If teaching is a part of your professional future, you will probably want to document your development as a teacher in as many ways as possible. As a complement to student ratings and your own reflections, peer review can provide the viewpoint of a more experienced instructor on your teaching.

You can ask the instructor or a more experienced TA to observe your class, or to review any course materials you have authored (section syllabus, handouts, assignments, or exams). Your peer reviewer can discuss their observations with you afterwards and/or write up a brief memo that you can use to strengthen your teaching file or portfolio when you are applying for jobs. See CIDR's online collection of classroom observation resources to help you think through and make plans for a peer review of your teaching.

In addition, peer review is often a component of faculty professional development, and sometimes contributes to promotion and tenure decisions. To read more about how peer review is used in these cases, see CIDR's page on peer review for faculty.

If you would like to talk to a CIDR consultant about initiating, learning from, or documenting your peer review of teaching, call 206-543-6588, or contact us by email to arrange an appointment.