Follow-up Assessment of a Faculty Peer Observation and Evaluation Program

Abstract

Objective. To assess a previously described peer observation and evaluation program 2 years after implementation.Methods. An pre-implementation survey assessed faculty needs and attitudes related to peer evaluation. Two years after implementation, the survey was repeated and additional questions asked regarding adherence to peer observation and evaluation policies and procedures, feedback received, and impact on teaching. Results. Faculty attitudes towards peer evaluation stayed the same or improved post-implementation. Adherence to the initial 3 steps of the process was high (100%, 100%, and 94%, respectively); however, step 4, which required a final discussion after student assessments were finished, was completed by only 47% of the respondents. All faculty members reported receiving a balance of positive and constructive feedback; 78% agreed that peer observation and evaluation gave them concrete suggestions for improving their teaching; and 89% felt that the benefits of peer observation and evaluation outweighed the effort of participating. Conclusions. Faculty members adhered to the policies and procedures of peer observation and evaluation and found peer feedback was beneficial.Keywords: peer assessment, peer evaluation, assessment INTRODUCTIONTeaching effectiveness is assessed in many ways in colleges and schools of pharmacy. Use of student evaluations of teaching is common, but limitations surrounding the breadth and depth of student evaluations and their ability to capture and comment on the total teaching experience exist. 1-4 Faculty peer evaluations offer another method to obtain constructive feedback about the quality of teaching and can be used in conjunction with student evaluations for the purposes of improving teaching methods, as well as for merit, promotion, and tenure decisions. 4 The 2007 Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education Accreditation Standards and Guidelines state that faculty members who teach should be evaluated annually and that assessment procedures should include self-assessment and ". . .appropriate input from peers, supervisors, and students. The use of self-assessment and improvement tools, such as portfolios, by faculty and staff members is encouraged." 5 The success of any peer observation and evaluation program relies heavily on having a clear and evidence-based program, as well as support and leadership from administration, but the heart of any peer observation and evaluation program's success lies with faculty engagement in and reflection on the process. 6 Improving and assessing the teaching-learning process is an essential mission of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and the School of Pharmacy at Northeastern University. A formal peer observation and evaluation program for classroom teaching was developed and implemented by this department in January 2008, and the development of its process and the peer observation and evaluation tool (POET) have been previously published. 7 Two years after implementing the peer observation and evaluation process, the program wa...

A Reflective Teaching Challenge to Motivate Educational Innovation

“…This culture has evolved over the past decade, with adoption of mandatory, formative, peer-faculty teaching assessments, 10 and faculty opinion leaders adopting various teaching strategies and demonstrating what is possible while acknowledging the shortfalls. [11][12][13][14] The finding that 26% of respondents tried more than 1 strategy also provided evidence of this continuous teaching quality improvement culture and the overall perceived value of the challenge.…”

A Faculty Toolkit for Formative Assessment in Pharmacy Education

“…41 Feedback from peers, however, serves as a powerful tool for formative assessment to enhance the quality of teaching. 42 Current research suggests that using multiple sources of feedback is more effective in evaluating teaching and professionalism. 43,44 Berk refers to this process as the "360 o multisource feedback model to evaluate teaching and professionalism."…”

Impact and Attitudes about Peer Review of Teaching in a Canadian Pharmacy School

“…When a peer observation and evaluation program was established in one pharmacy school, over half of survey respondents agreed that results should be included as part yearly performance evaluations. 13 However, another pharmacy school reported that faculty members preferred that it be a formative process, as this A J P E A c c e p t e d D r a f t was deemed to be non-threatening. 22 Peer review as a summative assessment is desirable as it provides an alternative to student evaluations, which may be influenced by factors such as grade expectations.…”

“…12 Other pharmacy schools have reported higher percentages in the number of instructors who planned to make changes to their teaching practices after peer review compared to what we found in our study; contributing factors may have included a larger number of reviews conducted (resulting in more opportunity for feedback), training for observers, postobservation meetings, and a balance of positive and constructive feedback. 13 Nonetheless, positive confirmatory feedback may build confidence in instructors, and peer review of teaching provides a good opportunity for that since teaching is usually done in a solitary fashion. 12,19 Indeed we found that over half of our instructors indicated that the peer review process increased their confidence in their teaching strategies.…”

“…9 Many models have emerged for peer review of teaching. 2,3,5,6,7,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20 The following variations are all described in the literature: classroom observation alone (may be a single visit or multiple visits), or a more comprehensive review of materials including student work, assessment, and syllabi; feedback tools may include simple checklists, rating scales, written feedback, and/or verbal feedback; reviewers may or may not receive specialized training; reviewers may consist of a small group of individuals chosen for the task or pairs that agree or are selected to conduct reciprocal reviews; and pre-and/or post-observation meetings may be included. Given this variation, it is not clear that benefits attributed to peer review are generalizable in all contexts.…”