The Teaching Mission: Professional development and evaluation AMS Chairs Workshop The Teaching Mission: Professional development and evaluation Jennifer Zhao Department of Mathematics and Statistics University of Michigan – Dearborn January 15, 2019 Baltimore

UM-Dearborn at a glance Total students: 9339 (Fall 18) Undergraduate: 7141 Graduate: 2198 Four colleges College of the Arts, Sciences and Letters College of Computer Science and Engineering College of Business College of Education, Human and Health Services

Math and Statistics Department at a glance Total students: 112 (F18) Faculty: 40 (F18) Math Under: 68 Tenured/tenure-track: 19 Stat Under: 32 Full-time lectures: 4 Graduate: 12 Part-time lectures: 17 Current programs: Undergraduate Math Undergraduate Applied Statistics Masters in Applied and Computational Math Certificate in Math for Finance

Full-time faculty teaching Tenured/tenure-track 18 credits annual teaching load 4 lower-level (Calculus, ODEs, Linear Algebra) + 2 upper-level (senior or graduate) NO teaching assistant Full-time lecturers 21 credits annual teaching load Pre-calculus to Calculus Class sizes Lower-level: 28-32 Upper-level 10-20

The Teaching Mission: Professional development and evaluation AMS Chairs Workshop The Teaching Mission: Professional development and evaluation Malcolm R. Adams Department of Mathematics University of Georgia January 15, 2019 Baltimore

UGA at a Glance Total students: 38,246 Undergraduate: 29,680 Graduate/Professional: 8,566 17 Colleges and Professional Schools Arts and Sciences, Education, Business, Law, Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacy, Engineering, etc. First Land Grant (chartered 1785, established 1801)

Mathematics Department at a Glance Total students: 345 Faculty: 75 Undergraduate: 285 Tenure/Tenure track: 32 Graduate: 60 Full-Time Lecturers: 17 Full- and Part-time Instructors: 11 Post Docs: 15 Programs: B.S. B.S. (Applied Emphasis) MA PhD P

Tenure/Tenure-track: Teaching Loads Tenure/Tenure-track: 11.5 credit hours/year Most classes are 3 hours, Calculus is 4 Full-time Lecturers/Instructors: 24 credit hours/year Post-docs: 9 to 12 credit hours/year Small Class Initiative: Precalculus and Calculus I sections are 19 or under

Create a culture for good teaching Financial support to attend teaching workshops IBL workshops, Interactive Learning, Online teaching Encourage attendance of training at HUB on Teaching and Learning on campus How to use apps in classroom teaching Mid-term student feedback Week-long teaching training in UM-AA Math Department for new faculty Share good practices Conversations among Colleagues on Teaching, Classroom observations; reports of innovative and good teaching practice Math education faculty give talks on teaching

Create a culture for good teaching (2) Merit increases to award good teaching Nominations for teaching awards One junior faculty was awarded a campus-level teaching award in winter `18 Share good practices among faculty Conversations among colleagues on Teaching Classroom observations Reports on innovative and good teaching practice Math education faculty give talks on teaching

Non-traditional teaching Classroom flipping Student mentors Lead group discussions and supervise projects Math Circles Partner with local middle and high schools REU and Undergraduate Research Undergraduate research Presentations at national meetings

Teaching Culture and Professional Development University: Center for Teaching and Learning (Lecture Series, PD, Summer Institute for AL, etc.) Office of STEM Education SEER Center (Scientists Engaged in Educational Research) Teaching Academy Department: Extensive training for graduate students Teaching Mentors for Graduate Students, Postdocs, Junior Faculty M.A.L.T. (Mathematics Active Learning Team) Precalculus and Calculus I coordination

Teaching Culture (continued) Merit Raises: 30% for tenure stream faculty Major factor for teaching faculty Teaching Awards: Grad Student teaching awards at departmental and university level Newly instituted Departmental Award for faculty College and University level recognition for excellence in teaching

Group Discussion I Begin with a brief discussion of the state of Teaching Professional Development at your institutions and then consider one or more of the following: The Mathematics professional community offers many professional development opportunities in the research realm (conferences, workshops, seminars, etc.). Does the community offer adequate PD opportunities in the teaching realm? If not, what is needed? Is Teaching PD supported in your department as a lifelong endeavor? In the mathematics community as a whole?

