This paper begins by reviewing some of the different models of third-party observation of university teaching that can be found in the literature. Having analysed these, it argues that*/ if 'peer' is taken to indicate equality of status*/ only one is genuinely a model of peer-observation. It proposes an alternative categorisation of third-party observations of teaching dependant on who controls the information generated by the process. A preferred six-dimensional model based on control by the person being observed of the data-flow, and other procedural aspects, is presented and explored. Evaluative comments, by university teachers who have undertaken the process, are presented to illustrate the benefits of adopting this model.

This article discusses the similarities between theoretical conceptions of reflective practice and action research. In both, reflection on experience is seen as potentially transformative of the individuals and situations involved. Reflective practice can be seen as the specific application of experiential learning to activities carried out as part of one's profession or job. This experiential learning, with its emphasis on the improvement of practice through reflection on experience, involves the learner-practitioner in going through a sequence of actions indistinguishable from (at least some of) those of the action research spiral. Does this mean that reflective practice is, effectively, the same as action research? A negative answer is suggested by a consideration of the concept of strategic action. Strategic action is a deliberate and planned attempt to solve a particular problem or set of problems using a coherent, systematic and rigorous methodology. Action research, by definition, always involves such strategic action. By contrast, strategic action is not integral to reflective practice. Reflective practice can lead to strategic action, but this is not inevitable. Reflective practice can be a useful precursor to action research. It is not identical to it.

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