Lauren Barbeau

Lauren Barbeau is passionate about enhancing the value for and quality of teaching in higher education. Before we can support faculty in becoming effective instructors, Lauren believes we have to know what good teaching is. Before we can develop metrics to evaluate and reward it, she argues that we need to have a common language in which to discuss it. Her work on Critical Teaching Behaviors provides this foundational understanding of evidence-based teaching practices that enables faculty, institutions, and higher ed as a whole to engage in productive conversations related to what it means to be a good teacher.

She and her co-author, Claudia Cornejo Happel, have developed a suite of peer observation, student feedback, and narrative starter tools to support faculty in telling their teaching stories. Through her consulting work, Lauren helps institutions develop a contextually relevant definition of teaching excellence, establish peer observation programs that support faculty growth, and redesign student feedback instruments to collect meaningful feedback on teaching that aligns with institutional priorities. Lauren is an internationally sought speaker on teaching effectiveness, teaching evaluation, and peer observation of teaching. In 2026, Vevox named her one of the Top 50 Voices to Follow in Higher Education.

Lauren earned her Ph.D. in English from Washington University in St. Louis and began her career in educational development in 2013. She has served in educational development roles at Georgia Southern University, the University of Georgia, and Georgia Tech.