Discussion Summary: What Exists? MAA: Mathfest, Regional Meetings, Project NExT, CoMinDS, Instructional Practices Guide, FOCUS, StatPREP, PIC Math AMS: Com. on Ed. miniconference, supports NExT, Grad. Student Chapters, Dept. Awards, advocacy from DC office, blogs, Chairs Meeting SIAM: ? APLU: Seminal, AMPSS, STEM Education Centers Network AWM: Hay Award NSF: Grant Opportunities: IUSE, RTG, IBL workshops What is Needed?

Evaluate Teaching – Tenure-track Assign two faculty mentors from Day 1! Annual review on teaching, research and service Classroom observation in the 1st term for quick feedback 2nd classroom observation by 3rd year with a formal report 3rd classroom observation in 5th year with a formal report Observe other faculty’s classes Mentors meet and review teaching materials regularly

Reviews of tenure-track faculty Annual reviews By all tenured faculty Provide a review letter Chair and mentors meet to discuss review outcomes if needed Midterm Reviews 3rd year by tenured faculty Review letter includes progress report for past 3 years Chair and mentors meet with the faculty to discuss review outcomes 5th-year P&T review Make a decision on whether to move the case forward or not If not, a letter to notify the decision and one-year to find a new position

Reviews of tenured faculty Periodic reviews of associate professors Associate Professor reviewed every 3 years Done by Full Professors Review letter includes progress report to promotion Can request an earlier review Possible denial of sabbatical leave request if not productive in research Periodic reviews of full professors Done every 10 years by a College Committee Possible denial of sabbatical request if not productive in research

Challenges we are facing… Heavy teaching load with no teaching assistants Not enough time for research Commuter campus Faculty are not on campus on non-teaching days Many students work long hours and leave campus right after classes Only two assistant professors in Statistics, no senior statistician to advise them No experience with P&T reviews for statisticians Quality of the journals where they publish Publications in non-statistics journals

UGA Faculty Evaluation of Teaching Teaching Mentor assigned to all new faculty (and postdocs and graduate students). At least one classroom visit each semester Annual review of teaching, (research), and service Third year review for TT and Lecturers Further reviews and promotion ladder for Lecturers Evaluation based on letters from teaching mentor, course evaluations, letters from past students (for promotions), course development, etc.

Challenges … No training for mentors, - developing rubric for classroom evaluations - Faculty Affairs is beginning to offer some mentorship training Learning how to incorporate the growing proportion of teaching faculty. No formal teacher training for postdocs or tenure-line faculty. Online teaching evaluations get poor response, are subjective, and are unclear what they are assessing. How is graduate student mentoring evaluated and rewarded?

Group Discussion II How is teaching evaluated at your institution? How is good teaching rewarded? How important is teaching in merit raises and promotions? Are teaching mentors trained? How are classroom observations organized? Are course evaluations meaningful?

Some Resources AMS Information for Department Leaders https://www.ams.org/profession/leaders/leaders MAA Curriculum Resources https://www.maa.org/programs-and-communities/curriculum%20resources Univ. Colorado Boulder Teaching quality framework https://www.colorado.edu/teaching-quality-framework/resources Vanderbilt Univ. Peer Review of Teaching Guide https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/peer-review-of-teaching/ Univ. of Arizona Peer Review of Teaching https://teachingprotocol.oia.arizona.edu/ Univ. of Kansas Benchmarks for Teaching Effectiveness https://cte.ku.edu/rubric-department-evaluation-faculty-teaching