Record of Observation or Review of Teaching Practice. Observed by Peer         

 

Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: 1:2:1 Study Skills Tutorial

Size of student group: 1

Observer: Charline Caceres

Observee: Fran Barry

 

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?

The session is one of a weekly 1:2:1 study skills tutorial.  The sessions are usually face to face but due to personal circumstances the student has requested an online session.

How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?

I have been working with the student since the beginning of this academic year.  She is a Phd research student and is relatively new to the whole process.

What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?

At the first session an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) is agreed as part of the learning contract.  A key issue that we focus on is time management and organizing workload.  The student has a family and therefore competing priorities. Another key issue is reading strategies and note making as the research project requires the student to complete a large volume of research to underpin their research topic.

What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?

This particular lesson will focus on a discussion of reading strategies and note making in particular.

Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?

The student already has a number of strategies so hopefully this tutorial will add something to her existing approach and not just repeat what she already knows.

How will students be informed of the observation/review?

She was informed a couple of weeks ago and is happy for the observation to take place.

What would you particularly like feedback on?

I am interested to see how well I manage to make the session interactive and not just lead with advise on how to make notes.

How will feedback be exchanged?

Hopefully via written and verbal means.

Part Two

Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:

Any phrases starting with “ are your words, St. is student responses and [ ] are comments of what happened.

[You start with a recap then switched to asking how the student’s presentation went]

St. responds…

[You’re listening with acknowledging prompts “right, yeah”]

[Student continues with progress from experience, and you affirm with “brilliant, and when is the event”]

“speaking of last time…” [back to recap]

“any more feedback from supervisors?” [checking development since last discussions]

St. responds with “supervisors were fine, that’s a relief”

[Good listening – you are looking away – are you checking notes? – still affirming listening is happening “okay, yeah”]

“You have already been accepted so it shouldn’t affect you visiting later…” [Reassuring student]

“the last thing we discussed…exhibition plans” [continued recap]

St. responds “It was getting a bit too much at one point wasn’t it? That’s what we were talking about” [student adds to recap].

[You invite yourself to exhibition – you are cultivating belonging and creating a safe space through active engagement and promoting a culture of mutual respect]

“we’ve talked a few times about reading strategies and well, more organisation of reading material [you move on to discuss student’s literature review].

[You briefly mention AI as a tool but didn’t expand. You did some research for the student on reading strategies from a study skills book].

“It’s going back to basics, I apologise if it feels patronising… you have lots of techniques under your belt” [you recognise student’s prior knowledge and show sensitivity to their level of expertise aligning with a form of constructivist teaching perhaps].

[pause while you share screen… then you ask about the baby – connecting on a personal level] [family]

“can you see the shared screen? This is some standard writing tips, you can compare this with what you’re doing at the moment” [you talk through reading strategy and using it for critical reading]

“I read a lot myself, but I read really quickly, since I started this course [PgCert] I realised that’s not critical reading…” [you go on to explain critical reading from your own learnings. Using ‘Use of Self’ to build your relationship and empathy]

“are you still sifting through different frameworks” [checking back with the student for relevancy]

St. responds “still very early stages of sifting through…”

“but you have an idea of the overall theme?” [finding out more, progressive questioning]

[You ask about research area – Is this to understand where she’s at with regards to the note taking method or connection building?]

St responds “… She gave it to the archive herself… it’s fascinating” [student engages with this inquiry, building enthusiasm]

[you continue to ask questions about students research]

“okay, so you’ve got the kind of argument, looking for sets of reasons, support arguments” [you bring it back to the note taking strategy]

“I think she was talking about not just researching literature, but also quantitative information…” [you explain the strategy further]

“will you be doing any quantitative research?”

St… I don’t think so…

“okay, maybe that bit won’t be relevant…” connecting back to the strategy in question.

[you continue to ask questions to find out what’s required for her research]

[You ask about current note taking methods] st. … I use an App called Notion, I’m bad at it but I do try.

“okay, so this is good research and makes it easier for the reader…” [You bring it back to note taking strategy. Might there be an opportunity to explore student’s comments (I’m bad at this) further to identify specific obstacles?]

[while explaining note taking you acknowledge that sometimes the difficulty lies in the reading/author, not the reader… language… You are affirming that the student is not at fault.]

“you are still formulating that?”

