March director's message

Like teaching itself, conducting peer reviews of colleagues’ classes is an activity that has continued throughout the pandemic but changed dramatically for many of us — both those of us being reviewed and those doing the reviewing. Many of us feel unprepared for (even uneasy about) the experience.

We in the Drake Institute have fielded numerous requests from department chairs, undergraduate studies chairs, and assistant deans (among others) over the past few weeks seeking guidance on and best practices for peer evaluation of online teaching. Departments are seeking programming support and individual faculty are reaching out for resources and programming — all of which prompted me to compose this message, share a few initial resources, and encourage you to reach out to the institute for consultations (both individual and departmental) on conducting peer evaluation of online teaching.

Read more from Kay Halasek, director of the Drake Institute