Peer Review: The Importance of Education for Best Practice

The effectiveness of teaching is expected by an increasingly skeptical public that wants those in higher education to contain costs, increase access, and teach in ways that make sure students learn. An integral and under-used component of documenting teaching effectiveness is peer review. A framework for best practice to ensure a systematic and comprehensive approach to any peer review has been developed and a foundational aspect of this framework is education about the process and its implementation. In the current pilot study, administrators and non-administrators involved in university teaching were surveyed about their knowledge of, and experiences with, peer review. A striking finding was the notable degree of uncertainty about many components of the process on the part of non-administrators. Results verify the critical importance of education prior to and following any peer review, particularly for instructors in non-administrative positions.