Abstract
Introducing peer review of teaching in any Faculty can be a complex and challenging endeavour at the best of times (Harris et al., Peer review of teaching in Australian higher education: A handbook to support institutions in developing and embedding effective policies and practices, 2008a), but challenges can multiply in online and distance teaching environments. Although new Australian research is providing much needed resources and framework, the implementation and exploration of online peer observation is still in its infancy (Harris et al., Peer review of teaching in Australian higher education: A handbook to support institutions in developing and embedding effective policies and practices, 2008 and Harris et al., Peer review of teaching in Australian higher education: Resources to support institutions in developing and embedding effective policies and practices (Final Project Report), 2008; Wood et al., Peer review of online learning and teaching, 2009; Bennett and Barp, Teaching in Higher Education, 2008, p. 559–570). One Australian Higher Education Provider is exploring initiatives in both online and distance peer review with positive outcomes. Within a selection of Think Education Group’s online offerings, two formative, developmental peer review programs have been introduced to support educators as they share ideas about their respective teaching practices. This paper reports on the different processes, outcomes and lessons learnt from these case studies.
Keywords
- Peer Observation
- Australian Higher Education
- Online Lectures
- Australian Learning And Teaching Council (ALTC)
- Managerial Review Process
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Anderson, T., & Dron, J. (2011). Three generations of distance education pedagogy. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(3), 80–97.
Barnard, A., Croft, W., Irons, R., Cuffe, N., Bandara, W., & Rowntree, P. (2011). Peer partnership to enhance scholarship of teaching: A case study. Higher Education Research & Development, 30(4), 435–448.
Bell, A., Mladenovic, R., & Segara, R. (2010). Supporting the reflective practice of tutors: What do tutors reflect on? Teaching in Higher Education, 15(1), 57–70.
Bennett, S., & Barp, D. (2008). Peer observation–a case for doing it online. Teaching in Higher Education, 13(5), 559–570.
Bennett, S., & Santy, J. (2009). A window on our teaching practice: Enhancing individual online teaching quality though online peer observation and support. A UK case study. Nurse Education in Practice, 9(6), 403–406.
Boud, D., & Prosser, M. (2002). Appraising new technologies for learning: A framework for development. Educational Media International, 39(3), 237–245.
Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Princeton: Carnegie Endowment for the Advancement of Teaching. https://depts.washington.edu/gs630/Spring/Boyer.pdf. Accessed: 24 Jan 2012.
Crisp, G., Sadler, R., Krause, K. -L., Buckridge, M. M., Wills, S., Brown, C., McLean, J., Dalton, H., Lievre, K. L., & Brougham, B. (2009), Peer review of teaching for promotion purposes: A project to develop and implement a pilot program of external peer review of teaching at four Australian universities, Report, Australian Learning and Teaching Council; Centre for Learning and Professional Development, The University of Adelaide; Griffith Institute for Higher Education, Griffith University; Centre for Educational Development and Interactive Resources, University of Wollongong; Learning and Teaching @ UNSW, The University of New South Wales, Adelaide, Australia. http://www.adelaide.edu.au/clpd/peerreview/.
Ellis, R.A., & Goodyear, P. (2010). Students’ experiences of e-learning in higher education: The ecology of sustainable innovation. Routledge: Taylor & Francis.
Hall, R., & Conboy, H. (2009). Scoping the connections between emergent technologies and pedagogies for learner empowerment. In T. Mayes, D. Morrison, H. Mellar, P. Bullen, & M. Oliver (Eds.), Transforming higher education through technology-enhanced learning, Chapter 16, December (S. 220–234). York: The Higher Education Academy.
Harris, K. -L., Farrell, K., Bell, M., Devlin, M., & James, R. (Eds.). (2008a). Peer review of teaching in Australian higher education: A handbook to support institutions in developing and embedding effective policies and practices. Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne & Centre for Educational Development and Interactive Resources, University of Wollongong, Melbourne, Australia.
Harris, K. -L., Farrell, K., Bell, M., Devlin, M., & James, R. (2008b). Peer review of teaching in Australian higher education: Resources to support institutions in developing and embedding effective policies and practices (Final Project Report). Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne, Centre for Educational Development and Interactive Resources, University of Wollongong, Melbourne.
Hendry, G. D., & Oliver, G. R. (2012) Seeing is believing: The benefits of peer observation. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 9(1). http://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol9/iss1/7.
Holmberg, B. (1989). Theory and practice of distance education. Routledge: London.
McKenzie, J., & Parker, N. (2011). Peer review in online and blended learning environments—final report. http://www.iml.uts.edu.au/peer-review. Accessed 3 Sept 2013.
McKenzie, J., Pelliccione, L., & Parker, N. (2008). Developing peer review of teaching in blended learning environments: Frameworks and challenges, In Hello! Where are you in the landscape of educational technology? Proceedings Ascilite Melbourne, 2008. http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/melbourne08/procs/mckenzie-j.pdf.
Mansvelt, J., Suddaby, G., O’Hara, D., & Gilbert, A. (2009). Professional development: assuring quality in e-Learning policy and practice. E-Learning Quality and Practice, 17(3), 233–249.
National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes. (2007). http://www.deewr.gov.au/HigherEducation/Programs/StudentSupport/NationalProtocolsforHEApprovalProcesses. Accessed: 14 Dec 2011.
Office of Learning and Teaching. (2012). Fellowship announcement. http://www.olt.gov.au/olt-national-teaching-fellow-mitch-parsell. Accessed 13 Aug 2013.
Redmond, P. (2011). From face-to-face teaching to online teaching: Pedagogical transitions. In G. Williams, P. Statham, N. Brown & B. Cleland (Eds.), Changing Demands, Changing Directions. Proceedings ascilite Hobart 2011 (pp. 1050–1060). http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/hobart11/procs/Redmond-full.pdf.
Ruiz, J. G., Candler, C., & Teasdale, T. A. (2007). Peer reviewing e-learning: Opportunities, challenges, and solutions. Academic Medicine, 82(5), 503–507.
Shortland, S. (2010). Feedback within peer observation: Continuing professional development and unexpected consequences. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 47(3), 295–304.
Swinglehurst, D., Russell, J., & Greenhalgh, T. (2006). Peer observation of teaching in the online environment: an action research approach: End of project Report, December 2006. Centre for Distance Education, Teaching and Research Awards, University College London, London, UK.
Taylor, P. G., & Richardson, A. S. (2001). Validating scholarship in university teaching: Constructing a national scheme for external peer review of ICT- based teaching and learning resources. Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, Australia.
Wood, D., & Friedel, M. (2009). Peer review of online learning and teaching: Harnessing collective intelligence to address emerging challenges. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 25(1), 60–79.
Wood, D., & George, R. (2003). Quality standards in online teaching and learning: A tool for authors and developers. Interact, Integrate, Impact, Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) Conference, In G. Crisp, D. Thiele, I. Scholten, S. Barker, & J. Baron (Eds.), Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education, Adelaide, Australia, 552–561.
Wood, D., Scutter, S., & Wache, D. (2009). Peer review of online learning and teaching, Final report. Australian Learning and Teaching Council Project. http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/peerreview/default.asp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Applebee, A. (2014). Peer Review for Distance Educators: Two Case Studies. In: Sachs, J., Parsell, M. (eds) Peer Review of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Professional Learning and Development in Schools and Higher Education, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7639-5_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7639-5_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-7638-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-7639-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)