Emphasis on Teaching

Departmental emphasis on teaching has numerous components. This study addressed faculty attitudes toward teaching; participation in teaching improvement workshops; the frequency and quality of academic advising students received; and the value of teaching for tenure and promotion.

The survey items that addressed each components of departments' emphasis on teaching are discussed below. Each item is followed by a link to tables of departmental and discipline mean responses.

Attitudes Toward Teaching
- On a five-point scale, faculty rated the personal satisfaction they got from "teaching or preparing to teach undergraduates." A rating of 1 indicated no satisfaction; a rating of 5 indicated a great deal of satisfaction.
- Faculty also rated their level of agreement with three other statements about teaching. Using a 5-point scale where 1 represented "strongly disagree" and 5 represented "strongly agree," faculty expressed their opinions about the role their teaching played in student achievement. The three survey items were, "The students and I shared responsibility for their success in the course," "Instruction was geared to the ability level of the students enrolled in the course," and "Student success in this course required innate ability."
- Tables with the mean responses on these items are presented below for CS and Biology/Life Sciences.
Faculty Efforts to Improve Teaching by Attending Workshops
- The survey asked "How many workshops on teaching methods have you attended in the past seven years?"
- The percentage of faculty who attended more than one workshop is listed in the tables for CS and Biology/Life Sciences.
Academic Advising
- The frequency and quality of academic advising were measured with two survey questions. Faculty who served as academic advisors were asked, "How often did you meet with your typical advisee?" and "How would you describe your level of knowledge about the academic policies that concern your undergraduate majors?"
- Tables for CS and Biology/Life Sciences contain the percentages of faculty who met with their advisees more than once a semester, and the percentages of respondents who rated themselves very knowledgeable.
Importance of Teaching to Tenure and Promotion
- Two survey questions addressed the impact of teaching on tenure and promotion decisions. Faculty rated the "importance of [undergraduate course evaluations] for tenure and promotion decisions" in their department. A response of 1 indicated course evaluations were not important; a response of 5 indicated they were very important.
- The second question asked, "Which one type of activity is most important to your department's tenure and promotion decisions?" Response choices were: teaching; scholarship (publications, products, patents); service; funding; other (specify); don't know.
- The tables list mean departmental and discipline importance ratings, and the proportion of CS and Biology/Life Sciences faculty who indicated teaching was most important.

Emphasis on Teaching in CS Departments:

Faculty Attitudes Toward Teaching
1=low, 5=high
CS Departments	Faculty Satisfaction	Shared Responsibility for Learning	Teach to Student Ability	Innate Ability Required
1.2	4.50	3.67	3.75	3.00
2.2	4.67	3.67	4.33	3.00
3.2	4.48	4.26	4.04	2.26
4.2	4.67	4.00	4.00	4.00
5.2	.	.	.	.
6.2	4.33	4.00	4.33	2.67
7.2	4.27	4.08	3.37	3.27
8.2	4.60	3.60	3.40	2.80
10.2	4.80	4.00	3.63	3.38
11.2	5.00	5.00	3.00	.
12.2	5.00	4.00	4.00	4.00
13.2	4.50	4.50	4.50	3.00
14.2	5.00	4.00	4.00	3.00
15.2	4.67	4.33	2.67	3.33
16.2	4.60	4.00	3.75	4.00
17.2	4.20	4.60	3.60	3.75
18.2	5.00	3.50	2.50	4.00
19.2	5.00	4.00	4.00	4.50
20.2	5.00	4.00	4.50	2.50
21.2	3.95	3.00	4.50	3.50
22.2	4.75	4.75	3.50	3.50
24.2	4.00	4.07	4.47	3.53
25.2	5.00	4.00	4.00	2.00
mean	4.64	4.05	3.81	3.29

Teaching Workshops Attended
CS Departments	% of Faculty Who Attended >1 Workshop
1.2	50.00
2.2	33.30
3.2	26.10
4.2	100.00
5.2	.
6.2	100.00
7.2	45.00
8.2	100.00
10.2	90.00
11.2	0.00
12.2	100.00
13.2	50.00
14.2	0.00
15.2	66.70
16.2	40.00
17.2	40.00
18.2	100.00
19.2	100.00
20.2	0.00
21.2	37.70
22.2	0.00
24.2	20.80
25.2	0.00
mean	49.98

Frequency and Quality of Academic Advising
CS Departments	% meeting > once/semester	very knowledgeable % of advisors
1.2	0.00	75.00
2.2	100.00	100.00
3.2	35.34	64.70
4.2	100.00	100.00
5.2	.	.
6.2	100.00	66.70
7.2	55.05	36.70
8.2	60.00	80.00
10.2	28.57	57.10
11.2	0.00	0.00
12.2	100.00	100.00
13.2	50.00	50.00
14.2	0.00	0.00
15.2	100.00	66.70
16.2	100.00	0.00
17.2	40.00	60.00
18.2	0.00	100.00
19.2	100.00	50.00
20.2	0.00	100.00
21.2	42.46	78.80
22.2	25.00	50.00
24.2	15.55	0.00
25.2	0.00	0.00
mean	47.82	56.17

