Gathering Evidence of Teaching Effectiveness

Originally published April 10, 2026

What informs the way you teach?

Collecting and reflecting on evidence of teaching effectiveness

When asked for reasons behind our teaching practices, we often point to our own educational values and biographies that form the basis of our teaching philosophies. However, as we collect teaching experiences, and reflect on these experiences, we enrich our understanding of what best practices impact student learning. Even better, if we can gather evidence on our teaching effectiveness, we can begin to answer not only ‘why do I teach the way I do,’ but also ‘why do I continue to teach this way and what might I change?’
At Laurier, you can collect and integrate evidence of teaching effectiveness for different points in your teaching career path, including CVs, Annual Reports of Activity, and Teaching Dossiers for different purposes such as employment, internal or external awards, or tenure and promotion. Collecting evidence is best practiced as an ongoing effort, drawing on varied sources that help to put any one source of evidence or any one moment in time in the wider and more reliable portrayal of your successes, innovations, challenges, and improvements (Simonson, Earl and Frary, 2022). This can be particularly important when you have attempted a novel (and sometimes unsuccessful) strategy to address a specific teaching challenge.

While we tend to focus primarily on the formal end-of-term processes for collecting quantitative and qualitative data from student course evaluations, these results are only one source of evidence that can be situated among many others. Consider the list below for potential ways you have or can begin to collect additional evidence to demonstrate your teaching effectiveness, reflect your teaching experiences, and identify the next steps in your path forward.

Evidence from Students

• Informal or Formative Feedback: Midterm feedback strategies (e.g. an anonymous Start-Stop-Continue on MyLS), unsolicited emails, or Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs).

• Artifacts of Learning: Aspects of student work (individual or group activities or assessments) that highlight impact, progress or success in learning outcomes achievement (with permission and/or anonymized).

• Mentoring and Supervision: Shared feedback from (current, past or future) Laurier students through both formal and informal roles, including where mentoring involves supporting inclusive success and excellence at Laurier, in your academic field or discipline, or in career opportunities. 

Evidence from Peers (Internal and External)

• Feedback: Teaching observations (conducted by faculty colleagues or educational developers in TEI), unsolicited emails, letters of support, or recognition of your value in student program progression (e.g. “students who took your course123 were exceptionally prepared for academic achievement in my course456”).

• Contributions: Invitations or opportunities to develop teaching capacity with department or Laurier colleagues (for e.g. through a TEI faculty learning community, faculty spotlight, or teaching panel); participation in teaching initiatives, partnerships, or leadership roles in disciplinary organizations or conferences; or involvement in teaching activities that engage community members or organizations in intentional learning relationships.

• Publications: Including publications related to teaching, including scholarly work, podcasts, media, or Laurier spotlights.

Evidence from Yourself

• Course Materials: Syllabi, assessment guidelines and rubrics, course materials, or lesson plans.

• Instructional Presence and Relationships: Feedback on assignment submissions; approach to office hours, career development, or study groups; responses to student questions; use of MyLS to positively shape the learning environment.

• Professional Teaching Development (including those at Laurier with TEI): Activities that enhance your learning about pedagogy to improve teaching knowledge and practices, including workshops, courses, research.

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