Teaching Observations

Teaching Observations Reports:

The attached below are the four teaching observation reports completed by either the staff from the Walker Center for Teaching and Learning (WCTL) or Program Director or peer professors of Social Work Program.

• SOCW 3120 Human Behavior & the Social Environment (BSW) (Completed by Dr. Cathy Scott, BSW Program Director; Academic Year 2022 -2023)

• SOCW 3760 Introduction to Application Research and Professional Writing (BSW) (Completed by Jennifer Glaab from the WCTL;  Academic Year 2021-2022 )

• SOCW 4170 Applied Research (BSW) (Completed by Mary Marr from the WCTL; Academic Year 2019- 2020)

• SOCW 5223 Theories of Aging and Development (MSW) (Completed by Scott Seagle from the WCTL; Academic Year 2018 -2019)

Summary of Positive Comments from the observers:

-Introduce class objectives and content for the day

"Dr. Shi projects the objectives for the day. She has a nice simple slide template and the bullet points/fonts are clear. "

"Dr. Shi started the class reminding the class of important deadline and provided a summary of the topic and goal for the class. The information provided on the PPT slides was succinct and orderly. She was prepared to lead the class in lecture and learning activities."

- Utilize multiple teaching techniques to engage students

"Professor Shi utilized several techniques to engage the students, including voting cards, where students were prompted to answer questions based on their understanding of a topic." 

"Class activities and teaching techniques that have been most helpful to you in meeting your learning objectives for this course? Clear instructions, expectations, Different hands-on, tangible, interactive learning techniques (IF-AT, flip charts, voting cards), Student teaching of lessons, Personal examples from the instructor"

"Dr. Shi’s pedagogical approach was one that would appeal to diverse learning styles. She used images, media clips and engaging activities to disseminate information and reinforce learning; Her Socratic method of teaching to encouraged interactive discussion with and between students."

- Encourage students to think and discuss more in class

"The students in her class were constantly asked to contribute and demonstrate their understanding of the topics throughout the class period. This reinforcement and discussion started the class and continued throughout the class period."

"students were prompted to answer questions based on their understanding of a topic. Based on the answers, students were prompted to think about and relate to why their answers were not correct."

"She ask thought provoking questions then pauses to give students the opportunity to critically think about their response."

- Have good presentation skills

"She makes good eye contact with students, uses hand gestures, and varies her tone of pitch for emphasis an interest. Instructor does not read from the slides. The presentation is used only as a reference and supplement to the lecture. Instructor makes appropriate gesturing to emphasize concepts and point to important elements on the presentation. "

"Dr. Shi is an engaging instructor in that she presents with good eye contact, fluency and the pace of her instruction is appropriate."

- Create a good learning environment

"Dr. Shi has a nice pace where she waits for them to ask questions and gives time for that to happen." "There is a nice respectful tone to each of her inquiries."

"Dr. Shi related well to her class. She presents with a positive energy to excite students about the topic of discussion."

"She questions for understanding every 10-15 minutes, pausing in between questions and response. Students are eager to answer questions. Instructor restates the students’ responses for the class to hear, provides feedback, and redirects as necessary."

"The classroom environment feels warm and inclusive. Instructor encourages student participation. Instructor is available to students throughout the group activities and provides clear explanations and answers to student questions."

- Set up Mid-term Evaluation

"Dr. Shi offered a midterm survey to students, for feedback and comments. This is a best practice recommended by the Walker Center to allow students a means to share their experience in the course before the end of the semester." 

Suggestions from the Observers and Responses

- "Adding an activity at the beginning of the class period where assigned students review the previous class topic for 1-2 minutes."

This is a great suggestion. I will insert a review of the previous session at the beginning of my class, I can assign students or use other ways to help them recall knowledge. Also, I can link the content of the day to that of previous classes. 

-"Learn the newer functions of assigning Zoom breakout rooms in advance (there’s been a recent upgrade) through the WCTL workshops"

I have attended several workshops from the WCTL. I updated my Zoom version and learn some methods to quickly assign students into different Zoom breakout rooms (e.g. students put group numbers before their names; they can also self-assign them into pre-set groups). 

-"Finding small ways to call more students by name during class"

I tried some ways to engage more students, e.g. I put students' name tags into a small bag and pick names randomly to answer questions; I asked groups to rotate the role of presenter each time. I think I can also do more think-pair-share before I call some students by names because they will be better prepared to answer the questions through peer sharing.  

-"Break up the last 15 minutes of slides with a small active learning element" 

Great suggestion. For a 75-minute class, I normally follow the format of lecture (20-25 minutes), activity (15 minutes), sharing and comments  (20 minutes), and summary and Assignment Q&A (15 minutes). Although I often ask students questions during the lecture and summary, I do not often add a small active learning element. I think I could do more small things such as a quick think-pair-share, brainstorming into the lecture to engage students.  

-"Wrap up with an exit slip or other reflection of the class" "wrap up provided at the end of class to summarize and reinforce the lesson and prepare students for future lessons would be beneficial."

This is definitely an area that I would like to improve. In my class, I asked students to submit a short reflection on their real attitude or view about some client population and on how it will affect their future work with the clients after a group activity on the stereotypes of different groups. However, I rarely wrap up with a reflection on the content of the class. I will definitely try this in the future. I may ask students to write three key takeaways they had/three most interesting new things they learned for the class of the day or write 1 to 3 questions that they still have. For the online class via Zoom, I might ask students to write in the Chat window (they can do it privately or publicly). 

-"Presenting in the side aisle in a large, full classroom setting"

This is what I am trying to do with the large class size in a full classroom setting. I realized that it might be difficult for engage the student on the back rows. I used the remote control to change slides which helped me to talk in the middle of the side aisle to be close to the students. I also check constantly whether the students on the back can hear me clearly and give them opportunity to answer questions.  

-"Plan more time for groups to report out after the group activity"

This is the area for  me to improve. It is challenge to give all the groups opportunity to report especially for the large classes. But I do agree with the observer that reporting and receiving feedback in the exercise are  very helpful for students to learn. I often underestimate the time required for group activities, and I will need to adjust the time based on previous experience and reduce the length of lecture if needed. 

Teaching Evaluation Reports