Background

CRESST research scientist Glory Tobiason recently published an article “Faculty Supporting Faculty… Supporting Students: Peer Observation and Responsive Teaching Innovations.” This article shows how an innovative approach to faculty professional development supports real changes in classroom practice. The approach is based on reflection and is centered around student learning rather than faculty teaching. 

Glory and her team developed the Peer-Assisted Reflections On Student Learning, or PAROSL, to further their research. PAROSL is a program of peer observation launched at the University of California Los Angeles in 2019, developed to support face-to-face instruction as well as synchronous online instruction. Pairs of faculty members observe each other’s classes, reflect on how student learning is unfolding, and collaboratively devise teaching innovations that respond to the actual needs of students. 

This model can be effective when it provides adequate time for reflection; is framed around student learning, not teaching; is explicitly non evaluative; and provides coordinating guidance for faculty pairs. When these strategies are used, student learning is often enhanced, particularly for students who are traditionally underrepresented, first-generation college-going, or from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Read the full article here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00091383.2021.1987791