Peer review: An effective approach to cultivating lecturing virtuosity

Abstract

Background: Most university faculty members are expected to teach. Many would benefit from instruction designed to improve lecturing.Aims: To explore the impact of a program in which video-recorded lectures were critiqued by peers.Method: Sixteen lecturers participated in this qualitative study. Four agreed to have an undergraduate lecture video-recorded for peer review. Twelve participated in review sessions wherein the lecturer and three peers viewed and critiqued the recorded lecture. All discussions were recorded and transcribed for thematic analysis. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews were conducted with each lecturer and all 12 peer reviewers. Three pairs of research team members independently conducted thematic analyses of the discussion transcripts and the interviews; then all members met to develop consensus on major emergent themes.Results: Six themes were identified: (1) the benefits of peer review; (2) the components of successful peer review; (3) the value of reflection on teaching experiences; (4) the inherent stress in peer evaluations; (5) the elements of successful lecturing; (6) lecturing as performance.Conclusions: The benefits of peer assessment of lecturing (PAL) were enthusiastically endorsed by all 16 participants. The PAL program is now supported by the McGill Faculty Development Committee and plans to implement regular PAL sessions in place.