Tuesday, 21 February 2012

My first observation - yeah

I had my first observed session today - I was really pleased with how it went.  I think I was lucky that I had a really good group of students who engaged well and worked together effectively.  The activities I had planned worked well as the learners were able to learn for themselves instead of me just spoon feeding them the information.  I think that this is the best way to learn.  If I think back to school and university the things that I remember were connected to personal experiences and when I had some input in my own learning.  ‘The key to effective, long-term is based upon experiential learning which has the following features: personal involvement, stimulation of feelings and thinking, self-initiation and self-evaluation….. Active learning by doing is seen as the key, but some form of reflection through evaluation is essential’ (Reece and Walker, 2007: 87).


In my past position I had, what I considered, unfair observations form my manager who had very little positive things to say about my teaching.  I feel I am willing to listen to constructive criticism as I do want to continually improve but I don’t respond well if I think comments are not valid or fair.  As a result I have built up a bit of a barrier in my own mind about observations.  On the positive side it has made me aware of the importance of treating students fairly and giving good quality feedback.  This prompted me to do a bit of research into feedback and I came across the research carried out by John Hattie (2009) who was interested in determining exactly what has the greatest influence on student learning.  ‘Hattie shows that feedback has more impact on learning than any other general factor, but it requires an activity and a product’ (Petty, 2009: 85).  I think this is really important.  I do think about the feedback I give learners, especially as this is an art and design course where continuous dialogue is an intrinsic element of improving students art and design practice, but reading this information has made me consider it in more depth.



References
Petty, G. (2009) Evidence-Based Teaching; A Practical Approach, 2nd edition, Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd.

Reece, I. and Walker. S (2007) Teaching, Training and Learning; A Practical Guide, 6th edition, Tyne and Wear: Business Education Publishers Ltd.
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1 comment:

  1. Bethan Morgan28 May 2012 at 11:24

    Glad to see it all went well Louise with good, positive feedback. Since doing the course I have become aware of how important feedback is not only for students but also for myself as a teacher. Reflecting on feedback from students helps us to evaluate how effective our teaching is and can provide us with specific information such as how students are responding to the learning materials or what aspects of their learning are they enjoying most (Wallace 2008).
    One of the most important sources of feedback is from the learners themselves (Wallace 2008). I now tend to give students evaluation sheets to complete at the end of my lessons.
    Students require feedback also, on what they have done well, what was particularly good about it, and also what needs improving, and how to improve it (Petty 2009).

    Petty, G. (2009) Teaching Today 4th edn Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd

    Wallace, S. Teaching, Tutoring and Training in the Lifelong Learning Sector 3rd edn Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd

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