What is TAOS?
- CETL now has the ability to conduct a version of CIOS (Course Instructor Opinion Survey) for Teaching Assistants (TAs) each semester. The survey is called the Teaching Assistant Opinion Survey (TAOS) and it will be used beginning with the Summer 2011 “full term” courses. This is a new survey instrument designed specifically to collect data related to student perceptions of Teaching Assistants at Georgia Tech.
How does TAOS work?
- For Summer 2011 "full term," this is a departmental opt-in survey and appropriate personnel in all departments have been sent the information required to participate. Only those departments electing to participate will be included at this time.
- Please contact CETL (cetlhelp@gatech.edu) if you have questions about getting your department involved.
- For students and TAs in participating departments, all user interfaces and functionalities will operate in the same manner as described for CIOS.
Why do we need a TAOS?
The TAOS exists for four main reasons:
1) To provide feedback to the departments and the Institute about Teaching Assistant effectiveness;
2) To provide TAs with feedback that, in addition to other forms of feedback and in conjunction with development efforts, can be used to improve future performance of TAs both in and out of the classroom;
3) To provide TAs evidence of teaching effectiveness than can be used as part of their academic and non-academic job search process;
4) To assist the Institute in complying with the University System of Georgia Board of Regents Policy 8.3.5.2 EVALUATION OF PERSONNEL: Graduate Teaching/Laboratory Assistants which states that:
"institutions employing graduate teaching and/or laboratory assistants shall develop procedures to: conduct regular assessments, based on written procedures and including results of student and faculty evaluations, of each assistant’s teaching effectiveness and performance."
What is the history of TAOS?
TAOS consists of the same questions as the "pilot" TAOS (conducted in spring 2011 and in spring and fall 2009) that many departments participated in. This version of TAOS is a solution that will be available every semester, starting with courses being taught in the Summer 2011 "full term." This solution has become available because CETL is transitioning CIOS (the faculty survey) from our current internal system to the use of an external vendor called Digital Measures. The product from Digital Measures is able to handle TAOS in addition to CIOS.