Designing a system for observation of teaching

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on observation of teaching in a Higher Education (HE) context with a view to proposing some guidelines for the design and practice of institutional systems to observe teaching.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review and a proposed model for a system of observation of teaching with practical suggestions for managing the process and the information that results from implementation.

Findings

Practice in this area across the HE sector remains patchy and frequently cursory, despite the benefits that may follow from implementation of such systems, namely improved teaching and thus student learning.

Originality/value

This article synthesises best practice guidelines and proposes a three‐stage process to be adopted to help ensure that lecturers (and their students) gain the maximum benefit from being observed.

Citation

Washer, P. (2006), "Designing a system for observation of teaching", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 243-250. https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880610678559