Appendix A: Statement of Purpose for Peer Review of Teaching

http://www.arts.ubc.ca/files/2012/09/Faculty-of-Arts-Peer-Review-of-Teaching-Guide-May-20131.pdf

Peer review of teaching is a well-established practice at UBC whose key purposes and benefits, as identified by the 2009 PRT Report, include:

• Contribution to reflection on teaching and professional development of faculty members.
• Increased awareness of the value of teaching within the university.
• Positive impact on the quality of teaching and student learning.
• Enhanced evidence beyond student evaluations of teaching to support assessment of teaching for decision making purposes (such as reappointment, tenure and promotion; teaching award nominations; etc.).

Peer review of teaching practices serve two main functions:

• summative PRT provides evaluative and comparative information for faculty members about the effectiveness of their teaching practice for decision-making purposes, including re-appointment, promotion and tenure as stipulated in the Guide to Reappointment, Tenure and Promotion Procedures at UBC 2012/13 [hereafter 'UBC Guide'], and the UBC Collective Agreement.
• formative PRT has as its focus the professional development of teaching through periodic collegial mentoring of instructors by colleagues.

This document is designed as a resource identifying suggested best practices to assist units in conducting fair and rigorous peer reviews by outlining exemplary elements and practices of PRT that units may adopt and adapt for their PRT policies and procedures. The following sections 3-7 focus on the elements of summative peer review, and section 8 provides some suggestions for formative PRT.