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Peer Observation

Peer observation can provide insights into good practice in learning and teaching for the practitioner being observed and the observer. This set of materials is designed to help provide an introduction into the benefits of peer observation and also to help potential peer observers think about how they can effectively feedback to colleagues on their teaching (formally or informally). The materials can be used independently from the tutor guide or as a set of materials within an academic development session.

Formal Assessment of Teaching

Peer Observation: Improving Academic Practice

Informal Peer Observation

Session Plan

Peer Observation Whole Package Dr. Anne Wheeler (2011-07-05)

Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence. Ken Robinson gave a talk at the TED* conference in 2006 that you may find interesting and entertaining. The You Tube link is provided below.

Robinson has no visual aids to support his presentation. Does this work for you? Would this presentation have been improved by the use of visual aids? What do you feel are the strengths and weaknesses of the presentation?

* TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds and now most of the talks are available from their website at www.ted.com. There is a wide variety of talks on a range of subjects and many are entertaining and thought provoking - as well as providing ideas on styles of presentation delivery.

The lecture is on climate change and has been chosen because the topic is accessible to most disciplines and it is only 20 minutes in length. However, it is important to stress in the introduction to your session participants that this is not a typical lecture situation and he is not speaking to students. Al Gore does some things very well during his session and some not so well. Overall this session provides some useful things to consider in terms of presentation, target audiences, content, and environment.

You may choose to view this presentation again at your leisure and think about aspects that you liked or disliked. Which aspects of the presentation worked well and which less well? How was the use of slides handled in this presentation? Were some slides better than others? How would you have approached delivering a similar topic?
You may like to add your reflection on the presentation to your e-portfolio.