Would you like to suggest a peer review resource?
Other ALTC projects
Please note: all links open an external site
Some other interesting peer review of teaching projects projects also funded by the ALTC
Project EnRoLE: Encouraging role-based learning environments
Builds a community of university teachers using online role play and a repository of sharable/reusable role play learning designs with an associated peer review process, 2006-9.
Project Leader: Professor Sandra Wills, University of Wollongong
ALTC page for this project and website: http://enrole.uow.edu.au/
Peer review of teaching in australian higher education: Resources to support institutions in developing and embedding effective practices and policies
A national survey of peer review of teaching activities in Australian higher education and outline of the principles, benefits and conditions for effective peer review, 2007-8.
Project Leader: Dr Kerri-Lee Harris, University of Melbourne
ALTC page for this project and website: http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/research/teaching/peer_review.html
Peer review of teaching for promotion purposes
A project to develop and implement a pilot program of external Peer Review of Teaching at four Australian universities, 2006-9.
Project Leader: Professor Geoffrey Crisp, University of Adelaide
ALTC page for this project and website: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/clpd/peerreview/
Peer review of online learning and teaching
Investigating peer review methods and developing a tool for peer review of online materials and teaching, 2007-9.
Project Leader: Dr Denise Wood, University of South Australia
ALTC page for this project and website: http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/peerreview/default.asp
This project hosted the Forum of Peer Review project teams in 2009? and the video presentations from each of the ALTC peer review projects are an interesting overview of these.
Other PR initiatives
Please note: all links open an external site
There are many university websites that have useful starting points for peer review, including suggested processes for peer review, forms and checklists for peer observation or review in face to face contexts.
Peer observation or reviews of face to face teaching
Some Australian Universities that provide useful information on their websites about peer review in face to face contexts:
Flinders University peer evaluation of teaching
Flinders University's website has some useful information about a collegial approach to formative and summative peer evaluation, or peer review of teaching, with documents in the Resources links and References section:
- Teaching review guide
- Suggested procedure for conducting a peer review
University of Wollongong peer review of teaching at UOW
University of Wollongong's website covers formal and informal peer review of teaching offered as development opportunities and alternative forms of evaluation for their academics. The focus is on observation and useful documents include:
Peer Reviews of Online or Blended Teaching
The first two websites are key international locations where long term research and use of peer review of teaching has taken place. Both of these offer useful ideas for peer review in online or blended learning environments.
Final Project Report (pdf 1.1MB)
Online course portfolios:
University of Nebraska Peer Review of Teaching Project (PRTP)
This University of Nebraska – Lincoln’s site is the culmination of a large, long term project: the Peer Review of Teaching Project initiated by the American Association for Higher Education which started in 1994. Work has continued since this date and this site provides faculty (academics) with a structured and practical model of Peer Review that combines enquiry into the intellectual work of a course, careful investigation of student understanding and performance, and faculty reflection on teaching effectiveness. The goal is:
“helping faculty document the intellectual effort that they put into their teaching.”
Their approach combines faculty reflection with the creation of course portfolios that document the scholarship of teaching in a subject (course) which are made available online. Submissions to the online repository are encouraged from around the world:
“This website is designed to serve as an international repository for course portfolios written by faculty who teach at postsecondary institutions. You are welcome to archive your course portfolio on this site so that your work can be shared, used, and reviewed by other faculty. You are also encouraged to write a review for any of the course portfolios in the repository.”
Daniel Bernstein was a leading member of this project which also published a book:
Bernstein, Burnett, Goodburn, and Savory in 2006, Making Teaching and Learning Visible: Course Portfolios and the Peer Review of Teaching
Online peer observation:
Staffordshire University and Negotiated Online Peer Observation (NOPO): A Peer Assessment Scheme for Practitioners of Technology Supported Learning
In the context of long term mandatory the Peer Observation of Teaching Staffordshire are working with Hull University to address the specific challenges of online learning, along with constraints and opportunities. They aim to bring colleagues together who are delivering course materials online and share good practice across the university in all areas of technology supported learning.
Australian Universities with material about online peer review:
RMIT University School of Health Sciences
Staff who participated in the Embedding Peer Review project have gone on to develop their own school based approach incorporating some aspects of this project and using the online Peer review tool developed in a project led by the University of South Australia. This website provides information on the ongoing development of this voluntary, collegial process by staff in the School of Health Sciences.
Edith Cowan University guidelines for peer review of learning and teaching
Edith Cowan University's website focuses on face to face contexts with some useful description, guidelines and links to other sites for face to face reviews. It also has an ECU framework for assessing the quality of on-line learning materials and checklist which sets out possible criteria for reviewing materials.