OATdb Archive - Sam Houston State University

OATdb Archive

2012 - 2013

Geography And Geology, Department Of

Goal

Quality Faculty

The faculty of the department will provide quality teaching and engage in quality research.

Objective

Quality Teaching

The faculty will provide quality teaching.

KPI

Effective Teachers

The department utilizes the IDEA system as the teaching evaluation instrument. The IDEA system is a nationally normed, validated and reliable measure of classroom performance. All faculty distribute the IDEA evaluations at the end of their classes each semester. The faculty member's scores are then compared to other faculty across the nation. 80% of the faculty in the department will be in or above the Similar converted score category on the Summary Evaluation in at least half of their classes.

Result

IDEA Summary Evaluation Results

93% of the faculty scored at or above the Similar category during Fall 2012. 32% scored in the Higher category and 14% scored in the Much Higher category. During Spring 2013 96% of the faculty scored at or above the Similar category, 56% in the Higher category and 4% in the Much Higher category.

Action

Evaluation Of Quality Teaching

Only 7% in the Fall and 4% in the Spring were in the Lower category of the converted scores on the IDEA form. Each of these faculty members taught online courses. The online courses have a very low return rate, to the point where the IDEA scores are rated as being unreliable by the evaluators of the IDEA forms. A way to improve the response rate must be developed. On the bright side, there were several faculty who scored 50 or more on the summary evaluation for all of their courses. Faculty wanting to improve their IDEA scores are encouraged to go to the Professional and Academic Center for Excellence (PACE) Center for workshops and one-on-one help with teaching effectiveness. This type of help would be especially valuable for the online courses. 79% of our on-campus IDEA scores are at or above the institution average. Only 30% of our online IDEA scores are at or above the institution average.

Objective

Quality Research

The department faculty will engage in quality, peer-reviewed research.

KPI

Quality Research

The faculty in the department will publish peer-reviewed books and articles. 80% of the faculty in the department will publish at least one peer-reviewed publication per year.

Result

Peer-reviewed Publications

There were 14 faculty members, with one adjunct and two that have retired and were not subject to an annual review. Of the faculty members that were reviewed, 63% (7 of 11) published at least on peer-reviewed publication over the past year. Two of the faculty in the department each published three peer-reviewed publications over the past year. Two of the faculty members also wrote successfully funded grant proposals.

Action

Engagement In Quality, Peer-reviewed Research

Departmental faculty members are encouraged to publish quality, peer-reviewed research. The department will support this by providing time and resources to the faculty members. For example, funding travel for geographical research. Travel for some geographers is equivalent to capital equipment to science faculty.

Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement Response rate to the IDEA evaluations for online courses has improved, but still has a long way to go. One of the challenges is getting senior faculty to change their online format to make it more interactive, and to attend PACE Center workshops. The single GIS thesis completed this year did not lend itself to publication. Dr. Leipnik's grant proposal was not funded. Dr. Leipnik's students did complete a number of "proof-of-concept" projects that should be useful in establishing a Geospatial Technology facility at The Woodlands Center. The geologist "with ties to the Transportation Institute of Texas" has been successful in generating grants and publications, and as an additional benefit he has involved three undergraduate students in his research.

Plan for continuous improvement During the annual faculty review three areas are addressed: teaching, research, and service. For tenure-track faculty the primary emphasis is placed on teaching and research. The majority of faculty members are doing average or above on the IDEA student evaluations. The only faculty that "appear" to be "struggling" are those teaching a number of online courses. The online courses are notorious for having low return rates and low summary evaluation scores. It is difficult to place much weight on the scores because the return rates are so low that the results are statistically unreliable. A method of improving the return rates in our department is needed because other departments seem to be doing a much better job of this. Possibly linking completion of the IDEA evaluation with the ability to access the final exam. Faculty (especially those teaching online courses) who are looking for ways to improve their teaching methods are encouraged to go to the PACE Center for workshops and/or one-on-one development meetings.

The department needs to improve the level of external funding that is being generated. We have just finished our third year of the graduate program with about the same number of graduate students as last year. Very few of these graduate students are working on the thesis option. This is problematic for the faculty in the graduate program because they are doing a lot of teaching but not getting very much research done by graduate students. The two or three theses will require input from technically-trained faculty as well as content-oriented faculty. This will result in some collaborative publications. The department is also working on developing a Geospatial Technology facility at The Woodlands Center. We are waiting to see if the build out will be funded. Dr. Leipnik and other GIS faculty will havie graduate students work on "proof-of-concept" projects. We have also hired a geophysicist with ties to the Ocean Drilling Program. He was funded this summer for a $100,000 NSF grant. He has a project that will involve two undergraduate students this year.