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There are limited viewpoints in the literature about peer observation of teaching in higher education and how it can be an effective tool to improve the quality of instruction in the classroom (Bell, 2001; Bell, 2005; Bell & Mladenovic, 2008; Brancato, 2003; Chism, 2007; Huston & Weaver, 2008; Shortland, 2004; Shortland, 2010; Smith, Jones, Gilbert, & Wieman, 2013). This article examines literature associated with peer observation of teaching in higher education and offers practical support and guidance from first-person accounts in a larger-sized STEM academic unit (N = 45 teaching faculty) at a public land-grant high intensive research institution enrolling over 36,000 students. Faculty teaching practices play a critical role in student learning and there is always room for continuous improvement and development.
WHAT HIGHER EDUCATION FACULTY know about teaching is generally from informal approaches such as experience as students, experience with students, trial and error, teaching assistantships, and interactions with fellow instructors (Dunkin, 1995; McKeachie, 1997). Not too surprising, discussions between colleagues center on content rather than knowledge about pedagogy and structural procedures; generally, good teaching is only connected to good content. The Gow & Kember (1993) survey study of higher education teachers identified knowledge transmission as a primary orientation to teaching (Boice, 1991; Gow & Kember, 1993; Martin & Double, 1998). Gibbs (1995) found that ".. .lecturers are usually happier to accept that there are problems with courses rather than problems with themselves and are happier to work at the level of changing strategy and method rather than changing themselves" (p. 15). Focusing on changing course content versus changing and/ or improving one's own pedagogy is a mindset prevalent in higher education, and as a result, creates widespread resistance and conflict towards peer observation of teaching program initiatives.
Peer observation of teaching in higher education is a topic faculty and departments generally avoid but has numerous documented benefits (Chism, 2007; Sachs & Parsell, 2014). Academics are familiar with the idea of peer review within the context of research and quality assurance, but traditionally, teaching has not been peer reviewed to the same extent (Gosling, 2005). As Yiend, Weller, & Kinchin (2014) argued, "Despite its widespread use.. .there are still reservations about the extent to which participation in formative teaching observation can contribute...