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Peer Review: Preparation for the Consultation

It is important to prepare for and conduct your consultation review with the instructor as soon as possible following your classroom observation, at least within a day or two after your observation. The instructor will want prompt feedback, and it is easier for both of you to recall specific classroom events closer to their occurrence. Experienced peer observers also have found that taking time to prepare effectively results in the best outcomes for the consultation.

Preparation for the consultation involves the following:

• Identifying one or two areas for discussion/feedback

• Preparing your feedback

• Planning options for follow-up

First, review your findings from your anecdotal record or the observation instrument to identify one or two areas to discuss during your consultation (especially review the specific area[s] agreed upon with the instructor during your pre-observation meeting). As a general rule, limit your discussion to one or two areas, those you identify to be of major importance after reviewing your data from the observation instrument. Look for specific examples of how the instructor did, or did not, employ the teaching technique under consideration and highlight these areas on the observation instrument. For example, if you plan to give feedback on questioning techniques, you may look for examples of effective questions the instructor used (those that were clear/understandable and at the appropriate level to encourage students’ thinking). If the instructor was inconsistent in effectively using these skills, highlight some examples of successful and less successful questions, and plan to use these as illustrations for comparison during your discussion with the instructor.

Preparing your feedback involves planning for and developing diplomatic and considerate ways to help point out areas for enhancing teaching skills and how to improve these areas, as well as providing feedback on effective instruction. Remember, too, that an underlying goal of the peer review process is to encourage the instructor to analyze the effectiveness of his or her teaching techniques since peer observation and subsequent feedback are infrequent. Therefore, the instructor should endeavor to analyze each classroom experience and learn from this self-evaluation process. This self-evaluation process could even be a topic for future peer review discussions.

As you make your preparations to address areas for improvement, also plan to provide suggestions on how to develop or enhance the instructor's skills. For example, an article on the teaching skill being discussed or a concrete illustration of this skill can provide ideas for developing improved techniques. The Center for Instructional Development & Distance Education can be a resource for these articles and information on teaching methods and strategies. Overviews are available for some of these methods/strategies on the CIDDE Web pages at http://www.cidde.pitt.edu (select Faculty Development Area link).

Plan for follow-up activities with the instructor–identify a few areas of teaching that may be the focus for subsequent observations, if you plan to continue the peer review process. If you feel that the instructor has mastered certain skills, based on this observation, review your findings from the observation instrument and collaboratively identify some additional areas for future peer review sessions.