This evaluation was handed out after a Cell Physiology, PHY 595, class I led. The class is a discussion based course and during this class we used a case study to practice applying what they had learned about cell signaling to an insulin problem. The case study included some background information, a situation introduced involving two characters, and then application questions. To review information they had covered in other courses I started off the class with a PowerPoint to summarize old concepts. I passed out the case study with numbers written on each one so that each student knew right away that they would be reading 1 section, and answering at least 1 question. Then we went through the case study as a group. This was also the class period for my second professor evaluation. That is included here, and on the professor evaluation page.
Question 1: The instructor chooses activities appropriate to the prescribed curriculum
I liked the activity today;
The activities are very appropriate;
The activity did a great job of explaining the relevance of cascades and intracellular signaling;
very on-topic activities;
Question 2: The instructor models, demonstrates, and provides example
She wrote on the board examples when we were confused;
she gave adequate of the above (examples);
powerpoint images were helpful; she gave supplementary diagrams/figures;
yes, however animations would have been slightly easier (not really possible but for the future, it helps);
Question 3: The instructor shows concern for students
Christina is a little shy but it seems like she cares;
she helps when she notices us struggling;
definitely!;
helps to correct when students don’t appear to understand;
Question 4: The instructor demonstrates enthusiasm, vigor, involvement, and interest in lesson presentation
She is involved and interested;
Shy but seems passionate…little contradicting, but she is very nice and very interested in making sure we learn;
she is very enthusiastic;
today’s class was great;
as much as could be expected
Question 5: The instructor is responsive to student questions
She doesn’t always know the answers but refers us to Dr. B when she needs to;
yes, and if she doesn’t know, she will refer us to the right material;
yes, very much
Question 6: The instructor uses effective examples and illustration
Plenty of examples in the activity and extra examples in the powerpoint;
powerpoint was really helpful;
Effective;
Question 7: The instructor encourages participation from all student
Good job of dividing out all the parts/reading and answering questions;
Great job! Keep it up;
Very helpful in learning insulin signaling! Good diagrams, examples. Would’ve been better if we had some more creative questions (not just from the paper);
she looks to us for participation and asks us questions;
numbering did that well;
yes, everybody was required to read/answer questions;
I like the way she made things even
Professor Evaluation
My Reflection on Evaluation
1. What did you feel went well in this class session? This was the first time I tried using a numbering technique in class. In previous classes I have noticed a few people answer questions more than others, especially when the topic is Biochemistry and they know it better. So I wanted to make sure those people didn’t dominate this class as well. I told them ahead of time I felt like this made it seem less personal, because I’m using numbers not names, but that it was so I unbiasedly called upon students to answer or read. And this way they started off the class knowing at one point they will be reading and at one point they will answer an application question. I was lucky that the students had been split up into random groups for the whole semester, so by this time when we all gathered as one class they were quite comfortable with each other. That way when I called on a person and they didn’t know the answer, they could call on a friend and no one seemed uncomfortable about it. They had also talked to me a lot throughout the course working through questions, so they simply said they weren’t sure on the answer and waited to work through it. I also liked rewording the answer or drawing it out for people after someone answered. It is a small classroom, but giving people another chance to jot down the answer, or hear it in a new way could have helped. And sometimes in their groups I have to ask if everyone understood the answer to a question they were discussing and every now and then I catch that one or two group members will proceed without the others. Or other people will not speak up if they are the only ones not understanding it. So I wanted to double check that wasn’t happening.
2. What would you like to change about this class session if you had to teach it again? I had a couple people show up late and I did not do another recap of what we were doing. Since it was such a high portion of the small class, doing so would have helped those that came late. I also added the pictures later on in my planning, so I wasn’t as familiar with them as I wanted to be. Because I had them appear on the screen I wasn’t sure exactly what was coming next and it might have come off as I wasn’t prepared. Having it up on a different screen has helped me before, I just didn’t think I needed it with so few slides. And having hand written questions down would have helped. I asked a couple questions to gauge what they knew previously to the case study from other classes. But having it written down would have kept me from pausing to think of more questions. Even though all in all it didn’t take up much of the class time.
3. In the light of the observer’s comments, what aspects of your teaching approach will you look at changing in the future? How will you do this? I did like the comment on the type of questions to use to guide them to the correct answer. I do tend to pick easier concept questions and straight lead them hand by hand to the answer. I think I partly do this so I know it’s something they can grasp quickly and to boost confidence to keep going with the answers. But since this is a discussion based course they can ponder things awhile. I also tend to feel stuck when students are all confused and staring at me waiting for an explanation, like I want to give them something quickly. Instead of responding with another application question they again might be confused about.
4. What have you found useful/not so useful about the observation process? This was different than my review sessions I lead. In the review sessions the students can choose to come if they need to. I pick the topics I think they need help with and develop a lesson plan around that, including things from class or the book. Because this one was a case study with predetermined questions and answers it was a little more of me figuring out how to do this particular thing and not so much I pick whatever I want. So I had to figure out how to address the reading, the background information, how to get everyone involved, and how to make sure I kept everyone on task. Because the audience wasn’t just filled with people interested in this specific topic because they needed help. And it was just nice that everyone knew who I was and gave me control of the class without really asking about it, since we had not warned them ahead of time. A few times I had to turn to the professor for really specific questions about diabetes but other than that it was just me and them. So I liked leading a discussion class versus a review session. We had far less to go over and more just fun conversations. And having the whole class work together versus go around to three different groups was also a nice change compared to how we normally run class.