Student evaluations of teaching (SET) are a popular measure of teaching effectiveness, which center students’ perspectives. However, research shows that SET scores have limitations, including potential gender bias, questionable validity, and little correlation with other measures of learning (Boring, 2017; Hornstein, 2017; Uttl, White, & Gonzalez, 2017). Accordingly, peer observations of teaching provide another measure of teaching effectiveness, including alignment between an instructor’s goals and student learning, which affords both the observer and their colleague to learn new teaching strategies and consider new ideas.
Peer observation can be either formative in nature, which means the primary focus is to provide developmental feedback to promote instructor growth, or evaluative, which means that the observation aims to evaluate the session with a clear deliverable, such as a summative letter from the observer. We encourage faculty to use peer observations as a tool to grow their craft.
Peer Observation Protocol:
I. Pre-observation & Observation Samples
1. Decide which type of peer evaluation is appropriate for you, you could:
- Ask a colleague in your department for a formative or evaluative observation
- Ask a colleague in another department for a formative or evaluative observation
- Ask Faculty Development for a formative observation
- For Lecturers and Teaching Professors, schedule a meeting with your chair to initiate the peer observation and mutually agree upon a qualified peer observer.
2. Reflect on the specific course to be observed: what are your objectives for the course and goals for student learning? In addition to your syllabus, which course materials would you like to share to demonstrate teaching effectiveness? Are there particular strengths or concerns that you’d like feedback on?
3. Schedule a pre-observation meeting with your observer to set the goals, context, and protocol for the observation. Share your syllabus, sample assignments, and other course documents that you think are useful in demonstrating teaching effectiveness. Specify if a formal letter is requested. Questions may include:
- What is the purpose of the observation? Will the observation be used towards promotion or evaluation, or is it intended only for formative feedback?
- What are your goals for this course? What are your goals and learning outcomes for this particular class session?
- Who takes this class? What requirements or electives does it fulfill?
- What has happened before this session? What will happen after it?
- Are there materials I can look at ahead of time that will help me get a sense of the course (e.g., syllabus, handouts, Camino page)? We encourage faculty to share their Camino page and other other key course materials to help contextualize the session.
- What areas would you like me to focus on during the observation? Do you have any particular areas of concern on which you would like feedback? Are you trying out any new methods or assignments for the first time in this session?
4. Check with your Chair to confirm if a specific peer observation protocol should be used to guide the observation. If not, together, decide on the protocol that will be used to focus and document evidence of student learning, such as see sample protocols here. A general framework to guide observation is to identify instructor strengths (what did the instructor do well?) and areas for improvements (what specific materials or teaching methods could be improved to advance learning goals?) with specific evidenced-based suggestions for change.
II. Post-observation Meeting
After the observation, schedule a meeting to share feedback within 2-weeks. Allow equitable time for each faculty member to share their reflections on the session, and time for questions and next steps. Questions/talking points to facilitate this conservation may include:
- Please share your general thoughts on the session.
- The next time you teach this session, would you do anything differently? Was anything unexpected?
- Please share what went particularly well. Identify specific strengths and examples of strong materials, course design, and/or teaching methods that advance student learning and meet the instructor’s course objectives. Include specific examples whenever possible.
- Please share 1-3 areas for improvement particular to the instructor’s course objectives and pre-meeting discussion. For each improvement, share specific, actionable suggestions for how to address the area and improve in the future.
- Discuss next steps, specifically if a letter has been decided upon, please review the letter together. NOTE: For bargaining unit members, a discussion of the observation and review of the letter is required.
Resources & Sample Observation Protocols:
- Peer Observation of Teaching from SCU Faculty Development (includes an overview of a suggested process and examples of observation protocols)
- Peer Review of Teaching from Vanderbilt Center for Teaching
- Peer Review Guide for Online Teaching from Penn State
- Teaching Observation Template from SCU Faculty Development
Page Author: Cara Chiaraluce, Teaching Professor, Sociology and Faculty Associate
Last Updated: January 7, 2025