Third-party observations using validated observation protocols (OPs) provide a reliable way of recording teacher and student behaviors across different classrooms and institutions, which can then be used to identify what pedagogical strategies geoscience faculty use and how they are tied to learning outcomes of importance to the field. We examined peer-reviewed STEM publications that discuss using OPs, and identified sixteen that we believe offer particular value in post-secondary geoscience contexts. We describe their general characteristics, reliability and validity data, and how they have been used for research, assessment of professional development interventions, and as instruments to focus faculty self-reflection. Finally, we evaluated the GER Community Framework for opportunities to use OPs to address Grand Challenges and Research Strategies therein. Findings reveal that these sixteen OPs and the ways they have been used in other STEM disciplines provide fruitful models for addressing concerns of the Geoscience Education Research community.