Integrating Educational Development and Assessment of Student Learning Through Peer Review of Teaching

Abstract

Educational developers seek to improve faculty practice. Assessment offices look to assess student learning. Connecting educational development and student learning assessment efforts can provide a better understanding of how faculty practices are directly impacting student outcomes and identify areas for improvement. Peer review of teaching can help create the collaborative culture needed to support shared understanding of student learning outcomes and how faculty practice can help achieve those outcomes. Peer review of teaching adds an important dimension of triangulation in addition to individual faculty reflection and student evaluations of teaching by providing a more holistic context for the artifacts of student learning used for assessment. The frameworks of peer review of teaching can foster conversations among colleagues about student learning outcomes, practices for implementing instructional approaches that help achieve those outcomes, and areas for faculty growth. Faculty can learn from each other about what is working effectively and where they might need to modify their approaches. However, the goals of peer review of teaching can vary based on the approach and structural design. In this conceptual piece, we will explicate several peer observation models, review the key elements of peer review of teaching for varying goals, and consider how these various models can connect the objectives related to educational development and assessment of student learning.