Observations of teaching and learning
Contents
Observations of teaching and learning¶
This is a reflection on two peer observations of my teaching that were conducted on semester 2 2020/21. It covers my initial goals for the observations, the main feedback I received, and points for future reference.
The main aspects of teaching with which I struggle the most are pacing and assessment (both formative and summative). My natural pace is fast and I enjoy fast-paced content as a student. Of course, I realized early on in my career that this is not the case for a majority of students and slowing down allows me to better cater to students needs. As I mentioned in Pivotal learning moment: Authentic assessments, assessments were usually not something I enjoyed or got much value out of as a student. Discussions and well designed formative assessments can not only help teachers assess learning but also help slow down the pacing of a lecture [Wilson, 2019]. As the instructor, it can be difficult for me to assess them on my own and student feedback, while very useful, can be biased by personal preferences or their perceptions of what a university lecture should be. When I had the chance to get feedback from my peers, I naturally focused on these two aspects of my teaching delivery. [A5,K2,K5,K6]
Both of these sessions were done during the shift to fully online delivery because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While I am comfortable with online delivery and had prior experience, both observers are well versed in this form of delivery as well and could provide a good reference point to gage the quality of my own practice. My main concern moving online was making sure that students were not being left behind. Ideally, this should take the form of frequent formative assessment (quizzes) but creating such resources is labour intensive and there was little time to make preparations before the start of the module. [K2,K4,V3,V4,V1]
Observation 1: ENVS258 Environmental Geophysics¶
The first observation was a computer-based synchronous practical activity for the ENVS258 Environmental Geophysics module. In the preceding session, students had learned how to process raw data from the instrument into measurements of gravity acceleration. The topic of this particular session is the further processing and interpretation of disturbances in the Earth’s gravity field due to the variable densities of subsurface geological structures. Under normal circumstances, this part of the module would involve students performing their own measurements across the campus. However, with full online delivery the focus had to be shifted towards the processing of the data using computer programming tools. [V4,K4]
The feedback from the observer indicated that the pacing of delivery and the use of technology were very good. The main area of development identified was the lack of engagement from a portion of the cohort. While some were actively participating through the chat system and answering questions, a portion of students did not communicate at all. After our initial discussion, the observer suggested including more activities for students to do in groups and report back their findings as a way to engage the quiet students [Wlodkowski and Ginsberg, 2017]. As a bonus, such activity would also allow me to gage their understanding of the lesson content. [v1,V2,V3,K2,K5,A2,A3]
Observation 2: ENVS398 Global Geophysics and Geodynamics¶
The second observation was also a computer-based synchronous practical activity, this time for the third-year module ENVS398 Global Geophysics and Geodynamics. In this module, we cover the dynamics of the Earth’s outermost layer through the lens of geophysical models and how they fit existing data. It provides an integrated view of different techniques they learned throughout their degree on a global level. My part of this module focuses on using computer programming, physics, geology, and a variety of real datasets to understand the processes that shape the Earth’s surface. In the synchronous sessions, I provided some introductory content for the activity through live-coding the basic steps required. Afterwards, they would be assigned group activities where they complement the code, compare results, discuss, and then summarise back to the class. This last step was incorporated after the first observation. [A1-5,K1,K2,K4,K6]
Once again, I asked the observer for specific feedback on the pacing of my delivery. This was particularly useful since the observer was from a different discipline and would likely have the same amount of prior knowledge as the students themselves. I also requested feedback on the strategy recently implemented to try to boost engagement and assess learning. [K5,A5]
Feedback from the observer was very positive on all aspects. Areas of improvement identified were refinements in the pacing, which they thought should be slower, and the balance of theoretical and practical content, with some theory that could be removed or assigned as bonus material. Another aspect that requires improvement is the time allocation for the discussion activity and summary at the end of the session. The amount of content that was assigned to each session was too large to allow proper time for students to discuss and relay back the main points to their peers. [V1,A5]
Summary¶
Both observations were very useful and highlighted both aspects of my practice that works well and also others that could be improved. Having two observers with different backgrounds provided non-overlapping feedback that got around some of the blind spots from which experts in a field can suffer [Kalyuga, 2007]. The pacing of delivery, which was one of my main concerns, was reasonable but could be made a bit slower. Both observers suggested ways to improve engagement and implement a form of formative assessment that fits well with the high level expected of final year students. Initial trials of this change were successful but require fine tuning for the following academic year. In my Continuing professional development, I lay out plans for accomplishing this in a reasonable time frame. [A1-5,K2,K3,K5,V1]