St. “I’m starting to highlight colour code the themes…” {development]

“I remember you saying you like to read a book, and then read it again to take notes, is that right” [confirming your knowledge about student process]

St “I worry about wasting time but prefer to do that”

“its good to take notes, even as a motor skills perspective…. Motor memory… nothing you don’t already know, but a good reminder… [again, assuring student of her knowledge]

[student talks about being slow] “critical can take time, but could use a lot of time to read first and then again to take notes” [gentle suggestion as response to why it might be slow]

[guidance given by reflecting using in ‘use of self’ from your experience on PgCert given, writing everything down can be useful]

St. responds “yeah, like a brain dump”

St. “it all feels very slow, I don’t know if that’s normal”

“it can take time…”

[you show student another method… pause…]

[you talk through method]

[student talks through a fellow student’s techniques] “but I could never be that organized”

“it sounds just like what’s recommended” [could there be some exploration here about what the student thinks she could manage in terms of organization?]

[you continue to explain method, and ask if the student showed her an example]

[Pause, while you look for another method you want to show student, then you engage with her experience of her work]

[you ask questions about her experience while explaining the new method]

“do you read the whole book?”

St. “sometimes yes, but sometimes I look at the intro and conclusion…”

[you talk about being critical with reading… as you get more confident with the texts you can decide…you refer to your experience and building confidence to be more selective – this is reassuring]

St. “one of the areas I do need to improve on is this critical… for example I found a relevant piece of reading and thought it was amazing, but supervisor said it was problematic…”

[you talk about being critical and thinking about the author’s positionality] “get to know as much as you can about who’s written it”

St. there’s confidence involved, isn’t there?”

“yeah”

“moving forward…” [you prepare to conclude]

St. “this is really helpful”

“I hope so, I hope I’m not telling you what you already know” [affirming students knowledge again]

“have a go… I wouldn’t pick a long one… one of them is 12 pages or something?” [laugh]

St. “thanks, really appreciate it”

“the more you’re practicing”

St. “and organizing it, so difficult when you have dyslexia”

“you can make your own categories with these note taking methods…”

“okay, I’ll see you next week”

St. I really appreciate it”

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Feeback

Your session was highly interactive and ‘student-centered’, effectively balancing guidance with space for the student’s input. You consistently acknowledged the student’s prior knowledge, reinforcing their confidence while introducing new three reading and note-taking strategies in a way that felt supportive rather than prescriptive. You covered a lot in one 1-hour session!

You clearly did a lot of preparation to ensure you were providing useful strategies / note taking methods. Your use of questioning was particularly strong at times, helping the student reflect on their own methods and refine their approach (ensuring relevancy). You struck a balance between being authoritative and compassionate, providing clear expertise while also creating a safe, encouraging space for discussion.

Staying present in a one-to-one or tutorial while ensuring important statements are acknowledged can be challenging. Techniques like active listening, pausing to reflect, and asking open-ended questions might help, not as rigid strategies but as ways to develop a more intuitive and responsive approach. Would it be useful to explore adaptable frameworks that allow space for unexpected but valuable discussions? Perhaps note-taking or post-session reflection could support this process?

The way you connected on a personal level and reassured the student about their progress contributed to a positive learning environment. You encouraged a ‘growth mindset’ through using specific yet probing questions and scaffolding to build confidence in the students abilities to work independently.

Overall, this an engaging session that encouraged reflection and independent learning.

Part Three

Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:

The observer’s comments are very generous, and the record of the session is really detailed.  Very impressed that she was able to capture so much from the session. I have to admit that I was nervous and aware that the session was being observed and, on reflection I think my nerves contributed to the speed with which I covered some of the points we were discussing. In fact she pointed out that I covered a lot in one 1 hour session.  Maybe I should have broken it down, chunked the exercise and done a bit more deep diving. Less is more.

Highlights for me are her confirmation that the tutorial was student focussed and pitched at the right level.  This is a very able PhD student with lots of strategies under her belt so I was fearful that the exercise on critical writing and note taking might have seemed too simplistic, not a good use of her time in the session. The observer reported that the student seemed engaged, and she thanked me after the session.  We are still working through and exploring ways to make notes, not just take notes.

The observer also provided feedback that I have been reflecting on and intend to make some adjustments to improve my practice. She observed that I looked away from the student, I was reading her record of work from the previous week.  I also flipped between what she was currently doing and our weekly recap.  I need to work on finishing the recap. 

Her suggestions about using techniques like active listening more effectively, more pausing to reflect and asking more open-ended questions are techniques that I will be more conscious of going forward. Sometimes its hard to know where the conversation will go during tutorials but as the observer notes, it is very important to stay present in a one-to-one or tutorial while allowing space for unexpected but valuable discussions.

A really useful and thought-provoking exercise.