Peer Observation to Enhance Teaching

Welcome to our session today um talking  about peer observation I think I know  all of you Mo I know almost all of you  um my name is Sher wicker I am a senior  director for  professional development at the hospital  and assistant Dean for faculty  development over at the medical school  um I'll let Jen uh Dr Cleveland  introduce herself in just a minute but I  just wanted to say pure observation it's  one of my favorite things um that we  offer it's just so customized uh faculty  development to to what you're doing to  each individual um and while we'll we're  going to focus most of our discussion on  um um on the the service that teach  offers our teaching Academy um however  this all of this content exists and is  relevant for across the board if you  have a peer somebody else that you  respect as a as a teacher as an educator  who you would like to have observe you  um all of the same Concepts uh translate  for that as well so anyway uh Dr  Cleveland if you'd like to introduce  yourself sure I'm D Cleveland I'm  assistant professor in basic science uh  and my primary role is pharmacology um I  trained as a pharmacist and then came  into education roughly 12 years ago  started with Pas and and now full-time  with the med school students um and as  my role within teach I'm also the sub  subcommittee chair for our teaching  consultation and observation  subcommittee so um that's how we're  intertwined between the two different  schools so it's exciting to be here and  thanks for the opportunity  absolutely all right so our learning  objectiv today is that we really want to  go through and share some of the  benefits of the teaching observations  and what everyone could potentially get  out of them um we want to talk about  what the observation process is and what  it is not um and we also want to go  through and uh talk about the process  how you can go through and actually  participate in a teaching observation  process  so what is a teaching observation and  who is it for okay so teaching  observations sorry that something else  flashed up on the back screen it got  logged out on the back one sorry it's um  so teaching observations are for  educators like ourselves who are looking  for ways to improve our instruction  skills uh for those who are curious  about new approaches and uh instruction  methods and for those who are interested  in finding new ways to conve knowledge  and information to our  Learners our teach program has  structured an opportunity that's  available to all okay so available all  throughout our system so Ru uh vtcm  Cillian Clinic all of our uh Educators  and we paare them with experienced  Educators who are looking for ways to  improve their teaching skills um these  observations are going to provide  objective and also confidential feedback  it's going to be to our participants and  can also go through and provide some  resources and and ways that we can go  through and improve our  skills  so let's dig into why an OB observation  may be helpful so these are some of the  ones that we came up with it's a way to  have some honest unbiased feedback on  one's teaching uh it's a way that you  can look at what's there and you can  either scale it up uh and get some  perspectives on what you're already  doing and how you can emphas and make  that better uh you can balance some new  skills with what you're already doing  and it doesn't take much like you said  having like a little bit of a gap and  then finding out what it is and tweaking  it just to make it a little bit better  and more engaging for your learners uh  new pedagog pedagogical approaches uh so  at the med school we've been really uh  pushing and moving to having a complete  Active Learning environment and so our  second year we don't have any dactic  lecture it's all active learning and  application of knowledge  and I guess one of the most important  ones is is at the end it's a safe  environment uh that we can go through  and we can talk so that we can maximize  our teaching  potentials another reason is for those  that are on the tenure to title track  this is a requirement um it is one of  those where it is required to have two  teaching observations uh and there needs  to be a gap within six months so you can  have an initial one and then a followup  at at the earliest six months it could  be anytime after that or longer but at  least six months in between to to gauge  any type of progress and implementations  of new  strategies so while this is a current  requirement for tenure and tenure to  title track promotion word on the street  is that  eventually AKA July 1st of next year  possibly it's going to be required for  everybody going through the promotion  process and why we thought it was so  timely to have this um session now is  because as Jen mentioned you can have as  much time in between two observations as  possible but you need to have at least  six months so imagine if you will  pulling together everything for your  promotion packet doing all the things  that you all do in your busy daily lives  and also trying to balance having at  least 6 months between two observations  in a year's time that you're trying to  prepare for promotion right which is why  we really encourage folks to try to get  um have your first observation done  before you even enter the promotion  process right because then what they  really want to do they just want to see  that you've grown from your first  observation so if you have one now and  you're not even in the promotion process  yet maybe two years from now you start  promotion process then you can have your  second one to show some  growth all right so let's talk about  what observation is and is not so what  it is is an opportunity to have a  confidential process um where you can go  through and you can get feedback  and improve your teaching and you get  that individual development that you're  needing it's an opportunity as we just  discussed for promotion  portfolio and we have a great group of  experienced Educators who genuinely care  about teaching and your teaching success  and so it's a way to get to be a part  and uh have a relationship and even  Mentor uh with that  person