientia Education Academy
        3. Inspired Learning Initiative
        4. Education focussed careers
        5. Students as partners
        6. Student Surveys
      2. More...
  • Teaching
      1. New to teaching
      2. Educational design
      3. Assessment and feedback
      4. Evaluating education
      5. More...
  • Education Technologies
      1. Overview
        1. Moodle
        2. Lecture Recordings+
        3. theBox
        4. Turnitin
        5. myExperience
        6. Known system issues
      2. More...
  • Events & News
      1. Learning and teaching forums
      2. Connections seminar series
      3. Learning analytics research
      4. eBulletin news
      5. More...
  • Grants & Awards
      1. Awards
      2. Grants
      3. Gathering evidence of your teaching practice
      4. More...
  • Development Programs
      1. Beginning to Teach (BTT)
      2. Foundations of L&T (FULT)
      3. Graduate Certificate (GCULT)
      4. Peer review of teaching
      5. More...
  • Contacts

Breadcrumb

  1. Teaching
  2. Teaching practice
  3. Evaluating L&T

Why Evalutate L&T

We evaluate courses and teaching to enhance students' learning, by providing content that is current, relevant and appropriate to their needs. To continually improve learning and teaching, we must continually evaluate it by:

  • gathering information about the quality of student learning that is taking place in our courses and programs
  • making judgments based on that information.

Then we must adjust our teaching in accordance with those judgments.

Off
What do we need to find out?

As educators we need to know how we have affected the learning of those we teach. We need to find out whether we have:

  • been able to create a shift in understanding,
  • managed to provide students with new knowledge,
  • strengthened their existing understanding and knowledge.
Off
Characteristics of effective evaluation
"Doing good evaluation is like doing good research. In both cases, you are trying to answer some important questions about an important topic. The key to doing both activities well is (a) identifying the right questions to ask and (b) figuring out how to answer them." (Fink, 1995)

To meaningfully evaluate the quality of learning taking place in your courses and programs, gather feedback and evidence:

  • at several times throughout a course or program
  • from many sources, including students, colleagues and through self-reflection.
Off
Resources

Use the following resources to help you evaluate the effectiveness of the course or program you are teaching. On this Teaching Gateway site, look at the following pages:

  • myExperience - a key component of UNSW's policy of continuous improvement.
  • Developing Professional Practice - (Program logic model) - Pilot Evaluation Outline
  • Diploma of Professional Practice - Evaluation Plan
  • Assessment feedback - what students want, what teachers want, feedback issues and strategies for giving effective feedback.
  • Integrating technology - how you might evaluate blended and online learning.

More generally, read the Guidelines on Learning that Inform Teaching at UNSW - these will help you reflect on your teaching approach.

External resources

  • University of Tasmania, Improving Teaching and Learning Practice, Evaluation.
  • Brennan, J. and Williams, R. 2004, Collecting and Using Student Feedback: A Guide to Good Practice, Learning and Teaching Support Network, UK.
  • Gosling, D. 2002, Models of Peer Observation of Teaching, Learning and Teaching Support Network, UK.
  • University of Technology Sydney, Peer review of teaching in blended learning environments.

Reference

  • Fink, L. 1995, "Evaluating your own teaching", in P. Seldin (ed.) Improving College Teaching, Anker Publishing, Bolton, MA.
  • New staff
  • Understanding Learning
  • Teaching for learning
  • Assessment
  • Teaching Settings
  • Designing for Learning
  • Evaluating L&T
    • Why evaluate?
    • Evaluating Your Teaching and Courses
    • Feedback on your Teaching
  • Digital Uplift
  • Educational Design

Events & news

10 ideas from Universal Design for Learning to improve educational equity
2 April 2019
Leadership and collaborative team skill development for students
26 March 2019
More
Back to top
  • Print
  • Share
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google
    • Email

Footer Nav

  • Contacts
  • Towards 2025
  • Education technologies
  • Events & news
  • About

Authorised by Pro Vice-Chancellor Education
UNSW CRICOS Provider Code: 00098G, TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12055, ABN: 57 195 873 179
Teaching at UNSW, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia Telephone 9385 5989

Footer menu

  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright & Disclaimer
  • Accessibility
  • Site Map
Page last updated: Thursday 7 February 2019