TeaCHE Category 4
Category 4: Observations
Category 4 comprises observing someone else's teaching and having your own teaching observed. It is not required that the person who observes your teaching be the same person that you observe.
Observing a Faculty Member
You should observe at least one teaching session of a faculty member. There are no restrictions on the department or scholarly discipline in which you conduct your observation. That is, you do not have to stay within your own department or discipline. The aim of this exercise is to attend a class with the express purpose of observation of teaching in a higher education setting: style, method, student-teacher dynamics, etc. Therefore, observations are not allowed of any class in which you are enrolled as a student.
You will use the Classroom Observation Reflection to document your classroom observation in your final submission packet for TeaCHE. You are not expected or required to review a faculty members' teaching or provide feedback using the Classroom Observation Feedback form. Use the Classroom Observation Reflection form, not the Classroom Observation Feedback form.
Being Observed
You will also be observed teaching by either a fellow from the ATL or a Baylor faculty member. For graduate student teachers of record (TORs), this observation can occur in their own classes. Participants in the capstone program that are not TORs will need to make arrangements to teach a class session and be observed. Subsequent to being observed, the observer should meet at least once with you to provide feedback, assessing strengths and weaknesses and offering suggestions for improvement.
For the final submission packet, please have your observer use the Classroom Observation Feedback form to document the observation and attach any report, notes, or other product of the consultation and feedback. After you are observed, please also complete a Classroom Observation Reflection (the same form used for observing a faculty member) to record your insights. Both the Feedback and Reflection will be part of your final submission packet.