Importance of Teaching to Tenure and Promotion
1=not important, 5=very important
CS Departments	Importance of Course Evaluations	% who rated Teaching Most Important
1.2	4.50	100.00
2.2	4.33	100.00
3.2	3.48	0.00
4.2	4.33	100.00
5.2	.	.
6.2	4.33	100.00
7.2	3.73	55.00
8.2	3.60	80.00
10.2	4.20	100.00
11.2	3.00	.
12.2	4.00	100.00
13.2	4.50	100.00
14.2	5.00	100.00
15.2	4.33	66.70
16.2	4.20	20.00
17.2	5.00	100.00
18.2	5.00	100.00
19.2	5.00	100.00
20.2	4.50	50.00
21.2	3.22	0.00
22.2	4.25	25.00
24.2	3.79	35.40
25.2	5.00	100.00
mean	4.24	72.96

Emphasis on Teaching in Biology/Life Sciences Departments:

Faculty Attitudes Toward Teaching
1=low, 5=high
Biology/Life Sciences Departments	Faculty Satisfaction	Shared Responsibility for Learning	Teach to Student Ability	Innate Ability Required
1.1	4.67	3.67	4.00	2.50
2.1	5.00	4.60	3.40	4.00
3.1	4.70	4.79	3.67	3.04
4.1	4.00	4.33	3.33	4.33
5.1	5.00	4.00	2.00	3.00
6.1	4.78	4.00	3.67	3.11
7.1	4.62	4.65	5.00	2.68
8.1	5.00	4.50	2.77	3.08
10.1	4.80	5.00	3.29	3.29
11.1	4.75	4.00	4.00	3.00
12.1	5.00	.	.	.
13.1	4.70	2.88	3.00	2.63
14.1	5.00	4.00	2.00	4.00
15.1	4.75	4.50	3.75	3.25
16.1	4.64	4.36	3.82	3.53
17.1	4.61	4.11	4.00	2.61
18.1	4.50	4.50	3.00	4.00
19.1	4.00	4.00	4.25	3.25
20.1	4.50	3.60	4.20	3.75
21.1	4.09	4.16	4.00	4.00
22.1	4.60	3.33	3.78	3.33
24.1	4.17	4.53	3.16	2.13
25.1	4.60	4.20	2.80	3.00
mean	4.63	4.17	3.50	3.25

Teaching Workshops Attended
Biology/Life Sciences Departments	% of Faculty Who Attended >1 Workshop
1.1	66.70
2.1	100.00
3.1	72.80
4.1	100.00
5.1	0.00
6.1	77.80
7.1	13.20
8.1	100.00
10.1	100.00
11.1	50.00
12.1	100.00
13.1	90.00
14.1	0.00
15.1	100.00
16.1	45.70
17.1	50.00
18.1	100.00
19.1	75.00
20.1	66.70
21.1	24.00
22.1	20.00
24.1	92.70
25.1	80.00
mean	66.29

Frequency and Quality of Academic Advising
Biology/Life Sciences Departments	% meeting > once/semester	very knowledgeable % of advisors
1.1	0.00	33.30
2.1	60.00	80.00
3.1	15.22	72.80
4.1	33.33	66.70
5.1	100.00	100.00
6.1	66.67	88.90
7.1	74.04	74.00
8.1	30.88	77.00
10.1	30.00	40.00
11.1	50.00	25.00
12.1	0.00	100.00
13.1	30.00	66.70
14.1	100.00	0.00
15.1	75.00	100.00
16.1	38.77	68.10
17.1	14.66	100.00
18.1	75.00	75.00
19.1	50.00	50.00
20.1	25.00	75.00
21.1	33.33	57.30
22.1	0.00	100.00
24.1	34.25	100.00
25.1	40.00	80.00
mean	42.44	70.86

Importance of Teaching to Tenure and Promotion
1=not important, 5=very important
Biology/Life Sciences Departments	Importance of Course Evaluations	% who rated Teaching Most Important
1.1	4.67	100.00
2.1	4.00	100.00
3.1	4.58	0.00
4.1	4.67	100.00
5.1	4.00	.
6.1	3.89	88.90
7.1	4.26	24.50
8.1	3.94	18.70
10.1	3.67	75.00
11.1	4.00	50.00
12.1	5.00	100.00
13.1	4.60	100.00
14.1	5.00	100.00
15.1	4.33	75.00
16.1	3.50	18.10
17.1	5.00	100.00
18.1	5.00	100.00
19.1	3.50	100.00
20.1	5.00	80.00
21.1	2.76	0.00
22.1	3.60	0.00
24.1	3.15	31.70
25.1	4.20	83.30
mean	4.19	65.69

Emphasis on Teaching

Emphasis on Teaching in CS Departments:

CS Departments

Faculty Satisfaction

Shared Responsibility for Learning

Teach to Student Ability

Innate Ability Required

CS Departments

% of Faculty Who Attended >1 Workshop

CS Departments

% meeting > once/semester

very knowledgeable % of advisors

CS Departments

Importance of Course Evaluations

% who rated Teaching Most Important

Emphasis on Teaching in Biology/Life Sciences Departments:

Biology/Life Sciences Departments

Faculty Satisfaction

Shared Responsibility for Learning

Teach to Student Ability

Innate Ability Required

Biology/Life Sciences Departments

% of Faculty Who Attended >1 Workshop

Biology/Life Sciences Departments

% meeting > once/semester

very knowledgeable % of advisors

Biology/Life Sciences Departments

Importance of Course Evaluations

% who rated Teaching Most Important