Given the deep dissatisfaction that many faculty associate with assessment and standardization practices, incorporating a transparent evaluation processes is imperative. This presentation will provide an overview of a multi-step faculty evaluation process that encourages specific and varied assessment of online performance. An assessment rubric will be provided to session attendees as well as examples of how the rubric was applied to measure the quality and content of online foreign language courses.
In recent years there has been a surge in scholarship focused on the development of quality online second/foreign language (S/FL) instruction, including work on designing effective online courses and teacher preparation (e.g., Compton, 2009; Ernest et al. 2013; Hempel & Stickler, 2005). However, at the same time that there has been a growing focus on developing quality online language education, there has been a relative dearth of scholarship on how to best assess language faculty performance in online environments (e.g., Arnold et al., 2009; Lai, Zhao, & Li, 2008), however, several factors still complicate the assessment of online language teaching.
Given the deep dissatisfaction that many faculty associate with evaluation and standardization practices (Banta, 2012; Fryshman, 2007; Hale, 2013), incorporating transparent evaluation processes is imperative. Multi-step evaluation processes that encourage specific and varied assessment activities are in keeping with current research on performance evaluation (Baartman et al., 2007; Knight 2000; Schuwirth & van der Vlueten, 2011; van der Vleuten, 2016). A multi-step approach to assessment is implemented in the University of Arizona, Spanish and Portuguese department, for online faculty evaluations. The 4-step evaluation process includes: 1) presentation/ discussion of evaluation rubric; 2) self-evaluation; 3) mentor-evaluation; 4) reflection and discussion. This presentation will provide an overview of the faculty evaluation process and how it encourages specific and varied assessment of online performance. An assessment rubric will be provided to session attendees as well as examples of how the rubric was applied to measure the quality and content of online foreign language courses.