Peer Review of Teaching

You can learn a great deal about how your students are learning in a course and what adjustments both you and your students might make by asking your students to give your course a mid-term evaluation or periodic feedback.

• Using a formative course feedback tool creates an excellent opportunity to discuss the shared responsibility for teaching and learning in a course by describing what changes you will (or will not) implement due to their feedback and why. Discover ways to implement the Plus/Delta feedback tool (docx). When implementing feedback tools, you can also teach your students how to Provide Constructive Feedback (PDF).
• End-of-course ratings are a tool that can improve teaching and learning, benefiting future students who will take the classes. They are not perfect measurements of teaching effectiveness but can elevate the teaching and learning environment by:
  • Creating an opportunity for students to reflect on their perceptions of the learning and the classroom environment.
  • Providing instructors with constructive feedback, enhancing teaching effectiveness.
  • Supporting an ongoing dialogue about teaching and learning between instructors and administrators.

Explore more ways to prepare for the course ratings process and improve course ratings.

Another method of documenting your teaching is through a process of peer observation of teaching. Peer observations provide opportunities for instructors to visit, share, and learn from one another’s classroom practices, which can enhance quality of teaching. The evidence generated from peer observations can be used in personnel decisions (P&T), publicity, and oversight in accreditation processes.

• The peer observation process can be either formative (focused on improvement; ongoing) or summative (used for personnel decisions; evaluative), and includes preparation for documenting the observation, pre- and post-observation conversations, and an after-observation documenting process.
• As part of the professional development process, faculty may also request a CELT teaching observation conducted by an experienced CELT staff member. CELT observations of teaching are formative and focused on teaching strategies, rather than on discipline-specific content.

The final source of evidence in evaluating effective teaching is from the instructor themselves, through course content and learning materials created for their course and through reflection.

• The teaching philosophy statement reflects the instructor’s personal values and beliefs about teaching that provides concrete examples of what is done in the classroom to support those beliefs. Teaching philosophies are used to articulate teaching beliefs, values, and practices to students, peers, and committees.
• Along with the teaching philosophy, there is a wide variety of other methods that can be used to document evidence of effective teaching.