December 9, 2013, by Teaching at Nottingham
Peer observation college
There has been a growing interest in getting involved in peer observation with staff from other Faculties. Requests for a University-wide scheme are being addressed with the design of a peer observation college, consisting of 80-100 academic members of staff, which will draw on advice from the HEA and will develop from consultation with Deans and Heads of Schools.
The intention is to help participants to find colleagues with similar development priorities across the University and to form peer observation and feedback networks that will contribute to their teaching development activities in addition to School-based arrangements.
The scheme will aim to increase awareness of the student experience of teaching and learning, to allow staff to reflect on the effectiveness of their own teaching and develop their style by adopting elements of good practice from within the University and elsewhere. With an emphasis on consistency of quality rather than standardisation of practice, the peer observation college will utilise agreed upon feedback methodology to produce action plans for staff taking part, which may integrate into the PDPR process and will benefit from an interdisciplinary approach to identifying and negotiating challenges.
David Burns
Professional Development
This sounds like a really good idea. We have been running peer observation for a number of years but there may be additional benefits if someone from a different discipline were to be that observer. Perhaps this would add some ‘cross pollination’ of teaching innovations?