Session moderated by Valerie Ryman

Presentation 1 - Student Perspectives Help Research Faculty Spice up Their Teaching    
Carley Morrison    
Mississippi State University    

End-of-course evaluations are popular indicators of effectiveness but may not accurately represent the reality of the classroom learning experience. Moreover, top research universities often fill teaching roles with research faculty who have no formal training in teaching techniques. Universities offer alternative opportunities for teaching evaluation, but these services are frequently underutilized by research faculty with limited teaching experience. Lack of meaningful feedback on teaching efficacy impedes improvement, leads to misrepresentation on annual evaluations, and decreased peer recognition. This study describes students' experiences through weekly journals, learning from two research faculty (n = 34; n = 14) and one extension faculty (n = 18) during the fall 2021 term. Journals were transcribed and coded using MAXQDA qualitative software. Themes were identified independently and compared to end-of-course evaluations and formal teaching evaluations conducted by the University's Center for Teaching and Learning to paint a more complete picture of the experience. Students were moderately interested during class 54% of the time, with engagement during class, use of technology and examples, and instructor attitude reported as positive aspects of their experiences. However, course structure, explanation of expectations, and timing/pace were areas needing improvement. Although response rates were low, instructors received positive end-of-course evaluation feedback which mimicked the themes from the journals. Moreover, formal teaching evaluations indicated instructors used timely and relevant examples but lacked student involvement, recommending fundamental pedagogical techniques like active learning approaches and intentional questioning. These characteristics of effective teaching are easily implemented, but only after being identified through formal teaching evaluations and reinforced with impactful professional development and support. We recommend research colleagues identify other means of evaluating their teaching, such as formal evaluations and formative feedback, to help illustrate their impact in the classroom and identify areas for improvement. These recommendations support those previously published in the NACTA journal.

Presentation 2 - Feeling Deserted in the Classroom: Research-Based Faculty Members' Experiences Teaching    
Jesse Morrison    
Mississippi State University    

Universities have multi-focused missions of teaching, research, and service. Land-grant institutions place an emphasis on scholarship while requiring research faculty to also teach classes with limited or no formal training in teaching techniques. The lack of discipline-specific training and pressure to maintain ongoing research often leaves research faculty feeling unsupported and disconnected in the classroom. This study highlights the experiences of three faculty members - with varying professional appointments and years of practice - teaching diverse courses in agriculture, wildlife, and food science. During fall 2021, faculty participants journaled weekly about their classroom experiences, guided by the prompt, "Reflect after each class/lab meeting on the overall educational experience. What went well, what went wrong, frustrations, etc.". Journals were transcribed and coded by the researchers in MAXQDA qualitative analysis software. Faculty participants mentioned 'effectiveness' 20 times. The instructor with the most experience and the greatest teaching appointment felt they were more effective than the other two instructors, however all three felt their delivery was average, citing poor use of technology and a lack of student interest in the material. Specifically, the instructor with no teaching appointment felt rushed, needed more time to cover the material, and struggled to balance their teaching responsibilities on top of their responsibilities pertaining to their formal appointment. These findings mirror those previously published in the NACTA journal, providing more justification for professional development and support for our research colleagues who are teaching. It is recommended to continue this research and develop focused professional development in order to provide the most valuable experience within their already demanding schedules.
 

Presentation 3 - Implementing Instructional Coaching for Pre-Service Teachers: Lessons Learned    
Heather Nesbitt    
University of Florida    

Instructional coaching differs from the traditional professional development often provided to our teachers because of its more individualized approach. The coach observes the teacher's practices, helps set goal(s) for instructional practice, and continues to work with the teacher until both the teacher and the coach feel the goal is met. This style of coaching helps reduce evaluative "stress" by developing a respectful, no-judgement relationship through a partnership approach. The coach and the teacher set core principles of equality, choice, voice, dialogue, reflection, praxis, and reciprocity. For the instructional coaching process to be successful, it is important to find coaches that are willing to form that partnership relationship and are good at being a coach. A good coach is an excellent teacher who is described as having high expectations and providing honest feedback to help reach those expectations. This presentation will provide the participants with a strong background in instructional coaching, basic skills for implementation, and a glimpse into the presenter's recent experience with this style of feedback. This study included three sections of a teaching methods course and looked at the preferences of students who participated in laboratories that had a more traditional evaluative style of feedback compared to the implementation of instructional coaching. Students preferred the instructional coaching style feedback over the previously used style of a more evaluative type of feedback. Laboratory instructors who implemented instructional coaching were able to focus their feedback on one to two teaching strategies based on pre-conference input from the student. Additionally, the peer students in the laboratory section were able to share positive feedback while asking clarifying questions and giving suggestions to their classmates that helped them learn how to utilize mentoring language. This style of instructional coaching is continuing in subsequent semesters.
 

Presentation 4 - Are Promotion and Tenure Metrics Impacting Teaching Award Programs?    
Carolyn Copenheaver    
Virginia Tech    

In some academic departments, winning a teaching award has become a requirement for faculty members during their promotion and tenure review. In this presentation, we recommend broadening the metrics used for evaluating teaching performance, with the goal of retaining the value and benefits associated with teaching awards. Twelve department heads and 24 departmental, regional, and/or national award-winning teachers were interviewed to gain a current perspective on the role and value of teaching awards within U.S. colleges and universities. Recipients of national teaching awards reported that receiving a teaching award resulted in a greater willingness to explore new teaching methods and increased their motivation to engage with the scholarship of teaching and learning. However, as promotion and tenure metrics for measuring teaching effectiveness have shifted away from student evaluations, higher value has been placed upon earning teaching awards. This shift may begin devaluing teaching awards. In response to promotion and tenure expectations, some departments developed a culture where teaching awards are granted in a rotating system among all faculty members, making them less valued by recipients. Promotion and tenure committees should diversify the methods used to quantify teaching effectiveness with teaching awards being part of a suite of indicators of effectiveness. Other metrics to demonstrate competency in the classroom could include peer evaluations, student evaluations, demonstrated efforts to improve teaching effectiveness, and contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning. When promotion and tenure expectations set a standard that all faculty members receive a teaching award, teaching awards become devalued and their benefits are lost. Teaching awards should be one indicator of classroom effectiveness that is viewed in combination with other metrics when evaluating teaching effectiveness in the promotion and tenure process.