Montclair State University is committed to excellence in teaching. Peer observation is a means of enhancing the quality of teaching and learning, and supporting effective faculty development. The benefits of successful peer observation of teaching include:

• Preventing pedagogical solitude by making teaching more visible and encouraging ongoing critical reflection and development among faculty about the quality of their teaching (Gosling, 2013).
• Fostering a community around the scholarship of teaching and learning through the diffusion of evidence-based practices (Lane et al., 2020).
• Demonstrating to students departmental commitment to effective teaching practices (Sullivan, et al., 2012).
• Providing qualitative evidence to supplement student evaluations which generally focus on their levels of satisfaction rather than any deep perspectives on pedagogy (O’Keefe et al., 2009).

Observations can be formative, offering information focused on helping instructors improve their teaching, or summative, focusing primarily on evaluation for personnel decisions or the like. Some observations may combine both types. Regardless of the type, observations are most valuable when they allow the instructor to see their teaching more clearly both in terms of what is working well and what could be improved.

Peer evaluations should be based both on class observations and review of course materials, such as syllabi, readings, and assessments, as determined by the department or program. The most effective observations follow a clear process and use a form or template developed or adopted by a department or program.

Observation Templates

Best Practices for Peer Observations

Key Components

1. Selection of a mutually convenient date; the class to be observed should include instruction (not primarily an exam, for example).
2. A pre-observation meeting (virtual or in person) to discuss the process and allow the observer an understanding of the context of the session to be observed, or, in the case of asynchronous online courses, the extent of the course to review (including which module[s]).
3. The actual observation. For asynchronous online courses, the observation may take a different form and include reviewing a particular Canvas module, for example. The reviewer should have access to the course for at least three weeks, to accommodate time for review and follow-up, as needed.
4. A written report, possibly amended after the post-observation feedback meeting.
5. A post-observation feedback meeting (virtual or in person) that entails review of the observation and an exchange of ideas between the observer and observed instructor about what went well and strategies for improvement (Siddiqui et al., 2007).

Adapted from Peer Observation of Teaching: Maximizing Benefits for Teaching and Learning, by the Oregon State University Center for Teaching and Learning, which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

For more information or help, please email the Office for Faculty Excellence or make an appointment with a consultant.

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