Peer Review

As a department we aim to organise observation of all of the teaching being delivered from primary care educators. We aim for this to happen at least once every 2 years. 

The main focus of this process is as ongoing development for the tutor. Essentially, it is an opportunity for an informal debrief at the end of a teaching session.  The debrief can be free form depending on the focus/needs of the tutor or it can structured using some of the prompts of the linked Google form below. There is also an action plan generation section, which either may or may not be used depending on if it would be of benefit to the tutor. Either way the final step would be to complete the linked Google form.

All tutors are welcome to take part as a reviewer. A lot of the time, the debrief discussion generates some useful ideas for both parties to experiment with and trial in either of their teaching practices.  

Guidance for Peer Reviewers

The main aim is to ensure a constructive, respectful and beneficial feedback process that supports the professional development of our tutors.

Observing a teaching session

Tutors observing a session must do so with respect for the tutor conducting the teaching session as well as the learners involved. 

The session being reviewed is still the tutor's session. The peer reviewer should not intervene in the session unless explicitly invited by the tutor. The role of the reviewer is to observe and then feedback after the session so as not to disrupt the flow of the session.

Ideally the tutor should give you some areas to focus the observation on prior to the session. This is asked as part of the organisation emails linking the reviewer and tutor. If you as the reviewer do not get something back, please ask or verify with the tutor if there is a particular focus prior to the session starting. A lot of the time the request from the tutor is for general feedback and many seek affirmation that what they are doing is on track - this is absolutely fine!

Debrief and feedback

At the end of the session after the students have gone, the tutor and reviewer would aim to have a 20 minute debrief. This is verbal and aimed at being an open two-way discussion. 

Feedback should be objective and based on the behaviours observed during the session. The initial part of the debrief should aim to highlight strengths and areas of effective teaching that can be built upon.

Any suggestions for improvement should be based on specific, observed behaviours and delivered in a manner that is supportive and aimed at professional growth. Often this takes the form of a brainstorming discussion on things the tutor could experiment and trial in future sessions.

The main feedback method is the debrief discussion however it is essential for you to complete the following Google Form - https://forms.gle/PsgJHCqT9qit2BcD6 

Please use the tutor's email address on the form so that they get a copy automatically. Once this form is submitted it comes straight into the Peer Review database and that triggers the payment process for the review

To request to get involved in performing peer reviews - please use the form below or alternatively if you are having issues with it working in your browser - here is an external link

The University's systems have changed and you are now required to be setup as a Vendor prior to any peer review work being completed. A lot of peer reviewers and tutors will be familiar with this however exclusively Early Years tutors may not be as familiar with the process. Going forward, we should mention and verify this at the organisational email/booking stage however if any concerns then please ask!

Any queries or comments then please do get in touch - t.sproson@sheffield.ac.uk