Classroom Observations

Some of you attended the peer observation workshop I presented this semester. I explained in it why peer observation of teaching is important. On of the most important reasons is that your peers know things about teaching and the work that goes into the preparation of good teaching that students do not. Therefore peers are better equipped to observe those elements.

It is important to note that teaching is a very complex activity, the success of which is influenced by a large number of variables. To demonstrate successful teaching we cannot solely rely on the perceptions of our students, but have to show its impact from multiple perspectives using multiple, relevant measures. Student feedback is only one of those measures, even though their input is important because they are the ones doing the learning.

To know good teaching depends on experience, and the study of teaching and learning literature, Fortunatly, a large body of research exists from which "best practices" can be derived. Unfortunately, many faculty members are too busy with other responsbilities to engage in the study of teaching and learning. This is where centers for effective teaching and learning can play a critical role.

To class this blog I want to share the valuable comment I read in your blogs on classroom observations.
Blog 8 summary: Observations
1) Observations are effective in that you got to observe different methods of teaching; you can ignore the content and look at the actual teaching behaviors and actions.
2) Fascinating to watch student interaction with the teacher and their body language
3) Difficult to assess folks who just give a talk (lecture) to distribute valuable information [HM Comment: distributing information can be done on a pamphlet or in a book. What is the role of the person who distributes the information? Shouldn’t s/he do a bit more than rattling off a PPT and list of items to ensure participants in the session really do understand the important points? You know that we all “filter” information based on our own experiences and knowledge. If you want folks ‘to get it right” you probably have to do a bit more than simply give them the information].
4) Explaining tasks clearly at the beginning of the session is key to success for the students’ learning and the flow of the session.
5) The observation provides new ideas on teaching, especially active learning techniques.
6) Just because you gave a good lecture doesn’t mean the students actually understood the material.
7) Being observed really helped because of the constructive feedback received.
8) It was not clear initially how you could benefit from a peer observation, but the observation helped see what grabs students’ attention and things (mistakes) to be careful of.
9) Good teachers guide students in discovery rather than provide them with answers.
10) Observing a class is completely different from attending it as a student, because now you see the “finer points” of good teaching.
11) Received very practical feedback on classroom management
12) Teaching strategies have changed for the better over the last decades in a number of instances, but there are still stalwarts and traditionalist teachers who only deliver information.
13) Some people should not be teachers because they have no teaching skills and don’t understand the process.
14) Lectures results quickly in a loss of attention by the students.
15) Big classes are intimidating.

My Professional Development Plan

My Professional Development Plan

I have to be honest here. I never really put together a professional development plan. My plan was to work hard. I have to say that this approach has paid off, especially at UTEP, but it also left me wishing I had done things differently.

I still am painfully aware of how much a good mentor could have helped me early on in my career. My career path would likely have been completely different had I had the support I needed at that time. I scrambled to get publications and presentation and it did not matter whether my efforts were focused. I just worked hard to get those pubs out, which left me without focus and little expertise in any area.

A good development plan would have helped me lay out my path (especially important during the pre-tenure years) that I could have sustained after tenure. The lack of focus, not having developed a core research group of graduate students, and consequently a well-functioning lab, my research program did not amount to much. If I had to do it again, I would do it very differently. It's not use crying over spilled milk, therefore I now try to help young faculty establish a better career path early in their profession through the UTEP Collaborative Faculty Mentoring Program.

My professional development plan for the future is somewhat ill-defined. I have numerous goals related to the tasks in my portfolio as an Associate Provost that are important for UTEP. Maintaining the current mentoring program, growing CETaL and making sure its events help faculty, establishing a sustained leadership development program, and ensuring that our interim report to SACS is of high quality are foremost in my mind.

As many of you have commented, I am too busy taking care of business to be able to think where I want to go or achieve over the next 3-5 yrs. To be honest, a personal retreat and vacation would be nice about now to help me prioritize and set some goals.

