Class Observations

Although I am not teaching yet, I have observed two faculty instructors here at UTEP from two different departments, in which I gathered lots of information that is vital and essential for my own teaching. In this event, I found it very difficult to not express my personal insight (on paper), but rather train myself to take notes and annotate what I saw from this experience. Both instructors had the students’ attention and were both focused on getting the information to the students; however, the approaches were not the same. This gave me good data to see what works and what does not work when it comes to the various and numerous teaching styles that are needed for the class diversity. One instructor was in the Electrical Engineering field; whereas, the other instructor was involved in the Nursing program. Although they were dissimilar, the intent was to pass on the knowledge, get the point across, and wait for questions & answers.

The Engineering class was not as large as the Nursing class, but the teacher did make an emphasis that each student was incorporated with the information (while taking notes) and reviewed the instruction through examples and illustrations on the board. The (brief) Q & A portion was to prepare for the next exam and as time permitted, the students were assigned to work as groups. As this process went on, the teacher went ahead, left them be, and began writing formula word-problems on the board for the next lesson. The class involvement did not seem enthusiastic, but interested enough that if it were not for the note-taking, then the lack of student interaction would have made it a one-sided affair. The instructor did keep the students aware of the material with his voice, but did not maintain eye-contact or ensure that all students were listening or could hear.

The Nursing class went with precise and detailed instruction that involved everyone from the beginning of class until it was time to go. The instructor performed a greeting for all students and initiated the class with hands-on materials to coincide with the class lecture. Afterwards, the class began with a short review of the homework and any questions pertaining to this matter. The session began with complete outline/handouts that all students followed along with accordingly, as well as demonstrated their understanding with the materials being put together for a complete project. The instructor walked around the entire class and maintained eye-contact at all times. The amazing aspects of this particular class were the order and discipline that kept all students active and wanting to learn.

These two observations made me realize that students are more active with hands-on materials more than just listening to the teacher’s words; however, the necessity of the lecture is to also give each student an opportunity to grasp the concepts needed for exams. Teaching is not an easy task, but it is easier to make note of what is happening from the back of the room or some remote area in the room versus seeing the entire class from the front or podium area.