Teaching

5b. Modeling best professional practices in teaching

5b1. How does instruction by professional education faculty reflect the conceptual framework as well as current research and developments in the fields?
The College of Education continues its tradition of creating a community of learners. This community, as stated in the conceptual framework, is comprised of students, university faculty and staff, school educators, and community leaders. This community is characterized by reflection, engagement, service, and responsiveness of learning. In continuing to use teacher reflection as a focus in goals and assessments, faculty adhere to an emphasis on performance assessment. Faculty members align their course outcomes within syllabi to the Wisconsin Teacher Standards and the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards as illustrated in the conceptual framework. Unit members work diligently to stay current in the field and are supported in that effort through professional development resources and opportunities. In addition, the Select Mission of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, is stated that the University expects “scholarly activity, including research, scholarship and creative endeavors that support its programs at the associate and baccalaureate degree level, its selected graduate programs, and its approved mission statement.”

5b2. How does unit faculty encourage the development of reflection, critical thinking, problem solving, and professional dispositions?
Unit faculty actively encourage the development of reflection, critical thinking, and problem solving through the incorporation of a variety of instructional strategies. Students are required to participate in the reflective process throughout their program. For instance, all students complete a reflective narrative as part of their portfolio in Phases 2, 3 and 4. Critical thinking is also interwoven throughout their program in course assignments, the portfolio process and fieldwork experiences. Expected dispositions are stated for all students to meet and these are assessed throughout the program as stated earlier. Additional examples of faculty reflection, problem solving and use of dispositions can be seen by examining the course syllabi, example student portfolios and faculty vita. A random sample (n=21) of professional education syllabi shows that 71% of faculty include individual reflections/self assessment assignments in their teaching. This is often accomplished through personal responses to in-class activities but also self-critiques of performance on various tasks and presentations. In addition, the NSSE data suggest that students are being engaged in higher level thinking in the following ways:

During the current school year, how much has your coursework emphasized the following mental activities? (Scale: 1=Very Little, 2=Some, 3=Quite a Bit, 4= Very Much):

Analyzing the basic elements of an idea, experience, or theory such as examining a particular case or situation in depth and considering the components:

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2003	3.38	2.75	3.00	3.06	2.56	3.17
2004	2.89	3.16	2.69	2.68	2.89	2.95
2005	2.90	2.93	2.93	2.92	2.57	2.87

Synthesizing and organizing ideas, information, or experiences into new, more complex interpretations and relationships:

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2003	2.75	2.75	2.70	2.89	2.22	3.25
2004	2.78	2.89	2.56	2.76	2.63	2.91
2005	3.00	2.71	2.81	2.88	2.43	2.74

Making judgments about the value of information, arguments, or methods such as examining how other gathered and interpreted data and assessing the soundness of their conclusions:

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2003	2.88	2.50	2.60	2.60	2.44	2.92
2004	2.78	2.95	2.56	2.79	2.74	3.09
2005	3.00	2.86	3.07	2.89	2.57	2.78

Applying theories or concepts to practical problems or in new situations:

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2003	2.63	2.50	2.60	3.14	2.11	3.42
2004	2.78	3.37	2.69	2.99	2.93	2.91
2005	3.10	3.43	3.02	3.02	2.36	3.17

It is clear from the NSSE data that our students are actively engaged in reflection and critical thinking in their coursework and practica.

5b3. What types of instructional strategies and assessment do unit faculty model?
Assessment is a central feature of our Unit Assessment Plan and Unit faculty are committed to using multiple assessments when evaluating candidates’ knowledge, skills and dispositions. The teacher education program at UW-Whitewater adheres to NCATE Standards, the specialty organization standards, the Wisconsin Standards for Teacher Development and Licensure and the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards. COE faculty model a wide variety of instructional strategies including lecture, interactive, small group, student projects, and independent learning practices. The 2003-05 NSSE data confirm this in the following ways:

During the current school year about how often have you? (Scale: 1=Never, 2=Sometimes, 3=Often, 4=Very Often):

Asked questions in class or contributed to class discussions?

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2003	2.50	2.25	2.50	2.91	2.67	3.33
2004	2.44	2.84	2.66	2.67	3.07	2.82
2005	2.70	3.00	2.91	2.89	3.00	3.13

Made a class presentation?

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2003	2.75	2.00	2.20	2.34	2.33	2.67
2004	2.44	2.63	2.16	2.22	2.67	2.23
2005	2.80	2.86	2.51	2.71	2.79	2.65

Worked on a project or paper that required integrating ideas or information from various sources?

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2003	3.13	3.00	2.70	3.09	3.22	3.33
2004	2.89	3.05	2.91	2.82	3.04	3.05
2005	3.20	3.21	3.00	3.04	3.00	3.04

Worked with other students on projects during class?

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2003	2.50	2.25	2.30	2.69	2.67	2.83
2004	2.22	2.53	2.47	2.54	2.63	2.23
2005	2.70	3.29	2.26	2.58	2.43	2.70

Worked with classmates outside of class to prepare class assignments?

