Record of Observation or Review of Teaching Practice
Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: Informed Practice 1
Size of student group: 20
Observer: Serra Ozdemir
Observee: Alina Potemska
Note: This record is solely for exchanging developmental feedback between colleagues. Its reflective aspect informs PgCert and Fellowship assessment, but it is not an official evaluation of teaching and is not intended for other internal or legal applications such as probation or disciplinary action.
Part One
Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:
What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?
On 6 March 2025 there is a session for Informed Practice 1 for BA (Hons) Games Art students in W231. There will be a lecture from 10am titled: Developing and Writing Literature review. Also, we will be looking into usage of Note-taking tool.
There is a visit from Academic Support Librarian planned with a Library intro on 11.30.
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
It’s a second session for the group, first time meeting them in person after online briefing.
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
Understanding how develop and write literature review and use note taking tool.
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
Students will be invited to log in to Padlet and put their essay topic, start looking for references and note references via note-taking tool by next session.
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
Issues with logging in to Moodle, teams, padlet.
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
At the begging of the session.
What would you particularly like feedback on?
On my teaching style.
How will feedback be exchanged?
In text form, open to a verbal feedback as well.
Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:
This was the first session for the tutor with the students with a morning session. She welcomed them with a good opening question about how they are doing and went through the schedule of the day. The tutor told students that they can let her know if they feel uncomfortable with the temperature in the room. One downside is that the AC noise is quite loud, but the tutor’s voice can still be heard.
Update on the AC (After 35 min into the seminar): Tutor turned off the AC, which helped reduce the noise. By turning of the AC, there was more clarity to her voice.
The tutor welcomed students and directed them that they could sit wherever they felt comfortable. When the students arrived late, the tutor has successfully let them in the room without interrupting her lecture. This did not interrupt her flow and engagement.
Update (after 50 min in the seminar): More students arrived, and tutor asked them ‘Ohh what happened to you guys?’ in a fun way. She welcomed the students into the class and directed them to take a seat. The students quickly settled into available spots in the room.
The tutor started with a series of question to students where it successfully initiated questions with students. She reassured that that writing the essay will be fine.
Physical space:
The layout of the room is unfortunately tricky for the tutor to face all the students at the same time, as she has to stand in the middle of the space. It would have been a better layout if the tutor had directed the students to sit at the back of the room to face them all. With the rooms layout that cannot be changed, the tutor used the current layout actively by walking up to different sections of the room to engage in conversations.
Throughout the lecture tutor kept asking students questions to maintain engagement. She directed the questions to different groups of the students that were seated in the different parts of the room.
Some students were using their iPads, phones and screens were available in the room through the lecture. Some used these for note taking for the seminar, to take pictures of the slides on the screens while a couple of students were playing games on their phones.
The tutor gave examples to students by utilizing the objects in the room to explain her topic further. Many of her examples were drawn from games, which inspired students with ideas for their papers. This actually engaged more conversations from the students. The tutor also told the story of “monkey and banana” story, which captured the students’ attention and helped explain why referencing is important. Nice story 🙂
The tutor successfully went through the bullet points of her slides that were on the screen. With engaging examples and pictures for the students to be able to ask questions.
The tutor used Padlet in her lecture and gave clear instructions to students on what task they need to complete. She also gave directions where they can locate the link to the Padlet. The exercise initiated conversations among the students. Tutor also went around the room to help students if they had questions and actively engaged in discussions with them.
Tutor introduced LEO from library and asked students if they would need a break. She made the decision of taking a short break and clearly gave students information on when they would continue the lecture.
Suggestions:
Would you consider asking students to sit at a specific location of the room to be able to engage more conversation from them? Currently some of them seem to hide away behind the screens.
With the AC turned off, your seminar was clear, as there was not a constant noise in the background. This might get tricky for the rest of the term as the weather gets warmer and you might need to have the AC on for a longer period. It might be worth checking if adjusting the fan speed reduces the noise level in the room.
Overall, this a was well structured and done lecture for the students. Students seemed engaged, and they were listening, taking notes and asking questions to the tutor.
Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
During my classes I aim to create a welcoming and inclusive environment.
I was mindful of the physical discomfort caused by the AC and made the decision to turn it off partway through the session to improve vocal clarity, which appeared to enhance communication.
I was pleased to see students interacting with the content, asking questions, and using the Padlet activity to collaborate. There was a mix of attentiveness and distraction among students, which I hope to address in future sessions, possibly by guiding seating arrangements to encourage greater focus.
Overall, I feel that the session achieved its goals, and I appreciated the opportunity to recieve a feedback, reflect and continue improving.