ERIC Number: EJ1466550
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2334-4822
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Creating Effective Peer Observation Faculty Training through a Community of Practice
To Improve the Academy, v44 n1 Article 3 p53-70 2025
Peer observation of teaching (PoT) is a recognized evaluation tool. However, faculty concerns persist regarding bias, beneficial feedback, and lack of peer observer training. While faculty desire to provide quality and equitable reviews, many higher education faculty peers have little expertise in conducting observations and evaluations. This article proposes a comprehensive approach to enhance the quality and fairness of PoT in higher education through the use of a community of practice model, aligning it with the evolving needs of teaching evaluation processes. The authors share their growth process from an ad hoc committee into a long-term organic community of practice to meet formative and summative observations of teaching needs. Based on literature supporting PoT steps, the collaborative vision between the faculty and the Center for Teaching and Learning director resulted in a supportive model for reviews that provided faculty with feedback and professional growth. The training model starts with new members experiencing the observational process, completing an in-depth practicing PoT training, pairing with experienced peers to grow confidence, and then eventually training new members.
Descriptors: Peer Evaluation, Faculty Development, Formative Evaluation, Summative Evaluation, Communities of Practice, Faculty Evaluation, Feedback (Response), Expertise, College Faculty, Ethics, Models, Land Grant Universities, Faculty Promotion, Advisory Committees
Michigan Publishing. 839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104. Tel: 734-764-3417; e-mail: mpublishing@umich.edu; Web site: https://www.toimprovetheacademy.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A