Dr. Clayton Smith facilitating a debriefing following a Research in Education poster fair.
Dr. Smith works toward enhancing student affection for, and interest in, education by using continuous feedback, engaging students individually in ways that inspire them, encouraging resilience, and instilling in his students a commitment to continuous self-improvement and life-long learning. This he models for his students through participation in extensive professional development and by welcoming feedback on his teaching. Dr. Smith’s student evaluations of teaching (SET) scores are consistently outstanding.
For the 2017-18 academic year, Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) scores ranged from 6.3 to 6.5 (weighted average 6.5). For the 2018-19 academic year, his SET scores ranged from 5.7 to 6.8 (weighted average 6.2 to 6.8). Due to the Pandemic, SET scores for the 2019-20 academic year are not available, but scores for the fall semester range from 6.0 to 6.5 (weighted average of 6.2). Dr. Smith received the highest SET score ranking among all instructors in the Faculty of Education during the winter semester of 2018 and the fall semester of 2018.
Dr. Smith regularly reviews his own student evaluations of teaching and has introduced mid-term feedback as a consistent process in his courses. Through this process he has identified strengths in the tone he sets with students, his body language, his confidence and ability to relate to students, his organization, and his comfortable speaking style including cadence, pace, humour, and clarity. He has also identified for himself areas to improve upon including taking more risks, incorporating more group discussions and engaging more with groups during these activities, relying less on lecture style, and improving upon time management.
Dr. Smith is keenly aware that the University of Windsor has over 4000 international students enrolled from approximately 100 different countries and that the student population includes Indigenous learners, mature students, new immigrants, and college/university transfer students. Dr. Smith’s teaching celebrates differences and explores continuously how to enhance learning in such a multicultural, multi-ability, and multi-experienced educational environment. He regularly brings in guest speakers on such subjects as racism and Treaty Education toward the enhancement of understanding of equity, social justice, diversity, inclusion, and difference.