Peer Review of Teaching

At the University of Northern British Columbia, we are dedicated to fostering teaching excellence and supporting our teaching community. In line with this commitment, the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT) offers a peer review of teaching processes to help instructors enhance their teaching practices.

When it comes to reviewing teaching, there are two main goals:  
  • Encouraging personal growth and improvement in teaching (formative review)  
  • Providing informed and collegial assessments of teaching quality for important decisions like tenure, continuing positions, and promotions (summative review).  
Peer review of teaching is an integral part of our comprehensive approach to teaching evaluation. It involves colleagues assessing each other's teaching based on evidence and insights. 

Research demonstrates that when thoughtfully designed and implemented, a peer review teaching system may “increase the value of teaching”- in the academic unit and promote the development of instructors’ teaching practice (Chism, 2012).

lecture hall

The scholarly peer review of teaching provided here may offers a powerful means for promoting teaching development, enhancing the quality of teaching, and supporting the development of student learning. It can also help create an environment where teaching and instructors thrive in the service of student learning. 

     Foundational principles for peer review of teaching include:  
    • Define effective teaching within your context (i.e., discipline and/or department)  
    • Determine the purpose: formative or summative  
    • Ensure validity and reliability via a confluence of evidence gathered using a range of sources, multiple methods, and sustained period. 
    For a list of UNBC peer reviewers, please click here (link coming soon).  
    To review peer review templates and other resources, please click here (link coming soon).  
    *Acknowledgement:  We are grateful for the work of UBC’s teaching and learning community for providing peer review support material through a creative commons license which can be reviewed at this link. 

    Reviewers  

    The peer reviewers listed on this page are available to conduct confidential peer reviews of your teaching. We thank them for their service and contributions!  
    All peer reviewers below have completed a workshop: "Developing Your Skills as a Peer Reviewer”.     
    How to request a peer review:  
    • Read over the reviewer biographies and select 1-2 reviewers you feel might be a good match for you.  
    • Email the reviewer(s) with a brief description of your request and query about their availability.  
    • Requests may indicate type of peer review (formative or summative); number and type of courses to be reviewed, and a key focus for feedback (e.g., assignments, teaching materials, online course structure, etc.).  
    • Indicate the potential time range of when you would prefer the peer review.  
    • Ask questions you might have of the process.  
    • Provide your contact information.