Teaching Observations

Purpose & Scope

Through teaching observations, you will reflect on your own practice, receive feedback, and gain inspiration from our community of instructors. One of your course sessions can be observed by a member of the Faculty Development Team. All course formats can be observed, such as including web conference online (synchronous and or synchronous with on-demand option) and HELIX-HyFlex (online, in-person, and on-demand).

Key Benchmarks

For the teaching observation, we are looking for the following 3 key benchmarks to support your growth as an instructor.

1. Alignment Between Learning Objectives & Course Content: Instructor communicates clear learning objectives and supports students to meet these goals through course instruction, activities, materials, and assignments.

2. Engagement through Active Learning: Instructor cultivates instructor-to-student and student-to-student relationships through active learning activities that may involve, but is not limited to class discussion, group work, case studies, role playing, and creative problem-solving.

3. Human-Centered & Inclusive Learning Environment & Curriculum: Instructor creates a human-centered and inclusive learning environment and curriculum that values and leverages students’ diverse identities, perspectives, and voices.

Process

Our teaching observation process will occur in phases. After you share your self-reflection form with the Faculty Development Team, we will meet with you to debrief your self-reflection, for us to provide you with feedback, and to identify goals together that you can implement into your teaching. We will check-in on your progress during a follow-up observation and meeting.

1. Self-Reflection Form (#1)

2. Completion of Observation

3. Goals Meeting with Faculty Development Team: Meet to discuss self-reflection form and observation, and identify goals for change

4. Self Reflection Form (#2)

5. Check-In on Progress with Faculty Development Team

Options

To provide you with options of different types of support, you can choose from the options below:

Option 1

1 Observation of Your Course Session

Option 2

1 Observation of Your Course in the Beginning of the Semester
1 Observation of Your Course Mid-Semester

Guidelines & Forms

Through the teaching observation forms, we provide guidelines and questions to consider for one’s teaching practice, which are featured in the forms below:

Self-Reflection Guidelines & Form (Click here)

The purpose of this form is for you to reflect upon your teaching within the scope of an individual course session and to identify areas of success and areas of growth to continue developing your teaching practice.

Teaching Observation Guidelines & Form (Click here)

The purpose of this form is for the Faculty Development Team to record our observations of an Instructor teaching an individual course session. Through this process, we will identify concrete examples of how each of the 3 benchmarks is reflected in your teaching. Also, we will identify glows (areas of success) and grows (areas of growth) and provide additional feedback to support an Instructor to continue developing their teaching practice.