What catches the eye in class observation? Observers’ perspectives in a multidisciplinary peer observation of teaching program

ABSTRACT

Peer Observation of Teaching has raised a lot of interest as a device for quality enhancement of teaching. While much research has focused on its models, implementation schemes and feedback to the observed, little attention has been paid to what the observer actually sees and can learn from the observation. A multidisciplinary peer observation of teaching program is described, and its data is used to identify the pedagogical aspects to which lecturers pay more attention to when observing classes. The discussion addresses the valuable learning opportunities for observers provided by this program, as well as its usefulness in disseminating, sharing and clarifying quality teaching practices. The need for further research concerning teacher-student relationships and students’ engagement is also suggested.

KEYWORDS:

• Multidisciplinary peer observation of teaching
• class observation
• observer
• teaching practices
• pedagogies

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the University of Porto Rectorate, for supporting the ‘Peer to Peer’® program.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Portuguese Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation under grant number 128176/2014 in Higher Education Development – Innovative Projects in the Educational Domain; and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and General-Directorate of Higher Education under grant number 79/ID/2014 in Sharing and Dissemination of Innovative Educational Experiences among Portuguese Higher Education system.