Observation - Caroline Cash

8/4/2019 Observation - Caroline Cash

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Peer Observation of Teaching Form - PGCHESection 1 To be completed by the observer and observee

Observer:

Caroline Cash

Observee:

Rosie Sellwood

Date:

22 March 2011

Course:

Performance

Year:

-

Subject of lesson:

Searching and Researching

Lesson Plan:

Agenda set

Number of students expected to attend:

Maximum 16

Session length:

1 hr then handover to Val Diggle

Actual number in attendance:

Three in total

Observation time (mins):

55 minutes

Activity(ies): e.g. lecture, seminar, tutorial, supervised studio or location work, one to one tuition

Demonstration seminar in IT suite

Strengthsobserver to identify in bullet points:

e.g. clarity of aims/outcomes, planning and organisation, methods/approach, delivery and pace, content(currency, accuracy, relevance , use of examples, level, match to students needs), studentparticipation/achievement, use of accommodation learning resources

You made a good start by asking students about themselves. This set a less formal tone and madeyour manner very approachable. This was evident in that students clearly felt comfortable asking you

questions.

You also set a positive tone by framing the session around `enjoying research` and emphasised thisaspect on your PowerPoint slide.

Your PP contained plenty of visual stimulus and moved away from a dense body of text. The slideswere easy to read and accessible.

You also encouraged students to take a visual approach to planning their own research strategy.This is particularly helpful for students whose primary cognitive approaches are visual and/orperformance-based (kinaesthetic)

Areas for development: observer and observee to identify further opportunities for development asappropriate

You could set an early activity around students own assignment topic. This would give a pertinent andtargeted focus on the students` own work. This also works for larger groups too. E.g. Finding appropriateboolean searches. Students could work in pairs or groups to do this.


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There was clearly some communication issue as one student commented that no-one in the libraryseemed to know where the session was taking place. There was also possibly a lack of communicationfrom course tutor to emphasise/encourage attendance. Friday afternoons are a notoriously difficulttimetabling slot.

Areas for sharing good practice(noted areas of exceptional quality): observer to identify areas of goodpractice to be shared

You gave a good response to the question about accessing Exeter resources.

You used well chosen journals and databases that are appropriate to the performance courses and likelyto be of interest to the participating students e.g. Project Muse

The worksheet that you developed for this session was an appropriate way to set a guided task forstudents to actively engage in information searching.

If time allowed, you could let students practice on their own assignment topics and explore informationsources and then share what they found in a plenary session.

You gave a useful tip about being able to hear articles read to save having to print or read from the screen.Again this provides accessible alternatives for different styles of learning.

Other useful tips included pointing towards Newsbank and aggregating databases such as INTUTE andOMO.

In response to a question about referencing instead of answering the query directly. Which I know youcould have done. You pointed students to the comprehensive resources on the ASK section of theLearningSpace -giving students the tools to help themselves. This provided a good balance betweensupport and challenge.

At the end of the session you offered further one-to-one support if needed. A generous and approachableoffer and backed up with plenty of supporting resources.

There was some issue about where students would be able to access your PP and you need to discussthis with library colleagues. Especially as students at this session were representing a number of differentcourses.


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Further development:observer and observee to identify further opportunities for development asappropriate

The observer to summarise the lessons overall quality in relation to the learning outcomes:

Degree of difficulty: please tick any of the following which apply and use them to moderate your comments

Notes/Comments

New subject or unit

New strategy

New group

Environmental factors

Section 2 To be completed by the person being observed

Reflection on teaching/peer observation:

What have you found helpful about the observation process?

It was useful to have someone from outside the library staff to observe a session. The commentsmade were invaluable for recognising good practice as well as areas for improvement. This hasallowed me to reflect on my teaching practice in a more productive and practical way.


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Any further comments about the session and observation?

Please keep a copy of this in your PGCHE portfolio

Documents

Observation - Caroline Cash