Observations for Second-Year Fellows by Program Directors

Context

Throughout academia, evaluative observations of teaching act as a standard mode of providing guidance and critical feedback for teachers to help teachers improve their pedagogical practices. For the Brittain Fellowship, the Directors of the Writing and Communication Program (Executive Director of Writing and Communication, Director of the Writing and Communication Program, or the Director of the Communication Center) observe second-year Brittain Fellows. 

The required, evaluative teaching observation should reflect your typical classroom atmosphere rather than a demonstrative, overplanned teaching occasion. This class provides a chance for you to showcase a variety of activities that invite student engagement as opposed to a lecture-style class. As this course is for the Writing and Communication Program, try to focus on WCP values and goals including multimodality, rhetoric, and communication.

Purpose

Directors’ observations will be recorded in the following form. ​​The specific purpose of the WCP observation is primarily formal and evaluative. Like the previous observations, you will receive useful, constructive feedback to support your growth as a teacher. Unlike the previous observation, this evaluative teaching observation will be part of your annual review—in exactly the same ways teaching observations are used in annual reviews and tenure and promotion cases throughout academia.

In summary, the purposes of the second-year evaluative observation include:

  1. Evidence of teaching effectiveness: Observation provides formal feedback from WCP Directors that will be used for annual reviews. The instructor can also use the feedback as evidence of teaching effectiveness for job materials such as teaching portfolios.
  2. Faculty and career development: Observation provides constructive feedback to support the observed instructor growth as a teacher.
  3. Recommendation letters/references: Observation provides formal feedback that WCP leadership can use in writing recommendation letters.

Copies of the completed observation forms will be given to the observed instructor and included in the instructor’s personnel file. In addition to your teaching narrative, teaching portfolio, and course evaluations, the form will be used in annual review evaluations.

Process 

The process has four parts:

  1. Encouraged pre-observation meeting (~10-15m)
  2. In-class observation (50-75m, depending on length of class session)
  3. Completed Observation Form (that leads to cohesive feedback paragraph and/or post-observation discussion)
  4. Post-observation discussion (based on completed form) (~20-30m)

The Pre-Observation Requirement 

For the encouraged 15-minute Pre-Observation Meeting, come prepared to discuss or send the answers via email.

For the Pre-Observation please provide the course description in the syllabus statement of learning outcomes or come prepared to discuss your class. (If you opt out of the pre-observation meeting, please email this completed section of the form to your observer 48 hours prior to the observation.)

Purpose of class [what the learning goals of this particular class are]: 

Scaffolding/Meta-referencing of primary concepts and processes in the course [how does this class/lesson relate to previous/future classes and course goals]:

The Observation

Engagement [how the course is set up for student response; how the instructor responds to students or encourages their engagement; includes any group interaction and non-verbal communication]: 

Instructor authority, credibility, expertise of topic [expansion and explanation of content]:

Use of Pedagogical Strategies [discussion of content; group interaction/ activity facilitation; use of technology]: 

Focus on Learning Outcomes [in relation to pre-observation, WCP values and goals including rhetoric, process, and multimodality]:

Additional Notes, Comments, and Suggestions:

The Post-Observation Meeting

The instructor will receive the completed form prior to the required Post-Observation Meeting  (~20-30 mins). The instructor can ask any questions and include suggestions for changes that they might have in the Post-Observation Meeting.