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2003	2.75	2.25	2.00	2.89	2.33	2.42
2004	2.44	2.58	2.31	2.66	2.37	2.32
2005	3.00	3.50	2.58	2.57	2.64	2.61

A random sample of syllabi (n=21) from professional education programs was examined for the types of learning strategies that were used in each course. This examination demonstrated that a variety of teaching and learning styles are utilized in our courses. While 90% of the syllabi described lecture, readings and discussion-type activities, 71% include individual reflections/self assessments, 67% used group and/or hands-on activities, and many (52%) also included observations of students in field settings. For a complete analysis, please see report in appendix.

5b4. How does unit faculty instruction reflect their knowledge and experiences in diversity and technology?
Faculty members are serious about and committed to teaching and assessing our unit’s professional dispositions which embraces the concept of diversity through the emphasis on student/client focused practice and equitable treatment and respect for all individuals. As stated in our conceptual framework, evidence of diversity can be found in all of professional education activities and programs. Faculty members are not only a relatively diverse group (see Standard 4 data) but use their knowledge and skills related to diversity in a variety of ways.

The 2003-05 NSSE data report responses on several questions related to diversity. Of high importance to the way in which faculty share their knowledge and experiences was the following question:

“During the current school year, how often have you included diverse perspectives (different races, religions, genders, political beliefs, etc.) in class discussions or writing assignments?” The following summarizes answers to this question (Scale 1=Never, 2=Sometimes, 3=Often, 4=Very Often):

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2003	2.25	2.50	2.60	2.71	2.78	2.92
2004	2.44	3.00	2.47	2.63	2.78	2.68
2005	2.90	3.43	2.88	2.70	2.79	2.83

In 2005 a new question was added to the survey that asked: “During the current school year, about how often have you tired to better understand someone else’s views by imagining how an issue looks from his or her perspective?” Results for COE were:

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2005	2.30	2.64	2.86	2.67	2.64	2.43

Technology is used by faculty members as a tool to enhance pedagogy and candidate learning on multiple levels. Significant resources in the form of “lab mod” funding have been committed to improving and upgrading classrooms within the unit to provide the technology tools to enhance instruction. Over $1,281,000 has been spent on technology infrastructure in the College of Education through the Lab Mod program since 1987. In addition, the unit has employed a full time technology coordinator since 1996 to assist professional education faculty with the use of technology and program delivery. Information on how this position has helped support the use of technology can be found in the coordinator’s annual report. Faculty utilize D2L course management software to support instruction and many courses are now offered in a hybrid format (with some totally online). Smart Boards have been introduced in several methods classrooms and two programs have begun using electronic portfolios. As the program continues to evolve we plan to move all paper portfolios into an online format.

Additionally, the 2003-05 NSSE survey asked the following questions:

During the current school year, about how often have you used an electronic medium (list-serv, chat group, internet, etc.) to discuss or complete an assignment?(scale: 1=Never, 2=Sometimes, 3= Often, 4= Very Often)

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2003	3.13	3.25	2.40	2.63	3.44	2.42
2004	2.44	2.95	2.78	2.76	2.70	2.59
2005	2.70	3.57	2.51	2.68	3.07	2.83

During the current school year, about how often have you communicated with an instructor using email? (scale: 1=Never, 2=Sometimes, 3= Often, 4= Very Often)

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2003	3.25	3.00	2.90	3.37	2.78	2.92
2004	2.89	3.11	3.09	3.13	3.11	3.27
2005	3.70	3.57	3.07	3.17	3.21	3.30

A random sample of professional education syllabi (n=21) showed that 38% of the courses required students to apply technology knowledge/skills in course assignments.

5b5. How does unit faculty systematically engage in self-assessment of their teaching?
Teaching effectiveness is a primary component of the systematic process of the faculty review process (commonly referred to as the “purple book”) and ensures that individual faculty members are performing at or above university standards for teaching, research and service. Faculty members who are seeking promotion or tenure are required to establish goals related to teaching and collect evidence/data on teaching effectiveness. The “purple book” process provides an opportunity for faculty members to reflect on their data from course evaluations and plan changes in their teaching strategies based on candidate feedback. This process begins at the individual program level with student evaluation of faculty instruction and is then reviewed at the department, college, constituency, provost and chancellor level. The hiring and evaluation of adjunct/ad hoc faculty members is conducted at the program level to ensure quality and accountability. Adjunct/ad hoc faculty must participate in an annual review process as specified by the Academic Staff Assembly. This process is similar to the purple book process but generally does not include the service and research component of evaluation.

In addition, the 2003-05 NSSE survey asked the following question:

“What best represents the quality of your relationships with faculty members?” (Scale: 1=Unavailable, unhelpful, unsympathetic – to – 7=Available, helpful, sympathetic)

Year	Comm. Dis.	Early Child.	Education	Elem. Ed.	Phys. Ed	Special Ed.
2003	5.38	5.75	5.00	5.37	5.44	5.33
2004	4.33	5.26	5.56	5.00	5.15	5.32
2005	5.30	4.64	5.19	5.04	4.21	4.96