This page is still a work in progress! Please check back soon for more details on assignments and grading criteria for this course.

Peer Classroom Observation Report (33% of your grade)

Due: 2019-11-25 at 11:50PM

Part of improving as an instructor is receiving feedback on how you are performing. There are various sources for this, such as your students and the CRLT. Equally important is receiving constructive criticism from your peers, who have likely experienced similar challenges to you and can offer their support and suggestions.

During the semester, you will observe one of your peers and write a short report (approximately one page, single-spaced) describing what you saw in the learning environment reflecting on what you observed.

Logistics

1. Identify an instructional assistant to observe. This individual must be teaching an EECS (or ENGR) class. You may not choose a class in which you are currently enrolled, but there are no other requirements. For example, the IA may be one of your peers in class, someone teaching the same class as you, or someone teaching another class.
2. Ask the IA for permission to observe their class, and select an appropriate class meeting to attend.
3. On the day of your observation:
   1. Arrive to the class you are observing on time.
   2. Sit somewhere where you won't be a distraction, but can observe everything that is happening in the classroom. This is often at the back of the classroom (so you can observe student interactions, etc.).
   3. Use some blank paper (or possibly a document) to take notes; do not try to fill out the report form during the observation.
   4. Do your best not to fixate on the material being covered. Instead, spend your time collecting observable data about the class itself. Some examples include:
      • What is the layout of the classroom?
      • How long is the class?
      • When do students take notes?
      • How do students interact? (Group work, pairs, answering questions, etc.)
      • What types of questions do the students ask? (Can you relate to Bloom's taxonomy?)
      • What types of answers do the students give?
      • Are the students using technology? Are they on their phones/using social media?
      • Which/how many students participate?
      • How many students attend? Are they on time?
      • What material does the instructor cover?
      • How does the instructor introduce topics?
      • How much time is given for each activity?
      • What is the pace of the material?
      • How does the instructor interact with students?
      • How does the instructor move around the room? (Draw a map)
      • How long does the instructor pause when asking questions?
      • Does the instructor have any verbal tics? How frequent are they?
   5. Be sure to look around the classroom every couple minutes. Remember that your job is to observe the whole classroom; be sure that you are not fixating on a single location (e.g., the front of the room or the projector screen).
   6. If the class you are observing has a free-form "office hours" section at the end, feel free to leave at the end of official "instruction".
4. After observing the class, organize your thoughts and notes into a formal report using the document available on Canvas.
   • Your report should be approximately one page long, single-spaced, 10pt font.
   • To maintain confidentiality, please refrain from referring to the IA by their name in your report.
   • The report asks you to divide your comments into three parts. First, give an overview of the class itself, including information about the topics covered, number of students in attendance, activities, etc. Then, summarize what you observed. Be sure to comment both on the instructor's and also the students' actions. Finally, describe how your observation will inform your own teaching (one thing you will do and one thing you will not).
   • Submit your final report on Canvas by the due date. Late assignments will receive reduced grades.

Final Report (67% of your grade)

Due: 2019-12-18 at 4PM

As the semester draws to a close, we will take some time to reflect on your development as a teacher. You will write a final report (3-5 pages) addressing one of the prompts below. In all cases, you are welcome to include references to recent education and computer science literature (cited using the IEEE bibliography style) and your own experiences.

Logistics

1. This report is an individual assignment. You may discuss your ideas with your peers, but the resulting report should be uniquely your own.
2. Turn in your report as a PDF on Canvas by the date specified above. Late assignments will receive reduced grades. Please refer to the syllabus for the end-of-term assignment policy.
3. Your report should be formatted for letter paper with 1 inch (2.54cm) margins. Use a default, 11pt font (e.g., Arial, Times, Palatino, Garamond, Helvetica, Computer Modern, etc.) and no more than 1.5 line spacing.
4. There is no set page limit for this assignment. Use the amount of space necessary to form a coherent argument and narrative. It will likely be difficult do fully address a prompt in fewer than 3-5 pages.
5. Use the IEEE bibliography format for any citations in your report. Citations inline should use square brackets with a number reference to the bibliography entry. Consider using a citation manager (e.g., BibTeX).
6. Please take pride in this final report. You may use time in office hours or one-on-one meetings with the instructor to receive feedback on your prose.

Please respond to ONE of the following prompts:

1. Course Redesign: Propose specific changes to the course you are teaching. Such changes may be to the content, assignments, schedule, and/or presentation of material used in the class. Comment on the impact this would have on both students and instructors. Be sure to think broadly—changes you make in one class can have a ripple effect in others. Finally, includes risks that you can think of: what might make your changes fail?
2. Broadening Participation and Increasing Enrollment: Many of us become involved with teaching because we want to share the beauty and joy of our field with students. What actions can we (as students, as educators, and as a department) take to increase access to Computer Science? Simultaneously, how should we address increasing class sizes that results from the popularity of our field? Propose some concrete policies (course, department, major, etc.) and and explain how these policies might address all or part of this challenge. Also comment on negative impacts or unintended consequences of your proposed policies.
3. Self Reflection: What do you wish you knew prior to becoming a teaching assistant? Reflect on your experiences as a TA, with a particular focus on what you had to learn on your own, what you still struggle with, and what advice/training/resources you wish were available before you started. Finally, consider how you have grown as an educator over the past semester. How far have you come and where do you plan on going?
4. Teaching at its Best: In your experience, what makes for the best teacher? Reflect on your own educational experience. Is there one moment in the classroom that stands out in particular? In your narrative, focus on observable data: what does a strong teacher do or say? Connect your claims back to your own teaching experience. Have you been able to use some of these techniques? Are there others you struggle to use?