5.11  Questions for the dean, program heads, faculty staff, and students 

A   Questions for the dean 

1        Do students have sufficient opportunity to practise the skills they will need as beginning teachers? 

2        Are there parts of the program that are regularly difficult to staff with qualified faculty members? 

3        Are faculty members active in taking advantage of professional development opportunities?  Are there some kinds of faculty development which these programs are particularly successful in?  Are there areas where you think they need to improve? 

4        Are the students in these programs well qualified when they enter the university?  Do they have the academic background they need to be successful?  Are they motivated to become good teachers? 

5        Please explain how these programs were matched up with the partner schools. 

6        How well has the partner school arrangement developed to date?  Why has it been as successful as it has been?  What has kept it from being more successful? 

7        Raise questions about any facilities problems suggested in the self-evaluation.  If facilities are not satisfactory in some way, ask about plans to remedy the situation and attempt to learn how definite and immediate the plans are. 

8        Does the library support these programs?  Do you have a sense about how well the education faculty is supported compared with other programs in the university?    

9        Are there ways in which the library is particularly helpful to these programs – or ways in which you wish it would be more helpful? 

10   Explain what working groups and commissions are active in the faculty this year.  How were the representatives chosen?  How is their work progressing?   Are the staff  in the programs under review generally available to participate? 

11   Is there a mission statement for the faculty overall or for the programs in this faculty?  If so,  please describe its meaning and explain how it was developed and approved.  If not, have you or the faculty considered developing such a document?  Do you see the programs under review as distinctive in any way or having any special purpose or quality it might be useful to articulate? 

12   I reviewed the documents section on your quality assurance system.  (Ask about any pieces you thought might be there but were missing to see if they are available.)  Please talk a little about what you think is working particularly well and what needs to be improved.  (Examples have to do with feedback about the curriculum, staff appointments, staff support, and assessment and review of students.) 

B   Questions for program heads 

1        Do students have sufficient opportunity to practise the skills they need as beginning teachers? 

2        Are there parts of the program that are regularly difficult to staff with qualified faculty members? 

3        How are new faculty members informed of professional development opportunities? 

4        How do you make the assignments for staff to support their professional development? 

5        Are the students in this program well qualified when they enter the university?  Do they have the academic background they need to be successful?  Are they motivated to become good teachers? 

6        How well has the partner school arrangement developed to date?  Were you involved in setting up the arrangements with the partner schools?   If so, how?  If not, why not? 

7        Why has the partner school arrangement been as successful as it has been to date?  What has kept it from being more successful?    

8        Are you pleased with the quality of teaching and the availability of mentors for your students in your partner schools? Why or why not? 

9        Do your students get good supervision in the partner schools?   From the mentors?  From the faculty staff? 

10   Raise questions about any facilities problems suggested in the self-evaluation.   If facilities are not satisfactory in some way, ask about plans to remedy the situation and attempt to learn how definite and immediate the plans are. 

11   Does the library support your program?  Do faculty in this program regularly request book and materials to be ordered?  If yes, are they ordered? If not, why not? 

12   Explain what working groups and commissions are active in the faculty this year.  How were the representatives from your program chosen?  How is their work progressing?   Are the staff in your program generally available to participate?  Do you generally feel your program can make its voice heard in important groups? 

13   Is there a mission statement for the faculty staff in this program?  If so, please describe its meaning and explain how it was developed and approved?   If not, have you considered developing such a document?  Do you see the programs being reviewed as distinctive in any way or having any special purpose or quality it might be useful to articulate? 

14   I reviewed the documents section on your quality assurance system.  (Ask about any pieces you thought might be there but were missing to see if they are available.) Please talk a little about what you think is working particularly well and what needs to be improved.  (Examples have to do with feedback about the curriculum, hiring and support of faculty, and assessment and review of students.)

C   Questions for faculty staff 

1        Do students have sufficient opportunity to practise the skills they need as beginning teachers? 

2        What methods are used to assess student performance? (Examples: exams, tests, papers, demonstrations, case studies, oral reports, presentations, lesson plans, development of classroom material).  (Ask if this is not clear from the documents) 

3        Do you see any major areas of overlap in the curriculum?  Are there any significant gaps? 

4        Are you ever asked to teach courses for which you don’t feel adequately prepared? 

5        Can you talk a little about your own research or professional development?   What are you working on this year? Or what did you work on last year?  What kind of support did the university provide?   

6        Are the students in these programs well-qualified when they enter the university?  Do they have the academic background they need to be successful?  Are they motivated to become good teachers? 

7        What is your involvement with partner schools?   Were you involved in setting up the arrangements with partner schools?  How?  What would you like your involvement to be in the next 3 to 5 years?  Will the faculty management support that? 

8        Talk to me about the classrooms in which you teach and any other special facilities you use for teaching.   Are they satisfactory in terms of lighting, sound, temperature, ventilation?   Can you vary your teaching methods in the classrooms?   Are the rooms big enough for the number of students you have?  Can you use the technology you would like to use in those classrooms? 

9        Does the library support your area?  Do you regularly request books or materials to be ordered?  If yes, are they ordered? If you do not request books or materials, why not?

10   Do you use any special facilities in your work, such as laboratories or art studios?  If so, are they reasonably up to date? Safe? Available? Do you have support staff who help run and maintain them? 

11   Are computers sufficiently available to faculty staff in this program?  How old are your machines?  Can you get new software when you need it?  What happens when there is a problem?  Who helps you? 

12   What working groups and commissions are active in the faculty this year.  How were the representatives from your program chosen?  Are you on any of the groups?   Are the staff in your program generally available to participate?  Do you generally feel your program can make its voice heard on important groups?  Do you find that participating is a generally beneficial use of your time?  Does it make a difference? 

13   What do you see as special or distinctive about your program?  Is that recorded in a mission statement or comparable document?  Do you think other staff share your point of view about what is special about your program? 

D  Questions for students 

1        Do you have sufficient opportunity to practise the skills you will need as a beginning teacher? 

2        Do you get enough feedback from the academic staff along the way?  Do you feel you know how well you are progressing?  Is the feedback useful in helping you improve? 

3        Are the academic staff knowledgeable about the courses they are teaching?  Do you feel you are learning from experts in the field? 

4        Are the students in this program well qualified when they enter the university?  Do they have the academic background they need to be successful?  Are they motivated to become good teachers? 

5        Are staff available to give you guidance and advice about your academic program?  In general?  About becoming a teacher?   

6        Ask about the time the students have been in school. 

7        Talk to me about the classrooms where you take classes from this program and any other special facilities you use.  Are they satisfactory in terms of lighting, temperature, ventilation?   Can you see and hear well enough in the rooms?  Are the rooms big enough for the number of students?   Can you work in small groups in the classes? 

8        How often do you have assignments in your education classes which require you to use materials from the library?   Give me some examples from the last two or three education classes you took?  How did you use the library?   Could you find what you needed?  Were there enough books and journals?  Are the materials new enough to be useful?  Is there enough material available in Turkish/English?  Is the library open enough hours?  Are the librarians helpful?    

9    Can you get access to the Internet when you need it?  Do you find Internet resources for assignments in education? How can you tell good Internet resources from poor ones? 

10   Do you have an opportunity to give feedback on the staff who teach you about their teaching?  How does that work?   Do you think that feedback is used? 

11   If you have a complaint about something in your program, is there a way for you to make it known?  Who would you go to?  Do you know anyone who has done that?  What happened?