Elmer Fall 2000 1
Valley City State University
Faculty Self-Evaluation Form
Tenured and Non-Tenured
My first semester of teaching as an instructor has been exciting, scary, challenging, and
fun. First, I was in a new environment: new co-workers, new students, new rules, new
policies and new expectations. Yes, I spent two years training for this—yet, somehow when it
now becomes my decisions that influence the quality of student education a little self-doubt
creeps in. However, I am proud that I have handled the self-doubt and come to understand my
teaching philosophy in more depth. I have reached a deeper level of comfort and
understanding of who and what I want to be as an instructor.
1. Teaching skills
Fall semester 2000 I taught Public Speaking, Composition I and Oral Interpretation.
Having taught 10 sections of public speaking at NDSU, I was comfortable and confident of the
content to be covered. My biggest challenge was to adapt my materials, based on Sellnow’s book,
to the textbook used by VCSU (Lucas). Both are excellent texts, however their focus on speaking
skills is slightly different. Responses on student evaluations indicate that I successfully bridged
the gap between the two—
 “Good knowledge of material.
 Very knowledgeable. Knows what she is talking about.
 Explains + discusses the assignments well. Plenty of time given on the
assignments.
 She knows the material well. She has good group in class activities.
 She is a very effective teacher. She knows what it is she wants us to learn and is
able to teach it to us.
 She knows a lot about this subject and is very knowledgeable in speech. She has
a lot of experience in teaching. She does good hands on activities. She’s thorough
in her evaluations.”
The other two classes I was teaching were both new to me. While I do have some
familiarity with Oral Interpretation from judging at speech events, I relied on interlibrary loans
and reviewed other instructor’s web sites to obtain information to supplement my teaching plans.
I also asked my mentor, Shannon, and office-mate, Jen, for advice on a regular basis by prediscussing my plans for class activities/discussion or by seeking advice when I was uncertain as
to how to proceed.
I used three different evaluation techniques—in speech, I used two comprehensive tests,
in Oral Interpretation chapter quizzes with corrections done in class, and in Comp no test at all.
This is a modification of the open book technique used at NDSU. I am continuing use of the first
two methods this semester, but am becoming convinced that quizzes with corrections done in
class allows students to sort through what they don’t know and reinforce what do they know. I
have noted that students tend to ask why certain answers are correct or incorrect while selfscoring the quiz, and the elimination of open-book resulted in more student directed studying of
the text.
After feedback from students enrolled in speech class that there were too many assignments, I
revised my assignments for this semester to decrease the number of out-of-class activities. We
Elmer Fall 2000 2
will still do the assignments, but in class. This way I am still able to evaluate comprehension of
speech techniques and skills after each speech. I have also downsized an interview assignment
that replaces seat time. Instead of interviewing two people, students will interview one.
I supported and used the standard department syllabus for speech and Comp 1. I learned how
to create and add my schedules, etc. to the department’s web site and kept it updated.
I integrated the use of PowerPoint during my lectures and have slowly been making use of
Internet access during certain topics. For example, the speech classes evaluated an Internet site
for quality and discussed in a written paper on the cultural similarities and differences in some
pre-selected web sites while we were studying the cultural speech. To avoid paying usage fees the
Oral Interpretation students selected a Readers Theatre play from a free site and modified it for
their audience.
I continue to learn how to lead class discussions. Asking questions and integrating or
wrapping up student observations is a skill I am still refining, notwithstanding, I am proud that I
have made progress as compared to the first classes I taught.
Comp was my most difficult class. I found the text we used difficult because I did not have
prior Comp experiences to draw from. I think a systematic writing book and handbook would be
easier for a first time comp instructor to use. First semester freshman are not used to looking for
information independently—having these books in the class would make it easier for them to look
questions up immediately. The other option is for me to find more web sites to supplement and
assign from.
