Peer Observed Me: Phil Rowe, 3 May 2018, 10:00 - 13:00

**Copy-Pasted from .doc format official form. Original document e-mailed to course support.**

PEER OBSERVATION OF TEACHING FORM


Tutor being observed:  Kristen Gilmore   


Person observing: Phil Rowe


Date of observation: Thursday 3 May 2018

Peer observation of teaching is an exercise that should be carried out at least once, on a bi-annual basis. It is a reflective exercise and should enable you to take creative risks within your learning, teaching and assessment work, and provide a vehicle for focused discussion between you and a colleague. In short, this exercise is about enhancement of learning, teaching and assessment.

Session (student group, unit title, brief session description):
TUTOR:

Intro to Welding for BA-TP Prop Making first year students. The students will be inducted to use the cold saw, angle grinders, and MIG welders. They will also be taught to clean, clamp, square and finish a steel project.


Tutor’s considerations in planning for the session / tutorial. Please include any considerations regarding Health & Safety:

Welders must wear steel-toed boots and a flame-retardant coverall throughout. They will be provided with hoods, gauntlets, gloves, earplugs, face shields, screens, extractors, and training to communicate in the space.

The equipment is regularly tested for safety and function. Other users of the workshop will be aware that hot work is ongoing and to keep themselves and flammable items (such as dust) clear.

The workshop and class will be loud, so I must speak loudly, clearly, and as simply as possible while keeping it interesting, and reinforcing earplug use.

The group will represent a range of experience and preparedness levels, and a few students will likely find welding exceptionally frightening. I will need to be sensitive to students’ emotions, explain how we manage hot work’s inherent hazards, and reinforce safe working practices.

Areas of focus for the peer observer:

I’ve introduced a new, hopefully dyslexia-friendly supporting document this year (that I will try not to drift too far from) that should reinforce some of the lessons from the day. It has already been sent out, along with PPE requirements. I aim to test this document’s usefulness and take note of where I can improve it and how I use it. It is my aim to improve the clarity of my lessons, as I tend to get carried away or try to explain too many things at once—I know I might overwhelm students who are already a bit overwhelmed!

I would appreciate pointers where possible to help me stay on-task and relevant.


PEER OBSERVATION


My thoughts before the class:

1st year student so probably little experience.
A very tricky class to teach. Potentially scary skill to learn.
Very noisy environment.
Welding by its nature requires a mask therefore very difficult to be able to clearly demonstrate.
Hand out was very good and thorough.
Is the number of students relevant to the class?
How do you address teaching students of different skill/experience/ability?





SESSION AND ASSESSMENT/ TEACHING STRENGTHS:

Firstly. Well done! A really interesting session to observe. It presented several issues worthy of discussion.
The hand out was useful. It gave a good heads up of what kind of activity and learning objectives were going to be covered. Did they read it?
The way you deliver information was accurate and clear to understand but I think you were hampered by a couple of things.
1. The workshop is a loud space. For the students hearing this information for the first time, it’s a difficult environment for them to best take it in.
2. Demonstrating an activity which is inherently difficult to see! And difficult to ‘gather round’ to view.

Having a small group meant you were able to give fair time to each student. Enough time for them to have ago with enough time to observe the other student without losing concentration – which I imagine would be a consideration if there were more people. I understand you cap the session at 4 max.
It was interesting to see how nervous/anxious they were on having a go for the first time. I heard the sentences “This is difficult to get the hang of” and “It’s slightly terrifying”! Perhaps there are ways of making it less intimidating for the students. You did go on to talk about how if it goes wrong, It goes wrong. Perhaps that would have been useful before the first go?
I liked how you brought in the point about the table height. A useful example of how you can discuss the variety of ways people like to work and how it comes to individual preferences. How could you make it comfortable for all?



Thoughts After the class:

We discussed ways that could be introduced to make practicing welding easier without actually welding. What different formats could be used to help build up confidence or a bit more confidence in what they are about to do. Could videos help so people could see better? Could a theory session in a quiet space pre the workshop be helpful? Practice without the machine turned on for technique skills?
We also discussed breaks for the students. Around 12:10 a student asked for a break. I had noticed that they were starting to flag a little earlier. I appreciate there is a lot to get through. With a very technical, information heavy session there was a real risk of fatigue. Worth also keeping in mind that one student had English as a second language, Its hard work listening and learning and translating at the same time. In a loud workshop!
Would more demonstration be useful?
A really tricky session to teach – I think you did really well dealing with a difficult lesson to plan. Well done.








REFLECTION AND DEVELOPMENT
(to be posed as questions by the peer for the tutor to consider)

How do you make a potentially intimidating/scary skills lesson more approachable?
How do you maintain concentration in students on very technical and information heavy sessions? Are you attempting to cover too much in one session?
Are there better ways to deliver sessions in a loud workshop environment?
The two students you had in this session were fairly balanced in terms of experience and skill level. How would the session be different if you had experienced welders already? Or more outgoing over confident students. I would be interesting to see how that would change the dynamics of the session.







SIGNED:    Observed Person:   
                            


    Peer Observer:

Phil Rowe

    Date:   

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