As I reflect on my goal to continue to improve teaching

effectiveness, I primarily rely on the end of course survey I

have been using for each of the last 3 years (adapted from
Dr. Nancy Eckerson). I have also utilized some informal
assessments such as questioning and verbal feedback.
I utilized data from the end of course surveys I sent to
students in Spring 2015 & Fall 2015, as I have not yet
completed my courses this spring. (see response rates
below) I then compiled data from the two surveys and will
provide a summary and analysis of that data in this report.
My data begins with a table summarizing the courses I taught
during the 2015-2016 academic year.
Survey Response Rates
Spring 2015:

11 out of 25

Fall 2015:

11 out of 15

Table of Courses Taught

(2015-2016)
Timothy Indahl: Courses Taught (2015-2016)
Semester

Summer 2015 EDUC 608: The Diverse Learner

Credits New Course

Prep?
2.5
No

Fall 2015

RED 310: STEM in the Elementary

Classroom
RED 311: STEM Clinical Practice

No

No

RED 411: Ethnographers Clinical

Practice
RED 402: Data Collect, Interpret, Use

No

No

RED 304: Teacher Development

No

Spring 2016

Course Taught

I begin by presenting the average response score to a question

asking the respondents to rate the professor on nine statements
related to teaching effectiveness using a 5 point scale (strongly
disagree (1) to strongly agree (5)). Nearly all of the respondents
agreed with the statements, and the vast majority of those
strongly agreed. There were a small amount of neutral responses,
but none indicating disagreement. This is reflected in the mean
scores for each statement, which range from 4.64 to 4.91.
Following these rating statements are the overall professor and
course ratings. 100 of respondents rated the professor as Very
Good or Excellent and 91% rated the course in the same way.
There was 1 response each for Good and Fair
I have also included a range of the written responses provided in
reaction to two questions and a question asking for additional
comments.

Please reflect on your experiences in this course

and rate your PROFESSOR for each of the
statements below. The Professor:
#

Question (Spring 2015 & Fall 2015)

Is actively helpful when students have difficulty

2
3

Appears sensitive to the student's feelings and

problems
Encourages students to ask questions, disagree,
express ideas

Total
Responses

Mean

22

4.82

22

4.91

21

4.87

Is fair and impartial in dealing with students

22

4.84

Is interested in the subject

22

4.82

Uses enough examples and illustrations to clarify the

material

22

4.69

Presents material in a well organized fashion

22

4.82

Stimulates thinking

22

4.73

Presents material in an interesting way

22

4.64

Spring 2015 & Fall 2015

Professor & Course Ratings
Overall, How would you rate
the professor of this course?

Overall, How would you rate

this course?

The best thing about this course was:

(Spring 2015 & Fall 2015)
Professor Indahl, he is an amazing person and not just an amazing professor, he
truly cared about the success of us as students but also for us to succeed as
human beings.
I feel like this course was helpful in my career as a teacher and it will be useful
going on.
The way the material was presented. Dr. Indahl is an amazing professor and I
would love to take all of my required courses with him.
The openness in that we were encouraged to share and ask questions. If we
disagreed with something we were listened to and if we did not understand a
question or assignment we were never made to feel bad.
Dr. Indahl! He was so helpful and engaged in what we got out of our experiences
and assignments. He's a great teacher!
The graphs and really doing some hands on work with data to understand it better
The best thing about this course is the amount of knowledge I gained from the
professor and material.
The morning meetings. They were always fun.

One thing I would improve about this course is:

(Spring 2015 & Fall 2015)
Practice giving more lessons and writing more lessons.
Less discussion, more hands on in the classroom.
have even more contact with students, perhaps in small group settings. also, I
would like to see more of the class be expected to share their thoughts- it seems
as though the same 4 or 5 students are speaking consistently-if the others are
going to be instructors in a classroom they should be able to talk. Dr. Indahl had
a very open forum in which we could speak.
Giving more examples of how to write a lesson plan
I don't feel that this course needs to be improved upon.
The Zebrafish externship was a bit disorganized, but a very memorable
experience. I would like to see a more upbeat approach to learning, from the
program.

Additional Comments (Spring 2015 & Fall 2015)

Professor Indahl is the best!!!
Dr. Indahl was an amazing instructor and he helped all of his
students. Truly awesome!
Dr. Indahl is wonderful. I'm very happy to have learned from him
this semester and look forward to more courses with him.
Tim's AMAZING!!

Final Thoughts

Overall, I received positive feedback from students taking the courses

I taught, which is supported by quantitative data from the end of
course survey and the written responses provided to the best thing
about this course and additional comments questions. This leads
me to believe that I am on the right track in my teaching.
However, there is always room for improvement, and the responses to
the one thing I would improve question provide some insight into
which areas I should focus. From the comments, I see room to
improve in three areas: providing more opportunities for writing
lessons, refining my format for discussions, and providing more clinical
time working with students. I have already felt that classroom
discussions was an area I could improve, and plan to enact several
strategies I learned at the Nexus professional development I
participated in this year at the Science Museum of Minnesota. I also
think additional lesson planning practice can only help our teacher
candidates be stronger teachers.
As for clinical practice, we already provide significant time working
with elementary students, but I think it is positive that our students
want even more.