The Role of Teaching in the Faculty Hiring Process in Mathematics

Motivated by my interest in preparing graduate students to communicate effectively about their teaching effectiveness, I conducted a survey of mathematics faculty hiring committees in the summer of 2006. The survey was designed to determine (a) how these search committees valued the teaching effectiveness of applicants, especially in comparison with the applicants' potential for research, and (b) how the committees evaluated the teaching effectiveness of applicants in initial application materials, especially teaching statements, and in later interviews and other interactions.

The survey itself is available here as a PDF file, and an article published in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society summarizing results of the survey and making recommendations for current and future job applicants, doctoral programs, and hiring institutions is now availble. Below is the citation.

The survey replicated and extended the work of Deborah Meizlish and Matthew Kaplan of the University of Michigan's Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, who surveyed faculty hiring committees in six other disciplines and encouraged me to build on their work by conducting a similar survey in mathematics. Results of the Meizlish and Kaplan survey are available in the following articles.

  • Meizlish, D. and Kaplan, M. (in press). Valuing and evaluating teaching in academic hiring: A multi-disciplinary, cross-institutional study. Journal of Higher Education.

  • Kaplan, M., Meizlish, D., O'Neal, C., & Wright, M. (2007). A research-based rubric for developing statements of teaching philosophy. To Improve the Academy, 26(1) .

Vanderbilt mathematics graduate student Jake Woods assisted me in this project.

Publications

Conference Talks

  • Bruff, D. (2007, January). Valuing and evaluating teaching in the mathematics faculty hiring process. Presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), New Orleans, LA.

Page maintained by Derek Bruff (derek.bruff [at] vanderbilt.edu).

Last updated November 18, 2007.

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