Foundation Skills/Peer evaluation of teaching practice/Objectives
| Foundation Skills | |
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| Lecturer self- and peer evaluation | |
| Peer evaluation of teaching practice | Objectives | What is peer evaluation? | Peer observation of teaching | Personal development plans | Continuing professional development opportunities | e-Activity | Summary |
Contents
WEEK 8 - Unit 6 Topic 2: Peer evaluation of teaching practice
Objectives
Working through the resources, tasks and activities on this page will enable you to:
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What is peer evaluation?
A simple definition of peer evaluation can be found online at Dictionary.com:
"Evaluation of a person's work or performance by a group of people in the same occupation, profession or industry."
| The reality is that we all make judgements about our colleagues work performance at some stage or other, mostly in an informal way, and sometimes in a formal manner in which one follows agreed protocols and provides an observed colleague with a written report.
For this activity, pretend that you work as a senior chef in a posh restuarant and that you are about to evaluate the skills of a new trainee chef who has just prepared a scotch fillet for you.
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Peer observation of teaching
York St John University, in their publication Guide to Peer Observation of Learning and Teaching, define peer observation of teaching as:
"a collaborative, non-judgemental process involving two or more peers who mutually benefit from the dialogue that takes place."
There may be many benefits derived from observing the teaching of your peers, e.g.:
- Learning from both experienced and new colleagues
- Engaging in discussions and debate about teaching and learning
- Getting new ideas from a course that you don't normally teach
In many educational institutions teachers may be involved in peer observation of their actual classroom teaching, but teaching in the broaderst sense can include a range of activities, such as:
For more ideas on peer observation of teaching, watch the Bond University video clip on Peer Observation of Teaching. Can you add to the above list? How would you go about a complete peer evaluation of a new colleague's performance?
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Personal development plans and Continuing professional development opportunities
For new teachers, it will be useful to write a list of new teaching skills that you would like to learn more about, decide on whether you would want to tackle a teaching qualification, and get some idea of the range of professional development opportunities that your institution provides. Some institutions require their teaching staff to write an annual personal development plan (PDP) to show which professional development activities they will engage in to enhance their teaching skills. If you've just started teaching at a new institution, you may consider meeting with a suitable advisor before writing your PDP.
| Compile a quick list of the professional development activities in which you have engaged this year that could enhance your teaching skills.
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e-Activity
| e-Activity 6.2
For this assessment, think about one particular aspect of your classroom teaching practice that you would want an observer to focus on as a peer observer (colleague) in your teaching environment.
For those students enrolled in the Foundation Skills course through Otago Polytechnic, please post your contribution in the appropriate Moodle forum. |
Summary
At the end of this topic you should have achieved the following outcomes. You will have:
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For those participants that are enrolled in the Foundation Skills course through Otago Polytechnic, you would have submitted evidence of your understanding of peer observation of teaching via the appropriate Moodle discussion forum.
