Teaching Observation
1. In the Family Way seminar week 10
2. In the Family Way symposium term 3
Structure, Planning & Organisation:
The seminar took place in a relaxed and constructive atmosphere. Students gave minipresentations on fairy tales. Cathy made invaluable interjections linking across the tales
and was very encouraging and supportive when useful points were made by the
students.
The symposium took place in the teaching grid in the library. The group presentations
were preceded by a fruitful discussion with library staff about the skills the students had
developed as a result of the research they had done on the module.
Learning Outcomes:
The learning outcomes for each of the 2 sessions I observed were exemplary and clearly
conveyed to the students.
Methods & Approach:
Cathy’s approach is a model we should all aspire to. She is able to draw the best of her
students and push them to achieve much more than could be expected. In seminars she
is able to pinpoint things to think about further, offer suggested further reading,
encourage the weaker students, enable them to see links between each other’s work.
The symposium idea is one we should all consider adopting as it pushed the students to
undertake extensive independent research and present it in a supportive atmosphere.
The presentations were extremely well prepared and delivered confidently. The students
were able to combine close readings of the texts with analysis of the secondary material
in a thoughtful and constructive manner and the format of the symposium really gave
the group a sense of identity and achievement.
Content:
Cathy was extremely well prepared for both sessions. She is very familiar with the
material and so able to give the students both references to the primary material and
secondary sources to push the students further. She is also excellent at pulling together
threads and themes from across the module to encourage students to think more
laterally about the issues under discussion.
Delivery, Pace, Tone & Timing:
In a word: exemplary!
Participation/Interaction:
Cathy’s interaction with students is a model for us all to aspire to. She has a great
rapport with them, creates a supportive and friendly atmosphere but pushes them
intellectually with a series of probing questions that really stretch the students. Student
participation is extensive in seminars but Cathy unobtrusively guides and controls the
material so that everyone gets as much out of the student presentations as possible. The
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symposium format as conclusion to the module worked brilliantly, not just as a way of
focussing revision material but as a means to developing the students transferable skills
as well as their abilities as researchers.
Learning Resources:
The students had developed their expertise in prezi in order to do the symposium
presentations. They had also developed their research skills through the training sessions
provided by the library. In the seminar hour and the symposium, Cathy made judicious
use of the flip chart to reinforce key points.
The use of a Wiki to support class time is also an approach that it would be worth
extending to other modules in the department, if not the university more widely.
Overall style and ambience:
The students were fully engaged throughout the 2 sessions I observed and were
responding well to Cathy’s style and the conducive atmosphere she creates in her
classes.
Conclusion
Cathy is an outstanding teacher whose willingness to investigate how new technology
can support and sustain traditional teaching is exemplary. Her belief in research-led
teaching has resulted in a fascinating collaboration with the library which should be held
up as a model for others to emulate. Her teaching methods should be filmed as an
example of best practice. It is certainly already the case that new members of staff and
postgrads who teach within the department benefit from observing her and it is great
that through the Student as Researcher pilot with the library, others across the university
can now also benefit from her teaching methods.
Observer:
Name (print)_Katherine Astbury, Reader in French Studies
Date____13/08/13_________________________
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