Peer Observation with Purpose: Building High-Trust Peer Observation Through Critical Teaching Behaviors
This very exciting instance of the TeLEd Monthly Event Series will feature Claudia Cornejo Happel and Lauren Barbeau, authors of Critical Teaching Behaviors: Defining, Documenting, and Discussing Good Teaching (2023, Routledge). Claudia is the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (USA), and Lauren is the Assistant Director of Learning and Technology Initiatives in the Center for Teaching and Learning at Georgia Tech (USA). Their work has helped us more clearly define what constitutes good teaching, and this talk, which also aligns with Lauren’s forthcoming book, Peer Observation Made Practical for Higher Education, will address how we can collaboratively foster innovative and effective teaching.
Peer observations can enhance teaching practices and foster meaningful dialogue among educators. However, poorly executed observations can erode trust and disrupt institutional teaching cultures. Join us for a session that highlights research-based approaches and tools to building high-trust peer observation programs. Participants will explore how effective peer observation rests on a strong foundation—a shared, research-based understanding of good teaching—supported by the Critical Teaching Behaviors (CTB) framework. The CTB framework provides a common language for defining good teaching. A suite of aligned peer observation tools supports clarity, consistency, and conversation throughout the observation process. Through research insights, case studies, and interactive discussion, we’ll explore effective strategies for designing and conducting peer observations in a way that promotes continuous teaching improvement.