QUINT Observation System Seminar: January 18, 2022

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Illustration, camera and teaching situation

Welcome to the QUINT Observation Systems Seminars (OBS seminars).  This series will discuss classroom observation systems as a tool for understanding and improving teaching quality.

This and upcoming OBS seminars are open for all interested parties.  We want it to become a meeting arena for scholars genuinely interested in observation systems and related issues. Therefore we recommend that you join our network by subscribing to the network mailing list. You must confirm your email address in the confirmation email you receive to complete signing up to the mailing list. 

If you are interested in presenting your research or have questions, please contact the organizer, QUINT Postdoctoral Fellow Mark White.

Program

In this seminar, taking place on January 18th, 2022 at 9am ET/ 15.00 CET,  Mark White, Jennifer Luoto, Kirsti Klette, and Marte Blikstad-Balas will be presenting work on connecting theoretical views of teaching quality with the measurement of teaching quality.  The title of the talk is Bringing the Theory and Measurement of Teaching into Alignment

Abstract:  There is a growing use of standardized observation systems to directly measure teaching quality in classrooms. These systems are based on rich, theoretical understandings of teaching quality that lead to carefully operationalized rubrics that decompose teaching quality into a number of distinct dimensions. In this paper, we argue that many of the ways observation systems are applied and analyzed do not fully conform to the theoretical understandings of teaching quality upon which the observation system is based. We further argue for the need to align theoretical understandings of teaching quality with analytical approaches to measure teaching quality. We discuss four key assumptions that undergird many views of teaching quality and highlight how common analytical approaches violate these assumptions, proposing alternative analytical approaches that would better conform to the theoretical understandings of teaching quality. We end with a discussion of the importance of carefully aligning theoretical understandings with measurement approaches.

Published Aug. 9, 2021 7:55 PM - Last modified Dec. 7, 2021 6:24 PM