L’autovalutazione della didattica da parte dei docenti. Presentazione dei risultati di una ricerca esplorativa condotta presso l’Università di Padova

Abstract

Teaching Self-Evaluation. An Exploratory Research with Padua University Teachers

In universities, self-evaluation processes may concern the faculties, teaching staff and students. As regards teaching staff, self-education may refer to procedures to be used at a personal level and strictly linked to teaching experience or connected to the self-evaluation of faculties themselves. In the latter case, these self-evaluation practices become an integral part of the growth process of accountability and of the qualitative improvement of university education. The self-evaluation approach for teaching staff dealt with here is connected to the development of processes of reflection in the teacher in order to improve educational practices. The study presented in this article satisfies the interest of the Governing Council of Padua University, which promoted a new project on teacher self-evaluation that started in 2006 and ended in 2009. A specific working commission including representatives from all faculties, under the direction of R. Semeraro (entrusted by the Rector for the project), aimed at focusing the attention of the teaching staff from all faculties on the use of a selfevaluation tool, which was developed after a comparative analysis of similar tools in use in major universities in the world. At the end of 2007, all the teaching staff were sent the aforesaid self-evaluation tool, developed by the working commission, and 60% of the teaching staff answered by filling in the relative questionnaire. The results showed that some teacher self-evaluation criteria were common to all faculties while other criteria were specific to individual faculties.