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Peer Evaluation The Department follows the College of Arts and Sciences’ Peer Evaluation Policy, with the following amplifications. The Department of Religious Studies recognize that there are a variety of effective teaching methods, just as there are a variety of student and faculty interests and personalities. The department is open to a diversity of methods and styles, ranging from a well-organized and well-presented lecture to an apparently free-ranging discussion which may stray from the teacher's lesson plan. All these may qualify as effective teaching in the appropriate circumstances. In any teaching situation there are several elements that are of central importance. One is the teacher's proficiency in his or her subject. A second is the teacher's quality of enthusiasm and engagement with the subject and the ability to communicate effectively. A third is the teacher's efforts to encourage and equip students to take an active and self-reflective role in their learning. In addition, effective teaching frequently includes the communication of the teacher's caring for students as persons. While not all of these elements can be expected to be demonstrated during a single classroom visit, they should still be considered as standard goals. Prior to each classroom visit, the teacher to be observed and the evaluator will meet to discuss the teacher's aims for the class meeting to be observed and to agree between them as to what other specific criteria, information, or materials are appropriate for evaluating the class. Both evaluator and teacher are to keep in mind that the evaluator's assessment of the teacher's skill is a judgment, that is, an opinion that an experienced person reaches through discernment and comparison.
Below is a copy form to be used as a cover sheet
by the evaluator.
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