He said that formative feedback from the students should come early in the semester so that it can be used by the faculty member during that semester. He encouraged faculty are to use classroom assessment techniques available through the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching. He also said that peer coaching, informal classroom visits, and mentoring relationships could also be used in a formative manner. La Belle added that the summative section is quantitative and used for evaluation. A department review of assessment tools is important to assure the instrument is reliable and valid and to insure that administration of the assessment tools is consistent.
Peers can review teaching, advising, theses, and course development.
Class observations are conducted annually. Faculty members can develop a portfolio including evaluation results, syllabi, video tapes, and other tools to show their teaching effectiveness. La Belle felt that at SFSU, there could be common instruments used campus-wide to cover core questions. He said that efforts should be made to link what is learned through the assessment process to the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching so that a good support system is available. He felt that the Senate has laid a good foundation and it is time to build on that foundation.