Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed:

Size of student group:

Observer: Beth Collins

Observee: Nick Dunn

 

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?

This session sits within the BA (Hons) Textile Design Curriculum for Year 2. Unit 7, Professional Communication (20 credits). The session is timetabled with the title Show &Tell. The session is programmed to discuss your U7 work in progress to a group of Y2 student peers from across textiles specialisms as well as myself and my fellow academic Claire Anderson..

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

I have been working with this current cohort of BATDY2 students for six months as their Year 2 Leader / Senior Lecturer

What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?

The idea is to get students to develop more confidence in communicating ideas in a professional manner. Also, in turn, to get students adapted to giving encouraging, constructive feedback to each other, exchanging knowledge on new possible research paths and material exploration opportunities.

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

The output quality of the session relies a lot on the groups participation and willingness to communicate with each other, sharing work in progress. 

Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?

The potential difficulties of Show & Tell sessions is that students are not willing to share or give comment.

How will students be informed of the observation/review?

I will let students know about the observation at the beginning of the session.

What would you particularly like feedback on?

Feedback/ideas on how to improve the structure of the session in order to promote more communication / Knowledge exchange amongst the students.

How will feedback be exchanged?

Verbally or written..

Part Two

Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:

The feedback that you were giving students was really valuable and it was clear that they were receptive and grateful for your feedback. You recentred the focus of the session, reiterating that the purpose was for them to give feedback to each other and when students weren’t vocal you asked the students if they agreed with your feedback.

To get students more engaged with the session I think the layout of the tables could be a simple option for making a difference. Potentially a smaller table in a square formation or even if a room where available to book out with a round table, this could make the session feel more inclusive. When you’re sat on the end it can be a struggle to hear someone on the opposite end of the table.

Some students were on their phones and laptops (I assume they were still preparing for their turn to present), I think to prevent this it would be good to address it prior to the workshop and communicate that students need to come prepared so that they don’t miss out by lack of collaboration or feedback from their peers.  I’m not sure what was communicated prior but think an emphasis on this may be needed.

Perhaps offer students some guidelines for structuring their presentation prior to the workshop, making sure that they allow for a little quiet time when handing out samples (particularly when they have a lot to show) this could help with students being distracted from listening to the presentation when looking at samples, hopefully meaning they will then be able to better reflect and offer more feedback. This could also help to manage discussions happening between pairs whilst someone is presenting, if a structure/ time is given for when discussion takes place.

providing multiple options for engagement

• Question prompts- (idea taken from someone in the Wednesday group from PGCERT) put question prompts in a bag and ask students who can’t think of any questions/ feedback to pick out of the bag.
• Alternatively, those who aren’t confident enough to vocally give feedback could be given the option to write on post it notes.
• Could use an interactive screen/ monitor with something like a Miro board that includes a brief description of the student’s project and images of their sketchbook/ work. You could then include colour coded virtual post it notes for students to leave feedback on. You could also start off the feedback on the post it notes with prompts for them to fill out such as ‘Love this because…’ and ‘This reminds me of…’ etc.

I think using a visualiser to project the student’s samples and sketchbook pages onto a screen would be helpful so that everyone can see what the presenter is talking about. I think students using their small laptop screens or holding up a sketchbook page can mean that a lot of people don’t have enough information to confidently discuss or offer feedback.

You were empathetic to a student who didn’t want to share, saying ‘I’m not going to force you’. The student was quite open in expressing that they were feeling exhausted by the workload. You gave encouraging feedback to make them feel reassured that it’s okay to feel that way and you emphasized the importance of rest. You told them that it was good that they were there and showed a level of maturity and generally handled the situation delicately without saying too much Infront of other students.

The same student also expressed that they were feeling somewhat disappointed with their grades. You responded letting the student know that feedback should indicate some sort of instruction for how to improve grades. I felt that you responded in a way that didn’t shut the student down but allowed them to express themselves and feel heard whilst handling the situation sensitively.

Part Three

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

On reflection I feel that Beth’s feedback is very helpful and informative. Subsequently, going forward there are a number of actions I will look into implementing in order to enhance the Show & Tell sessions.

• Using a visualiser to project the student’s samples and sketchbook pages onto a screen.
• Look into and trial an interactive screen/ monitor with something like a Miro board that includes a brief description of the student’s project and images of their sketchbook/ work, which could then include colour coded virtual post it notes for students to leave feedback on. I have hesitancy with this suggestion because it may take away from the ‘informal flow’ of knowledge exchange when students and me as an academic is giving feedback but I could be wrong.
• Put question prompts in a bag and ask students who can’t think of any questions/ feedback to pick out of the bag.
• Alternatively, those who aren’t confident enough to vocally give feedback could be given the option to write on post it notes.
• Offer students some guidelines for structuring their presentation prior to the workshop, making sure that they allow for a little quiet time when handing out samples (particularly when they have a lot to show) this could help with students being distracted from listening to the presentation when looking at samples, hopefully meaning they will then be able to better reflect and offer more feedback. I do offer students guidelines in terms of what they need to bring in by email, but I agree this could be done with more structure giving them a PDF and maybe also a guidance in terms of time, 10mins maximum and so on.
• The layout of the tables could be a simple option for making a difference. Potentially a smaller table in a square formation or even if a room where available to book out with a round table, this could make the session feel more inclusive. When you’re sat on the end it can be a struggle to hear someone on the opposite end of the table. I agree with this suggestion and will play around with room layout to try to promote a more inclusive layout.