Please complete by Wednesday 4/8 noon.
There is another aspect of evaluation that is very important:  how students rate their instructors, and their instruction.  Of course, this is no simple matter. Some students may use evaluations to reward or punish instructors who they like or dislike. Others may have particular “grudges” or issues that aren’t shared by other students, but that could skew ratings.  In a very small class (e.g. 5 students) each ratings carries much more weight than in a large class (e.g. 25 students).  Students might rate the instructor and the class based on what they WANTED to learn, rather than on the learning objectives for the course.  There are many other potential problems with evaluations, but we must use them to know how we are doing and how our students perceive our teaching.
For this discussion, consider this question:  what do you want to learn from your students with regard to your teaching style, the content of your course, and your effectiveness as a teacher?  How might you best obtain this information?
Please think about the questions carefully before answering; I’d like this to be a scholarly discussion, based on your carefully-considered thinking, reading, and studies.
Please complete by Wednesday 4/8 noon.
For this discussion, give an example of a situation that you have encountered (hopefully in a teaching situation, but perhaps in another situation) in which you needed to set limits and boundaries in a compassionate way, without crossing the line into “counseling” or “giving advice”.  Please clearly outline the situation with enough detail so that we can all understand the circumstances; then talk about the dilemma you faced–what were the possible choices, and possible outcomes?  How did you eventually come to a decision, and what was it–and why?  The goal is to focus on how you make decisions in difficult situations–what values, ethics, principles, guide you?
In responses to others, try to think critically, and examine the situation from your own perspective.  If you see issues that your classmate did not discuss, or options that were not considered, please raise these in a kind, constructive way.  Let’s use this discussion to help each other think through our own decision-making processes, rather than focusing on the content of particular situations.