From Your Personal Development Plan

I read your blogs on your personal development plans and distilled a few themes.
1) Create goals and put them in a schedule, a timeline, focused on achieving the tasks necessary to accomplish those goals
2) Stick to your schedule and complete the tasks needed to achieve your important goals first
3) Dedicate substantial quality time and effort to your most important goals
4) Update your current documents and maintain them in your electronic portfolio
5) Rewarding yourself for your accomplishments
6) Some of the things you have to do may not contribute to reaching your goals (like some of the elements covered in this course)
7) It’s difficult to think beyond one year and identify targets to work towards
8) It is difficult to create a plan for TA responsibilities because they change from semester to semester and even within one semester.
9) Thinking about all the uncertainties can be overwhelming, but you can handlge it by taking one step at a time.
10) Set regular meetings with your advisor to make sure your progress steadily towards graduation.
11) Collect essential information that will help you in your decision making processes.
12) Making a plan is difficult, but sticking to it is even more so.
13) Identifying the smaller tasks and steps needed to complete larger goals is even more difficult than identifying those goals.
14) The really difficult thing is to manage time effectively on an hour to hour basis.
15) Grading responsibilities are taking a toll on educational responsibilities, balancing all activities is difficult
16) Take concrete steps towards completing goals for graduation; Get an advisor, narrow down your topic of research.
17) The most difficult part is deciding on 3-yr (long term) goals, because they don’t align you’re your current education or you can’t see beyond the daily responsibilities that need your attention
a. Taking time to develop a plan to manage time is a waste of time. Focus on what needs to be done now and take things one semester at a time. The future will present itself.
b. No plan, just do what needs to be done now, but some organization will make life better
18) What does a professional development plan look like?

So what is your next step?
In your philosophy statements many of you identified what was important to you and what you would like to accomplish. Reflect on that again. Your values and beliefs can point you in the right direction. If you love teaching, for example, you may not want to consider a position at a research institute no matter how good you are at research. Your values can be your guides in determining your longer terms goals. Similarly, if you have longer term goals you’re passionate about, see whether your current activities will allow you to achieve them. If you perceive mismatches, you may want to adjust your plan.

Constructing a Teaching Philosophy

Teaching Philosophies

Writing a clear and coherent teaching philosophy is not an easy task. It requires intense self-examination and reflection focused on your most sincere beliefs and values about teaching and learning. That process takes time and a lot of effort.

As you know by now, there are a number of helpful documents, and I have shared a few with you that can help you get started. You can find copies of these materials on the course’s Blackboard site and on the CETaL website at http://cetalweb.utep.edu/home under resources.

I developed my teaching philosophy a number of years ago, and to be honest, I haven’t looked at it in a while. That means that the old version is likely hopelessly out of date…or it may surprise me. So I looked for it and here is the most recent version from 2006. It was part of my professional statement as a department chair.

“As a teacher it is my duty and responsibility to help students gain the skills and knowledge necessary to become independent learners, who can successfully navigate an increasingly complex society, and take leadership responsibilities for their personal lives, their family, as well in larger contexts. Through the application of collaborative teaching strategies in my classes, I have been able to more actively engage students and help them gain confidence in their abilities to learn independently and socially (i.e. in small groups). The learning and study strategies I weave into my course reportedly have helped them perform better in courses they took afterwards. I have found students to be more engaged and interested in their own learning when they are given personal responsibility and are held accountable for their actions. They become less dependent on the instructor and participate more in the course activities. I am convinced that active, cooperative learning strategies in the classroom should no longer be an option. These are strategies all instructors need to employ in their classrooms. The evidence is clear: cooperative learning effectively employed is far superior to any other teaching strategy. As a department chair, I encouraged faculty to open their classrooms to peer visits and mentoring to enhance their personal teaching strategies and incorporate models of cooperative and active learning. Teaching and learning are the reasons why universities exist, and preparing future leaders through education is our primary purpose and legacy. In order to serve our students best towards that goal, we should adopt the most effective strategies, even if this requires continuing education and additional effort”.

Based on the documents and criteria I shared with you, I need to take some time and revise this version. Many of the ones you wrote are much better than my version. I promise I will do so, but I don’t know when that will happen.