uh what it's not uh it is  definitely not critical in nature okay  it's not punitive it's not evaluative  this is truly just formative it's just  to get feedback on what opportunities  are there and really uh what you are  already doing exceptionally well and  then how you can tweak it just to make  it a little bit better and it is not  focused on content so it doesn't have to  uh for me to go and evaluate it doesn't  have to be pharmacology content it's  truly the process and your  teaching so with that I'm going to turn  it over and talk about how to get  started yes so lots of great things  about a concept of observation right  so how easy easy is it to get started  it's just so easy so right here we have  a link and you will have access to this  presentation but also at the end of our  presentation there's a QR code if you  want to just take a little picture you  can uh do that and that will bring you  right to the same link on the teach  website or you can just go to the teach  website poke around and you'll find it  under educator resources okay  so but really if you want to start the  process just in your mind think  about all the teaching that you do and  what which teach teaching officer  opportunity might be the best to have  have an observation on so is it  something that you've been doing for a  while and you feel pretty confident in  it but you're  like I might want to spice it up a  little bit might want to change it up I  might want my learners to be more  engaged so we saw this dramatic increase  when we started uh or when we um around  March April May June of  2020 if you could all think of you know  what was happening then so everybody was  going online all of the sudden right and  um really without much practice ever  doing so so a lot of folks said hey I I  I really need to learn by how to engage  my Learners from a virtual environment  so we either did a consultation which is  also an option which is this minus the  observation you know just talking it  through um we did a lot of online  observations um and you'll see all the  different opportunities that are  appropriate for an  observation um so you go right to this  link choose your Observer I think we  have about 10 or 11 observers as a part  of our group now you'll see who they are  we usually strongly encourage um  choosing somebody  either um just really outside of your  own discipline so that you're not  concerned these are all skilled  observers they recognize the importance  of not being focused on um the content  but just so you're comfortable that  they're not focusing on the content and  so you're not distracted by that um I I  learn every time I'm non-clinical so I  learn something clinical every single  time I go to observe  um and but I'm not focused on the  content I think it's interesting but I'm  not going to be the one if if I'm the  one correcting you on something clinical  um you might want to double check the  facts there because it's not for me to  coret um so we also strongly encourage  providing as much advanced notice as  possible right we know y'all are busy we  know sometimes this isn't the um the  Forefront of your mind um and that maybe  you have something coming up next week  and you're like oh shoot I'd really like  that  observe submit it we'll do it we'll  figure out who can do it we'll work with  you right but just remember that this  whole observation group they are folks  that um most of them are just as busy as  y'all and this is something that they  work into their schedules on the side so  in order to be able to have them most  opportunity to get the Observer of your  choosing just provide as much advanced  notice as  possible and then uh once you fill out  this form online super quick super brief  um usually it's Deb who will respond to  you and she'll say it may take a few  days but she'll respond to you and say  hey uh I am putting you in contact with  your um potential Observer and making  sure what she's doing in the background  the reason why it might be a few days is  it goes to Dr Cleveland as well it goes  to Deb they're trying to figure out can  this person that was chosen um do do  they have the time to do it at the  chosen time um or do we have to find  somebody else and sometimes that person  is busy at that specific time and so  we'll say okay Dr damat is busy would um  would Dr Cleveland suffice in this um  situation okay so once you sub that once  that contacts you once you're um  connected with your Observer it's a  three-part process so what your Observer  should do is schedule a time to meet  with you briefly it can be on P in  person or virtual whatever you want um I  usually I prefer to meet in person for  these um for these pre meetings mainly  if I don't know the person I'm going to  observe very well because I want to  build that con connection and help them  feel comfortable that I'm there purely  for their benefit purely not to  criticize at all not to find pick apart  what they're doing wrong but just build  that relationship to say I here for your  benefit I care about your  improvement um so that's the  pre-observation meeting you're going to  talk about the venue you're going to  talk about certain things like uh  because remember it's so broad there's  so much you can observe right during an  observation session so much involved in  teaching but if you will help them to  pinpoint what you're looking for  assistance on it really makes it a lot  easier for them to  focus  okay then the step two is the actual  observation you set a time um to do the  actual observation and then you come and  do it and and it's um during that first  session you'll talk about okay do you  want to introduce me um sometimes people  say okay this is Dr wicker she's here to  help me to learn how to better teach you  um and improve your learning environment  okay sometimes I'm just flying the wall  nobody really notices or maybe they do  notice and they're just like who is that  woman and it doesn't matter I'm just  back there and I'm taking my little  notes so sometimes it makes it a little  bit easier depending on the venue right  I've observed in all different situ a  sometimes if there's a patient involved  they don't really care