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CTEP Assessment Task Force
October 18, 1999


Submitted by:
F. Michael Combs -- Chair, 1999 CTEP Assessment Task Force; Chair, CTEP Oversight Committee

Results of the CTEP Assessment Task Force
(sub-committee of the Teaching Council)

Charge: to evaluate the current procedures for student evaluation of teaching and make recommendations to the hill UTK Faculty Senate

Procedure: A formal questionnaire, designed by the CTEP Task Force, was sent to all UTK teachers during the spring 1999 semester. From the results of the completed questionnaires, the following recommendations and comments were derived:

First, the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment did, a superior job of evaluating data. Don Scoggins, Jo Lynch, and the staff of OIRA are to be commended for their excellent work on this project.

The returns were good (26.6%) -- enough to get an idea of how the faculty feel about CTEP.

Below is an overall analysis of the data. Any senator who would like a copy of the full report should contact Mike Combs at mcombs@utk.edu. Although the report prepared by OIRA is not easy to duplicate (color graphs, etc), any senator who so requests will receive a copy of the full report.


It might be assumed that teachers who are unhappy with CTEP might be more likely to complete the survey. Even so, there was never a majority of responses indicating that CTEP either be replaced or eliminated. However, the results did show serious concerns about some aspects of the program. Most of those concerns can be addressed this year by our new faculty CTEP committee.

The following two points are presented to the full faculty senate for consideration:
1. Although many UT teachers feel that CTEP (or some aspect of the program) does not meet expectations, most feel that it works and should not be replaced with another system.
a. Most (78%) agreed that we need a structured evaluation for classes and only 25% felt that CTEP does not provide useful information for tenure-promotion considerations.

b. Only 26% felt that the numerical data did not assist with self-improvement and only 10% disagreed that the student comment sheet assisted with faculty improvement.

c. When asked if CTEP works well, 32% felt is did not but 41% felt it did. A large percentage (23%) were neutral.

d. When asked if CTEP provides useful information, 20%-25% responded in the negative. Only 22% felt that the current CTEP needs to be replaced by a similar evaluation system and 33% agreed and 36% disagreed with replacing CTEP with evaluation forms developed by each unit; 24% were neutral.

e. Although 19% were neutral, 45% agreed that CTEP evaluations have had an effect on how they teach courses. 30% disagreed.
2. We need to take some basic and simple steps to insure that CTEP works well. It seems that it is not the program, but the implementation that needs review.

UTK teachers seem to welcome some sort of evaluation of their teaching. Even when the overall quality of teaching is excellent, student input and evaluations can help shape details of instruction so that it might better meet the current instructional needs. In a few cases, CTEP might identify some serious shortcomings or major concerns that need to be addressed.
a. Oversight Committee: As proposed by the teaching council, the oversight committee can work to resolve real issues and concerns about CTEP making the program much more effective.

b. Faculty Information: It seems clear that too many UT teachers do not understand CTEP and lack information as to how to best use the options available. Many teachers are unaware that they can select from one of several evaluation forms and that they can add questions that relate to their particular area of instruction.
Teaching Council Follow-up

The results of the CTEP assessment were presented to the members of the teaching council and discussed during the last two meetings. After all senators have had time to review this report, the council's recommendations for a senate resolution will be presented by the Chair of the Teaching Council.

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