Faculty-to-Faculty
Post-Observation Guidelines
As soon as possible after observing a class, the participants should meet to reflect. This conference will be most effective if both participants focus on what happened in the class (observation) and asking questions that allow both to consider different ways of teaching.
General Guidelines to consider:
- Avoid evaluating the class. Instead focus on description and asking the instructor to explore his or her own choices.
- Focus on the issues the instructor defined in the pre-observation conference. If the instructor asked for recommendations, focus on concrete behaviors rather than generalizations.
- Allow the instructor of the class to reflect on what he or she thought went well and consider the strengths of the class.
- Think about how you could use strategies that you saw in the other classroom for your own classes. It might be tempting to say “I do this differently,” but it is more valuable to consider the strengths of another way, even if you decide not to change.
- Consider common problems and how you address those problems differently. It might be useful to spend some time brainstorming other additional options.
Some questions you might start with:
1. What strengths did you demonstrate in this class? How could you build on those strengths? (And by extension how could someone else use those same techniques?)
2. I noticed that you [exhibited some sort of strategy, i.e. called students by name, moved around the room, started class with an audio clip and so on] Why did you do that? Did the students respond in the way you expected?
3. How well did you meet the goals you set for this class?
4. What other ways of teaching did you consider before class? Why did you reject them?
5. What did you do that helped your students better understand the purpose of this class? How did you clarify ideas for them?
6. What would you change if you could teach that class again? Why?
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