because there's  this big group of people going from room  to room  anyway um and if they're introducing  people they just think I'm another one  of the  clinicians um but sometimes if I'm  sitting in a a small group  setting with um in the back of the room  and people are like who is that person  um they'll introduce me just so it's not  uncomfortable and people aren't  wondering  uh and sometimes the faculty members  like for their Learners to know that  they're taking this step to improve  their teachings to benefit them  ultimately and then after the  observation usually um give your  Observer time to um Cate their notes and  then you will uh get a post like a  debrief session you'll set a debrief  session  up and then that the time at which you  get your feedback and I don't know how  everybody does it because we don't have  any set way to do this but we we do have  um uh an observation  rubric and sure I go through and I check  the boxes how I think folks have done  however that's not nearly as meaningful  as the qualitative feedback at the end  like I will give lots of notes and I  will say here are the things that I  think you did really well here's  something that you might want to try  differently if you're trying to engage  your learners more or if you're trying  to connect with them  more um so and then during the debreath  that's the time that we discuss that  whole situation and sometimes what I do  we generally um when I'm giving feedback  to somebody I asked them how did you  think that went how did you think you  did did you notice anything different  and then  sometimes the faculty member will fill  in the blanks in ways that I didn't even  consider um they'll bring out things  that they were concerned about or oh I  noticed that I kept doing this or  whatever and then it's an added  opportunity for consultation right and  then I'll just go through each of my  points and then it's it's a really great  discussion and that's really where folks  have found the benefit is in that  customized approach this isn't just okay  we're going to a session with 25 people  in the session and we're all going to  take a little bit of something from it  right this is purely directed towards  the  individual okay so this is just I I've  got three slides showing all of our um  observation committee our consultation  and observation committee right you too  could have your lovely picture up here  with a little bio I just wanted to  provide an example this is all on our  website and you'll see a bio for each of  us right so we've got clinicians  non-clinicians basic scientists we've  got folks who are so Dr Fortuna  generally is he likes to focus on  simulation only um that's kind of how we  Wrangle them in to do it um we've got  somebody who's retired we got somebody  right in the  audience  um we've got several somebody's right in  the audience um um and Missy also she is  usually does simulation observation  only okay so we asked our observers okay  so what is some advice that you could  give so two two folks responded with um  some points so the first  one um is be specific about what you're  looking for I already alluded to this a  little bit right when you're in an  observation situation especially so  sometimes I'll go to um an operating  room for example there's a lot going on  there I am intrigued by everything in  there and there specifically to focus on  the teaching but there's so much going  on right so if you are specific about  what you really um would like observed  that makes the most difference so  somebody I observed recently in the  operating room said you know I've got  this diverse group of Learners so I've  got an MP I've got a nursing Stu MP  student a nursing student I've got a  resident student um how can I make sure  that I'm giving adequate attention to  each of them and they walk away feeling  as if they've learned something and I  walk away feeling as if I've taught  something and the patient is safe and  all better by the end right so that's a  big  tip another one um this is just their  comment and why they think obser  observation is important it's in key to  improving so they suggest even before  you do this or whenever um videotape  yourself teaching this is It's really  Illuminating right if you I I I can't I  back in when we had answer machines I  couldn't even listen to my own voice on  the answer machine I can't even listen  to myself videotaped I I I don't like  doing it at all but this Observer did um  suggest videotaping yourself and that's  you that's its own sort of peer  observation but then you can note the  things identify the things that you  would like to work on so if you use a  lot of filler words or you're not  engaging with your learners or  um whatever there there are so many  things that you can identify yourself  that will help you to narrow down what  you would like to to focus on  okay so who I say who can participate in  the observation process but it's really  whoever right anybody can anybody who's  a part of the the medical school the  hospital um and red for anybody who's  engaged in teaching right this is what  it's all about so if you have trainees  and uh so we know that trainees are a  big part of the teaching process for um  students for junior residents fellows of  of residents um they're a huge part of  that experience yet sometimes they get  left off so if you want to encourage if  you see on your ACG surveys perhaps um  or you see on the Block  surveys  um things about the residents not being  adequately prepared to teach in one way  or another not always so eloquently  stated but um that maybe encourage those  trainees to take part in a an  observation process now of course this  is intimidating for faculty members even  the most experienced faculty members so  you don't always expect that they're  going to take you off on that offer um  but we observe a lot of trainees and  they always at least say that they  benefit from it  um faculty faculty at any point on the  Continuum um so  uh the vast majority of at least maybe  not including the um the coid  observations but the vast majority of  our observations I think have been done  um for those folks who are already  really confident in