On Friday, Peter Seldin, distinguished professor of management of Pace University located in New York City, will present two half-day seminars in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union. The seminars are sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence.

The morning program “Student and Peer Assessment of Teaching: New Lessons Learned” will run from 9 to 11:30 a.m. “Successful Use of Teaching Portfolios” will last from 1 to 3 p.m.

Seldin has been a frequent speaker at national and international conferences, and has designed and conducted seminars throughout the United States and in more than 20 countries around the world, according to a CTE press release.

Center Director Steve Richardson said that Seldin is the author of a number of books, including perhaps the most frequently-borrowed book in the CTE library, The Teaching Portfolio.

“I don’t come to Iowa State University as a guru with all the answers. There is no guaranteed system for success in using student ratings or peer review or the teaching portfolio,” Seldin said.

“I’m simply going to share some of the research findings, some of the literature, some of the things that we’ve learned over the years, knowing that the faculty has to decide…(what is) relevant and appropriate to the ISU campus.”

“Student ratings are an important topic because they are now the single most widely used source of information to evaluate teaching in the U.S.,” he said. “In many cases it’s the only source of information.”

Seldin will talk about some of the myths and the realities of student ratings, what they can measure and what they can’t.

“In my view,” he said, “they cannot be the only source of information. Other sources need to supplement student ratings to give a more balanced and complete picture.”

The afternoon seminar will give faculty members and administrators insight on the teaching portfolio and how to create their own. “The primary purpose (of a portfolio) is to improve teaching and that’s what most people are doing,” Seldin said.

While some faculty are submitting portfolios for promotion and tenure decisions or to get another teaching job, others are making portfolios for historical purposes.

“Some very senior professors are doing portfolios to leave a written legacy within the department, of what they taught, how they taught it and why they taught it that way. New people who’ll be taking over their classes will have the benefit of their experience,” Seldin said. “It’s a really good concept.”

Seldin said he is happy to report The Teaching Portfolio is in its sixth printing. “…which makes it a virtual ‘best seller’ in higher education.”

He has learned that with travel comes experience. “I’ve been to 20 or 25 countries, and virtually every state in the U.S. sharing ideas with faculty, administration and graduate students on teaching and it’s improvement,” Seldin said.

“Every place I go I learn more; it’s really a two way street. I’m happy to share ideas, but I’m also a sponge and I soak up other people’s ideas.”

“Seldin is a heck of a nice guy. He’ll give a very interesting presentation,” Richardson said. “He will really involve people and get them to talk with each other, and really dig into the subject.”

For more information about programs sponsored by the Center, Richardson suggests browsing the CTE web page; a connection can be found directly off the university home page.