Peer Review of Teaching Program (PRTP)
2011-2012 PRTP Invitation Flyer
2011-2012 PRTP Informational Brochure
Objective of the Peer Review of Teaching Program (PRTP):
To help faculty members develop and document their teaching by producing course portfolios.
PRTP is designed to support faculty in the development of a community of scholars who write about the intellectual work involved in their teaching and who share that writing with interested colleagues.
PRTP Activities:
- Fall semester
The activities include matching new faculty participants with faculty mentors who have already produced a portfolio, and one Saturday morning orientation and syllabus workshop on Nov. 5, 2011.
Snapshots from the workshop on Nov. 6, 2010:
- Spring semester
Participants exchange three class visits with their PRTP partners and meet monthly with PRTP particpants to discuss teaching issues. Each visit is focused on one of the three aspects of teaching: intellectual content, teaching practices, and student understanding. These class visits provide the basis for an exchange of short essays between partners. At the end of the semester, participants develop those short essays into a reflective document analyzing the course – the “course portfolio” (to be completed by mid-June). Upon completion of the course portfolio, participants each receive a $1000.00 fellowship in faculty development funds.
K-State PRTP History:
The Peer Review of Teaching Program has been in existence at Kansas State University since 1999. This program has been a part of a larger project that originated at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and was funded jointly by the PEW foundation and the Provost’s Office. PEW Foundation funding for the project ended in 2004. Because the program has been so beneficial to participants and the University in so many ways, a decision was made to continue it through funding from the Provost’s Office.
PRTP Evolving Portfolio:
After local conversation and subsequent refinement, the portfolios will be made available to faculty on other participating campuses through the Peer Review of Teaching Project website, hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and private comments will be exchanged. Some portfolio authors will make further revisions in their portfolios and in their courses, and the evolving portfolios will be an iterative record of the teacher's inquiry into those experiences that produce the most student understanding. The goal is to help faculty become skilled as writers and readers of course portfolios, making these portfolios useful both to those who produce them and those whose teaching can benefit from reading them.