their teaching they  just want to get better they want to  improve often times um somebody will  have an  observation and then once you get one  observation you're like okay well I'm  going to work on that and then six  months down the road they're asking you  to come back and do another observation  and it may be in a totally different  setting or it may be in the same setting  to just see if they've Incorporated the  feedback anyone who teaches and anyone  who seeks Improvement in that teaching  we're here for for  everybody so teaching is obviously  multifaceted uh through Virginia T Coran  School of Medicine we can consider all  of these rules to be teaching rules and  why we why we think through this is  because of um The Faculty bylaws and our  our mission is focused on teaching for  faculty right but we want to make sure  that um nobody feels excluded in that so  if you're doing teaching you need to  have a faculty appointment and if you  have a faculty appointment you need to  be doing some sort of teaching so if  somebody says well I don't give any  lectures doesn't matter do you Mentor  somebody are you coaching um peers or  other Learners do you develop  curricula um do you do education  research Are you a role model do you  assess are you a researcher are you  mentoring folks through the research  process all of those are included in  teaching so anything really associated  with that we can help you  with so here's some feedback from  faculty who have been observed  already um so I utilize teach the teach  observation program to help make small  adjustments in my day to improve my  teaching style while also running a busy  office I really love this this  observation remember um the in office  observation provided me with effective  feedback to streamline my teaching while  still providing high quality care to my  patients I highly recommend this program  for as practical and effective Approach  at improving teaching in medical  practice so this one was um somewhat  recently done and I loved it because the  environment was different than I was  used to it was an office where um this  faculty member was going from room to  room he was in clinic and so he had two  Learners with him we would go from room  to room we would start in a room he  would teach he would take care of the  patient and I would notice something we  would go back to his office which was  right next to his patient rooms which  was really cool um and and and then the  Learners would you know follow up with  the rest of the patient visit we would  go back I would give them some feedback  and and then he would go back and apply  that feedback right in with the next  patient it was so cool and so he was  growing right within that half day that  I spent with him spent a full half day  in his office and he grew the entire  time and now since then he's done  another one um so that was really cool  and one of his Learners at the end of  this session said hey I'm really  interested in teaching can you help give  me some feedback on uh ways that I can  get more involved so that was really  cool and I happened to see her um at our  education grant nouns when she came so  she uh she really was  interested okay next one many clinicians  have no formal training and education  traditionally our only feedback comes  from the Learners themselves while this  feedback has been been helpful it's  limited by the ability of the Learners  to identify and articulate opportunities  for improvement very true sometimes  Learners will just know that something's  off or they don't feel hurt or they  don't feel it but they don't really know  what to do about it right the  observation process uh provides an  outside view of One's Own teaching from  individuals with expertise having this  perspective is invaluable and becoming a  more effective teacher great that's what  we' like to  see  so where can we do these observations  really  anywhere um so lecture we do tradition  lecture uh larger small group and a lab  facilitating  pbl the operating room one to one i'  I've sat in several times on um just  somebody giving feedback in a onetoone  session I mean that that takes  um it it it's a different level of  vulnerability I think for both the  teacher and the learner but they were  both totally in on it and um and they  appreciated it the Learners were great  with it um bedside  rounds so remember the our observation  process is for whomever whenever we  almost took out the whenever I had a  whole slide on whenever but then we do  have a lot of Surgeons okay and a lot of  Surgeons would have us and I'm not just  picking on surgeons the way I like to  that but they're like can you do these  sessions can you come and give us the  same session at five I'm like sure we do  we do 5 PM that's not what that that's  not the five they were referring to so  not  always uh we're not always going to be  super uh available to do middle of the  night observations or something like  that we will we will stretch and bend as  much as we can and we may have some  super early morning people that are okay  with that um but generally whenever and  wherever we're good with that  so here's the little QR code if you want  to take a little picture of that and  that will lead you right to the  observation form if you want to complete  that um one of the things that I think  you can do to prepare for the  observation is just one recognize what  you want to be observed on right another  thing would be  potentially um having sort of an  informal observation recording yourself  or having a colleague or whomever uh  observe you and just get some of the  little nitty-gritties out of the way um  and then just be as specific as possible  in what you would like for us to look at  or just say you know what I'm totally  brand new just tabul Rossa let me know  um what would work thank you so much for  coming if you all I know a lot of you  are uh wonderful Educators already if  you would like to um be a part of the  observation team you're more than  welcome to contact us and find out how  to do so or um we look forward to seeing  you next time you'd like to be uh  observed at any point on the experience  Continuum enjoy the rest of your day.