A major problem in higher education is the lack of a good way to measure the quality of teaching. This makes it very difficult for faculty to objectively determine the quality of their teaching, work systematically to improve it, and document that quality. Institutions in turn are unable to incentivize, track, or demonstrate to external stakeholders improvement in the quality of the teaching that they provide. These deficiencies are becoming increasingly conspicuous in light of the calls for greater accountability in higher education and for the adoption of more effective, research-proven teaching practices, particularly in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (the STEM disciplines).

In this paper I examine the context in which teaching evaluation is done at research universities. I then consider the requirements for methods of evaluating teaching quality in higher education and how well current evaluation methods meet those requirements. Finally, I propose a new method based on the notion that the teaching methods used by an instructor are a more accurate proxy for teaching effectiveness than anything else that is practical to measure--a concept that has emerged from the results of STEM education research.