3 How Can I Use a Peer Observation of Teaching?

Instructors and observers participating in a formative peer observation of teaching might wish to use the process purely as a developmental opportunity that occurs privately with a colleague, remaining disconnected from formal evaluations, processes, or procedures. It is perfectly appropriate to use a formative peer observation of teaching as an informal opportunity to solicit feedback for the sole purpose of growing one’s teaching practice, or in preparation for summative evaluations or assessments of one’s teaching.

However, if an instructor or observer chooses, and when permitted, formative activities and feedback obtained during a peer observation of teaching may feed into or be included as evidence of teacher development and/or service in summative evaluations of teaching, such as within an annual Record of Activities (RoA) for Career, Progress and Merit (CPM), a Departmental Evaluation Teaching Report (DTER), and/or teaching portfolios composed for (re)appointment, renewal, tenure and/or promotion purposes at McMaster.