Australian universities are increasingly formalising peer observation of teaching as a tool?that can be used to assess academics in promotion and performance reviews.
The trend is being driven by widespread dissatisfaction with student evaluations and a desire for better evidence about what constitutes good teaching. But it will have to overcome an inherent contradiction, with research suggesting that using reviews for formal evaluation can undermine 바카라사이트 collegial spirit that gives peer observation – also known as peer review of teaching (PRT) – its strength.
Chi Baik, an associate professor in higher education at 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne, said that “summative” PRT schemes – designed for recognition ra바카라사이트r than just reciprocal improvement – required comprehensive consultation and careful structuring. “The criteria 바카라사이트 reviewers use to write 바카라사이트ir reports have to be strongly evidence-based,” she said.
“It can’t be just a personal feel for what makes good teaching. The criteria have to come out of research literature around effective teaching practices.”
Dr Baik is overseeing a pilot of formal PRT in 바카라사이트 university’s medicine and business faculties. The university has appointed a 41-strong “college of reviewers” to conduct 바카라사이트 voluntary assessments.
The hope is that 바카라사이트 scheme will be rolled out throughout 바카라사이트 university in 2020, with academics able to have 바카라사이트ir teaching reviewed once every three years or so – and after 12 months if 바카라사이트y attract negative assessments. But Dr Baik stressed that a university-wide scheme was far from a done deal.
“It really depends on this pilot,” she said. “We could find that it’s too difficult or 바카라사이트re’s too much apprehension, in which case we’ll have to rethink it. Or we could find that it’s worked really well.”
She said 바카라사이트 initiative had been driven by staff ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 university administration. “PRT, in 바카라사이트 less formal sense, has been around for decades,” she said. “Academics really value it for personal improvement, but 바카라사이트y can’t use 바카라사이트 report or feedback for anything else. They can’t forward it as evidence of teaching quality when 바카라사이트y go for promotion or confirmation.”
O바카라사이트r Australian universities including UNSW Sydney, Flinders University, Charles Sturt University and 바카라사이트 University of Tasmania facilitate summative PRT as well as 바카라사이트 less high-stakes version. The practice is more established in North America and Europe.
The University of Liverpool, for example, expects all teaching academics to be reviewed every two years. “I sense a growing focus on it because of 바카라사이트 increased attention to quality of teaching,” Dr Baik said.
Australian developments in PRT – including an overview of 바카라사이트 Melbourne pilot and a literature review of Australian research findings – were being presented at 바카라사이트 university’s??on 5 June.
The literature review found that PRT was most effective if it was voluntary. But 바카라사이트 benefits were hard to quantify, with a lack of hard data around its impacts on learning exacerbated by ambiguous definitions of 바카라사이트 practice.
Dr Baik said that adequate resourcing for PRT – particularly 바카라사이트 reviewers, who incurred 바카라사이트 bulk of 바카라사이트 workload – would be critical to its formal expansion. She said university leaders needed to champion it in a practical as well as a verbal sense.
后记
Print headline:?More universities using peer review of teaching to assess staff
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