Request a Peer Review
Peer Review of Teaching
Peer review of teaching provides instructors the opportunity to receive feedback on their current teaching practices. Just as peer review during the research and publication process can help generate stronger research, so too can peer reviews of teaching help strengthen instruction.
Why participate in a peer review of teaching?
There are many potential benefits to participating in a peer review of teaching. Some of those benefits are:
- Evidence of peer observation. Many departments require course observations as a evidence for tenure and promotion. Peer observations can also be useful documents to include in job applications.
- A stronger community of teaching and learning. Inviting peers into your classroom opens an opportunity for collaboration and conversation about teaching and learning. By sharing resources and experiences, we acknowledge the importance of teaching as an integral part of our university culture.
- Added perspectives for evaluation. Most instructors receive feedback from student evaluations of teaching. While this feedback can be useful, peer reviews of teaching give instructors feedback from a different vantage point. Between student evaluations, self-reflection, and peer reviews, instructors can triangulate data on their teaching to make informed decisions about how to improve their pedagogy.
Peer review process
This is how peer reviews of teaching are carried out at ETE:
- Request a peer review of teaching. In this request, you will be asked to indicate the class you'd like to have observed, the class times, and delivery method (F2F, hybrid F2F, web broadcast, or online).
- Have a pre-observation meeting with your reviewer. In this meeting, you and your reviewer will discuss the purposes of your peer review, any specific goals or feedback you'd like your review to focus on, learning outcomes for the class, and any other relevant information about the course. If you course is online, you should arrange any necessary sign-in information for your reviewer including links to Zoom, passwords, access to Canvas, etc.
- Teach your class. During the peer review, you will teach your class as usual. The peer reviewer will observe without interupting or participating.
- Have a post-observation meeting with your reviewer. In this meeting, you and your reviewer will discuss what your reviewer observed in your class. This is any opportunity for you and your reviewer to ask questions, get clarification, and generally assess the class that was observed. We encourage participants to tailor this meeting to meet any department-specific expectations for peer observations.
- Recieve a final report. Within 30 days of the post-obserrvation meeting, the peer reviewer will give a final report to the reviwee for their records.
Request a Peer Review of Teaching
Serving as a peer reviewer
For the peer review process to be effective, we need instructors who are willing to serve as peer reviewers. Aside from the benefits of creating connections with colleagues and learning from the observations you make, peer reviewers can also earn a contribute-level badge in the ETE10 program. If you are interested in serving as a peer reviewer, please click on the button below.