In Comp, I had several students who missed classes regularly. Although the syllabus clearly
stated credit was not given when absent for in-class activities, these students were most insistent
that they be allowed to make up the work. I learned that when this conversation comes up in class
I must insist that the student take the initiative and meet with me during my office hours to
discuss the situation. The second thing I did was to revise my in-class activity points so that each
student starts out with pre-allocated points that are lost if they are absent. In this policy change, I
included some pre-approved absences (no loss of points) that only require I be contacted in
advance in order to use. This policy places accountability and control of activity points in the
students’ hands by eliminating the grading of small activities. This policy is more compatible
with my teaching policy because I do want students to do missed assignments. My goal is for
students to learn the materials, not penalize them for being absent. I feel less ambivalent about
absent students missing work with this policy change, and now, I know I will be more consistent
in enforcing class policy which is more fair to all students.
2. Professional growth
I am a current member of North Dakota Speech and Theatre Association and Central
States Communication Association. I attended The North Dakota Speech and Theatre Association
Convention, Mandan, ND, September 2000. Presentations attended and used for my teaching
plans include: “African storytelling,” “Electronic media in the speech classroom,” and “Principles
and practices of reader’s theatre.”
Elmer Fall 2000 3
3. Scholarly activities
I finalized edits to my thesis, which will be published in March 2001. I am in the process
of editing my thesis for submission to NDSTA Journal with a March 1 deadline. My
Interpersonal Communication class will be conducting a nonverbal communication research
project on how pictures found in VCSU campus buildings represent various social groups.
We plan to submit our findings to the Red River Conference and an on-campus presentation.
4. Service
During the past semester, I facilitated a Readers Theatre, performed by my Oral
Interpretation to Washington Elementary School, Valley City. I coordinated an IVN speech-class
panel with Bob S. at Mayville University. Bob and I are now sorting through class schedules so
we can schedule an IVN exchange this semester. With a co-work, I presented my first reading,
Full of Beans, at which I shared some of my personal poetry. Currently, I am working with the
Student Activity Board to recruit students and faculty to participate in the January 22 coffee
house.
5. Students: advising, teaching, and informal contacts
I enjoy talking with students in informal ways. I schedule conferences about midsemester in each class to invite students to interact one-on-one. Typically, after conferences
students exhibit a higher degree of comfort with informal contact. It was a pleasure to return from
Christmas break and have students drop by my office and ask how the holidays were or just to say
hi. I tend to be a bit shy and private and am reluctant to intrude on other’s privacy—although I
did ask one student, after noting his grades were sliding, what was wrong? Turned out he was
homesick, he and I chatted about how he could refocus his energy. After our talk, he tried some
of the things we talked about. His grades begin to improve and while he still looked a bit sad, I
think he was pleased that he was managing his studies better. He was one of the students to stop
by after break to say hi; boy did he have a big smile! I think he enjoyed getting home. Another
student confided in me about her boyfriend abusing her. She had taken all the right steps, police,
etc. I think she just wanted someone to reassure her she was indeed doing the right thing. College
students can be so dang independent it is hard (sometimes) to remember they are still children in
some ways. I am pleased I was able to offer some comfort and reassurances and later see how
well they are coping with their difficulties.
Overall, I believe many students classify me as a “tough” instructor. I usually get this
feedback from those with lower grades; however, with questioning many of these same students, I
find they are not reading the textbook or completing assignments. I do expect students to be
accountable and responsible for their education. I had several football players very concerned
about their grades as they had Ds. But, I refused to change class requirements to accommodate
their busy sports lives. What I did instead is encourage them with comments before and after
class to do the assignments. As our interactions increased so did the percentage of assignments
completed. At the end of the semester, all of the athletes, except one, had raised their grades to
Cs.
6. Professional goals or objectives
My plans for the future include taking a summer class at NDSU, completing the GRE,
and deciding which PhD program makes sense for me to apply. If my article is not accepted by
NDSTA, I will revise it and submit to a different journal.
Elmer Fall 2000 4