Teaching Observation and Feedback (TOF) session

A TOF is a developmental opportunity to have your teaching observed by a CEP tutor in a safe and supportive environment and it constitutes Framework Area 7.

UPDATE: Edinburgh Medical School is committed to continuously strengthening the high quality of healthcare professionals' education and staff development. A key element of this commitment is our dynamic and responsive CPD offer, designed to meet the evolving needs of our learners. To maintain the highest standards in our provision, we are currently reviewing the support options available within the CEP programme. Through this review, we want to ensure that the support we provide better reflects the variety of educational activities you undertake, the different roles you hold as educators, your career stage, as well as your busy schedule and other personal commitments.

To ensure both continuity and consistency, this review will be implemented gradually.

Over the coming months, CEP workshops will continue to run as normal, and individual certificates for these sessions can continue to be used as evidence for GMC Framework Areas (FAs) 1–6.

As the first step in our review, we are exploring the most effective ways to support CEP learners in evidencing and fulfilling GMC FA 7: “Continuing Professional Development as an Educator.” This area encompasses a wide remit, including the requirement to keep educational skills up-to-date, reflect on teaching practice, and engage in relevant CPD; therefore, there are a variety of pathways to meet these criteria.

During this review period, we have made the decision to pause the scheduling of any new Teaching Observation and Feedback sessions (TOFs), or Reflection on Teaching sessions (ROTs). Any TOFs and ROTs that have already been arranged will proceed as planned, but no new sessions will be offered until further notice.

If you are interested in receiving updates regarding support for evidencing GMC FA 7, please leave your contact details with us, and we will be in touch as soon as further information becomes available.

Thank you for your understanding and continued engagement with our programmes. 

Please note that the below information about TOFs has been retained on the website for reference only.

 

What types of teaching do you observe?

We interpret teaching very broadly so we will observe any type of educational encounter, and in any environment where this is practical. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • lectures
  • tutorials
  • Problem Based Learning (PBL) sessions
  • simulation
  • one-to-one supervision
  • clinical/bedside teaching
  • teaching in specialist settings (theatre, anaesthetic room, laboratory)
  • online teaching

We will observe online only where we attend at the time of teaching, ie we will not provide feedback on pre-recorded video lectures or recordings from live lessons. We can observe undergraduate and postgraduate supervisory meetings provided that your student / trainee has consented. Your teaching session should ideally be scheduled for one hour but we can be flexible.

How do I prepare for my TOF session?

There is no specific preparation required, however you need to have completed at least 4 of the CEP courses before requesting a TOF. We recommend that you refamiliarise yourself with the Session Plan document (link below) from the CEP ‘Planning and Evaluating your Teaching’ course as it can be a helpful template for structuring your session. We also suggest that you reflect on all of the CEP workshops that you have completed before you have your TOF as you might wish to apply the learning from those to your teaching.  You may also like to obtain feedback from your learners using this template Evaluation Form (link below) or using the MeFB online platform.

What happens on the day of the TOF session?

Meeting details can be agreed via email with the allocated CEP tutor in advance of your observation. In the case of in-person teaching, the tutor will come to your location in good time before your session starts. In the case of online teaching, you will be expected to provide a link to let the tutor log in to your lesson. A second link may be required for the feedback discussion.  This can be discussed with your tutor prior to the observation date.

 Teaching observations are mapped to the  Professional Standards Framework (PSF 2023) | Advance HE (advance-he.ac.uk) for teaching and supporting learning in higher education. There will be a feedback discussion after your session, so please allow 30 minutes for this.  We would like to emphasise that there is no graded element to teaching observations. Rather, they are an informal developmental activity and their purpose is to highlight what you do well and to identify where there may be potential for development in your educational practice.  You will be provided with a copy of your teaching observation and feedback document shortly after the observation, (usually within one week).

How do I arrange to have my teaching observed?

Once our administrators receive your request, you will be put in touch with a CEP tutor with whom you can agree specific arrangements.  We are flexible and will do our utmost to accommodate your request.  It is very helpful if you provide as much notice as possible, and if you can provide more than one possible date / time, this increases the chances of a tutor being available. You will be asked to provide the following information:

  • Dates and times of teaching    
  • Duration of teaching    
  • Venue (platform if your teaching is online)    
  • Nature of your teaching (eg ward-based, lecture, etc)
  • Approximate number of learners    
  • Your contact telephone number    

We recommend that you only request a TOF session once you have completed at least 4 of the CEP courses.

 

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