Learning

and Teaching Observation Form

Staff member: Helen Geytenbeek Observer: Heather Day Observation Date: Tuesday 16th April Teaching Practice Context: Certificate in Travel and Tourism level 3

18 female, 2 male, age range: 17-30. Classroom session, with computer research and activities in groups. Specific feedback requested by staff member Guide: Identify specific feedback requested How well do I engage the students ? You have a good rapport with the students. Initially it took a while for the class to warm up but once you were into the activities they connected and engaged well with the session content. Refer to comments under the section Learning and Teaching Process. Do I talk too much? Overall there was a good balance of information and activity there was one point where you were covering grounds and areas that the information giving became a little lengthy and students were loosing focus. Also refer to the suggestions under the Learning and Teaching Process section How successful are the activities? There was a good choice of engagement activities that encouraged the students to think, search, consider and respond but potential challenges arose during the feedback part of these activities. I have made some suggestions for this further on in my feedback. Learning Objective - planning/organisation/preparation

Guide: Was a learning objective clear to the learners? Comment on the organisation of the learning session. Did this flow well and could the participants follow it easily? Were links made to other parts of the course or programme? Was the session well prepared?

Comment on highlights and provide constructive feedback things to think about

This was a well planned session where you were introducing human rights and the implications of the Human Rights Act to the Tourism Industry especially in relation to employment issues. I thought that it was very helpful to the students having written the outline of your plan for the session on the whiteboard. They could clearly see and refer back to this plan through the session. There was a good flow through the ideas and it was evident how this was building and developing throughout the session. Management of Context - risk/behaviour/environment
Guide: Comment on the environment and whether the lecturer did or could have done more to make the environment congenial for learning. How were both elements of risk and behaviour handled?

Comment on highlights and provide constructive feedback things to think about

Helen Geytenbeek, Learning and Teaching Observation ,Otago Polytechnic, April 2013.

Once latecomers arrived there were 14 students in this session. You had some real challenges in terms of the layout of the room that you had to work with. This was a very long narrow room with six computers at each hexagonal workstation. There were data screens at either end of the long room and a whiteboard to the side in the middle of the room. You managed this well making good use of both data screens and also speaking loudly and clearly so that all could hear you. There tended to be only a maximum of 4 students at the workstations so this spread the students across the whole room with only 2 at a table in some cases. I was aware that the students had previously been allocated to specific groups so this impacted on their seating within the room. On this occasion it appeared as though their groupings were not significant to the learning outcomes of the activities (but I may have missed something here) so I wondered if the students could have been grouped closer together for this session, ie, into the larger part of the long room. This would have made it much easier to hear each student speak when they were giving feedback. The whiteboard could also have been rotated so it was easier for everyone to see. If they were required to work with their allocated groups on a specific project the students could have been moved back into those groups later. Learning and Teaching Process - implementation/facilitation/connection between theory and practice
Guide: Comment on the presentation and facilitation style, level of interaction, enthusiasm and interest; connection between theory and practice; authenticity. Identify any teaching aids or resources used, commenting on the effectiveness of these.

Comment on highlights and provide constructive feedback things to think about

There was a smooth and logical flow to this session which was well planned and thought through. It was great to see you making the best use of the room facilities ie, a computer available to every student to encourage the students to seek out the relevant information for themselves. Initially they were reluctant to search the web for answers to your questions in the first activity but with your positive persistence they eventually started to offer more. Another couple of approaches to this activity could include initially getting students to sit in pairs at one computer so they can bounce ideas off each other and encourage each other to find the information. Alternatively this could be turned into a quick quiz type situation with rewards such as wrapped sweets eg Minties/Toffees for the first correct answer as a way to lighten the focus. There was a period of time when a lot of information was given to the students when you were covering the topic of grounds and areas . This could have been broken up with a short activity allocating each aspect to a pair of students and getting them to provide an example. It was great to see that you made connections to things that impact directly on them as students such as the link to OP students code of conduct and rights and responsibilities. This brings the topic very much back into the realm of their own experience. It was also great to link and refer to their course assessments. The two larger interactive learning tasks that you set the group worked well in terms of students seeking out information, discussing the issues and exploring responses to your questions. You had prepared these activities well and supplied good resources. Despite seating issues the students worked reasonably well on the activities but not necessarily as groups. I noticed that with both exercises you provided a couple of scenarios per group for them to explore, I wondered if it may have been preferable to give only one scenario per group as with one group who only had two people I noticed they each researched a scenario and didnt interact with each other much at all. Using more than one scenario also tended to split the groups of 3 or 4.
Helen Geytenbeek, Learning and Teaching Observation ,Otago Polytechnic, April 2013.

Gaining feedback from the groups on their learning took quite a bit of time as there were at least 7 to 8 feedback sessions for each activity based on the way the groups had split themselves. As more feedback was required from the second activity I noticed that students were loosing focus and quietly talking or engaging in other activities. Challenges with this feedback were enhanced by the difficulty hearing what each student was saying in such a large room. Some other ways of encouraging feedback could include: Combining two or 3 smaller groups to feedback to each other and then identify the key themes (they could write these on the whiteboard) There could be a different key question focussed at each group that builds to a collective picture rather than all information fed back each time. As they are all sitting at a computer they could feed their information/responses into a collective class wiki and then collectively pull out the key themes or look at similarities in processes (this also overcomes the challenges of not being able to hear others) whilst you are still being the voice that keeps the class together so even though they are on screen they are also still connected in the room. Throughout the session your instructions for activities were always clear and easy to follow. Relationship with Learner communication/support/ unlocking learner potential
Guide: Comment on interaction between the lecturer and participants, nature of the communication, and how learners are supported, encouraged and challenged.

Comment on highlights and provide constructive feedback things to think about

As mentioned previously you appear to have a comfortable and friendly rapport wit the students and they appeared comfortable to ask questions when they were unsure and seek your help when they were engaged in the research activities. I noticed that you often used students names especially when seeking feedback from them. This is a great way for them to feel acknowledged and connected to you. You were positive with your responses to any feedback they provided and also challenged them to think further rather than just accepting an initial response from them. You also provided a good interactive balance in your communications as you connected with each group whilst they were working on their learning activities. Learner Feedback reflection/achievement of objectives
Guide: What feedback was given to learners and how was this offered?

Comment on highlights and provide constructive feedback things to think about

As mentioned above you were positive in your encouragement of the students and also sought more from them. It was a nice touch to thank the students for the work they were doing at the end of a large exercise. I wonder if it may also have been useful to draw a brief summary from the students as to what they had learned in that session before they took a break after the first hour and a half. This could help them focus on what they had achieved so far and serve as a reference point for the start of the second half of the session. You may have done this as a summary activity at the end of the session but I can only comment on the first 90 minutes I was present for.
Helen Geytenbeek, Learning and Teaching Observation ,Otago Polytechnic, April 2013.

 Key Comments Thank you for the privilege of observing one of your teaching sessions and providing feedback. The session I observed was well planned and undertaken. This was largely an interactive session with most students engaged throughout. You provided excellent resources and web links for the students to make use of. You had to contend with a few challenges such as the layout of the room and the difficulty of the students being able to hear each others responses. I have included a few suggestions that I hope may be helpful in assisting with these challenges and increasing student engagement during the feedback part of the activities. You have a good rapport with the students, positively encouraging them and stimulating them to think further and engage more deeply. Signature: Observer Heather Day Signature: Staff member: Helen Geytenbeek

Helen Geytenbeek, Learning and Teaching Observation ,Otago Polytechnic, April 2013.