Observation Report by Paulami Banerjee
Describe the academic setting that you observed. Include the
professional's role in this setting. What were the goals for this class or
laboratory? Were the goals accomplished?
I observed Professor X of the Physics Department, in a lecture setting for
PHYS 1##. I am the Teaching Assistant for the laboratory portion of this course.
There are approximately 100 students enrolled for this course. It is described
as an introductory physics course and each lecture is for 50 minutes. The day I
was observing, Professor X was introducing the concept of momentum and
conservation of energy. He succeeded in going over the momentum portion of his
goal but left a little bit of conservation of energy part for the next lecture.
Describe the instructional strategies that enhanced the class or
laboratory that you observed. Consider the degree of involvement and interaction
that the students had with each other and the professional.
Professor X started the lecture by giving some feedback about the test he had
taken last week and the homework that he had handed out at the beginning of the
class. He also went over some policies about the midterm grades for the course
and the laboratory. He started the lecture by talking in detail about what he
was going to discuss in that lecture and going over concepts needed to
understand what he was going to teach. He gave a very concise and pertinent
definition of momentum, which was helpful as sometimes concepts tend to confuse
undergraduate students who are dealing with it for the first time. Throughout
the lecture he explained the concepts with suitable examples which would enhance
the understanding of the concept by illustrating its applicability in real life.
He also used visual aids for better understanding. When he spoke about the types
of collision and how momentum is conserved, he used a rubber ball and a steel
ball to better establish what he was trying to explain. He invited question from
the students after each important concept. He threw out some question to the
students to gauge their understanding of what he had just taught. Since, this
was a lecture class there was no interaction between the students. I observed a
certain ease with which the students were interacting with Professor X. They
felt comfortable stopping him and asking him questions if they did not
understand something about his lecture.
Discuss what you have learned from this observation that you would like
to include in your own repertoire of instructional strategies.
In my opinion, it is important to build a rapport with the students as
Professor X did. Especially at my level when it is easier for me because of my
age and having recently undergone the same kind of situation as they are in
right now. This will help to ease the tension that I often observe when the
undergraduate students come in for a laboratory where the instructor is a
Teaching Assistant. If I can put them at ease then they will not only perform
better but also feel free to make use of my help for the laboratory procedure
being performed. Also, I observed Professor X using instructional aids to
explain concepts. That would help me in explaining to my students, as sometimes
they see new concepts in the laboratory before the lecture class. Feedback from
previous labs are an important part, so that they can understand the procedure
and standards being utilized by me to grade their laboratory reports, which will
help then perform better in future.
Open-ended response - please use this question to add information not
covered in the other three questions.
I feel that in order to help students in my lab effectively I must be
prepared to deal with unforeseen situations, like a malfunctioning equipment
etc. Our lab director, Professor Y, always keeps us in the loop and has regular
TA meetings where he gives us handouts to better our understanding of the lab we
are about to teach. Also, he comes around during the lab to see if everything is
functioning well. This helps us a lot as sometimes in the middle of the
experiment something is always going wrong.