A Critical Reflection and Feedback on Peer Teaching in the Era of Online Teaching

Introduction

“PEER REVIEW” not a new word as an academician. Generally, we encounter this word during the submission of research papers to peer-reviewed journals. An ample amount of literature is available on the peer review of academic papers (Humphreys 2002 and name Madden 2000). However, considerably few have been published about peer review of teaching focusing on peer observation. Now “PEER REVIEW” is not for reviewing our research paper; instead, review our colleagues.

Reviewing colleagues and being reviewed by our peers made us think, not once, preferably twice. Is this the right approach, now we have to evaluate our colleagues irrespective of their expertise? Our peer is an expert in their field and has good teaching experience, then evaluating their teaching. Many questions were around our minds. Then our mentors acquaint us with the concept, made us read literature to know more about the process. They have prepared as well as made us understand the process through microteaching. It was a small demo to understand the review process and critically reflecting our teaching. We were demonstrating the potential to have an open conversation about our teaching style or philosophies of learning.

Regardless of the method, all forms of observation involve recording instances of social interaction within a clearly defined context. Therefore, the process of observing is the first step in more comprehensive scientific education because it is fundamental to any experimental methodology. Thus, it should serve as the starting point for any sound pedagogical intervention. Peer observation is an integral part of this research design because it provides an opportunity for two educators to engage in a mutually beneficial conversation by sharing their experiences and gaining new insights from one another. This practise is therefore advantageous for fostering teacher professional development, as it permits reflection and feedback.

Peer review in higher education can receive support from contextual understanding, or even professional teacher development can be described by cognitive influence on practice-supported choices, as explained by psychology (Thomas et al 2014). Peer observation in higher education also benefits from contextual understanding. This practise demonstrates the effectiveness of behavioural contagion due to people's propensity to imitate behaviours that are deemed positive. A number of recent studies on this subject have confirmed that peer observation is a reliable research technique that can be successfully implemented across a variety of contexts and pedagogical contexts, including but not limited to, different fields of study and geographical regions. Some factors that have been reported to contribute to a positive observational experience include the length of the sessions, the ability to discuss what was observed in confidence, and the provision of specific, actionable feedback. A key point to remember is that the observer should be actively working on their own personal growth as part of this professional exercise.

The interdisciplinary nature of the observation methodology used here added a new dimension to the already fruitful practise of mutual work, in which two professors’ work together to review and observe each other in order to form of professional development. As such, the purpose of this study was to endorse a reflection on pedagogical practises by examining the professor's role as a subject capable of fostering self- and hetero-observation practises, thereby enhancing their teaching and evaluation techniques. The overarching purpose of this study was to help students become better observers of classrooms and critical analysts of the many factors that go into making sense of educational settings. These elements included the pedagogical discourse in educational settings; the choice, proposition, and development of pedagogical strategies and activities; and the use of endorsement, assessment, and feedback.