Observations
REPORT OF CLASSROOM VISITATION
Instructor: Courtney Lewallen
Observer: Gabrielle Turgeon Date: 2/29/2016
Class (number, section, title): RC 2001- 124
1. Briefly describe the general topic of the class meeting and the class's format (lecture, seminar,
workshop, etc.) and approach (use of materials, blackboard, AVs, etc.). Comment on the
appropriateness of the format and approach for that class.
The class had two styles. It began with a discussion of a speech that the class watched at the start
of class. The speech was highlights from Power of Words. The instructor sat behind the front
desk, adding to the feel of the discussion. They then did a class activity in pairs where they
created an ad and had to use rhetoric to back their idea.
2. Comment on the instructor's objectives and expectations for the class, the degree to which they
were reasonable and appropriate, the instructor's flexibility in adapting and adjusting plans
during the class, and the degree to which objectives were met.
Rhetorical Analysis was the main focus of the class. The class deeply discussed the aspects of
rhetorical analysis. The objectives and expectations were reasonable.
3. Comment on the class content and the degree to which it is current, appropriate, and reflective
of the best knowledge in the field.
The content of the class made sense for a second day on teaching rhetorical analysis. Using what
they had learned in the previous class lesson, they were able to put their new knowledge to
analyzing a speech and creating an advertisements.
4. Comment on the interaction between instructor and students: audibility, eye contact,
solicitation of and response to student questions and comments, efforts to involve all students,
respect and consideration for students, adjustments made on the basis of student feedback, clarity
and comprehensibility, attention and interest shown by students, and so on.
Courtney keeps strong eye contact. Pushes students to elaborate on their responses. She will call
on students if no one answers. She allows for students to put the pieces of the activity together,
allowing them to deeply think about what they are learning. She made sure to go around and aid
and check group progress.
5. Comment on the strongest features of the class session.
Students are willing to discuss their ideas with the instructor. They are also pretty involved with
the lessons content.
6. State suggestions that could help the instructor to improve teaching effectiveness.
There are vocal students and then those who are completely silent and tune out for the most part.
I might suggest shaking up the classroom by having them sit in different places in the classroom
to see if that stimulates the students to participate in the conversation.
REPORT OF CLASSROOM VISITATION
Instructor: Gabrielle Turgeon
Observer: Courtney Lewallen
Date: 2/23/16
Class (number, section, title): R_C-2001-168 Introduction to Writing across the Curriculum
1. Briefly describe the general topic of the class meeting and the class's format (lecture, seminar,
workshop, etc.) and approach (use of materials, blackboard, AVs, etc.). Comment on the
appropriateness of the format and approach for that class.
The class focused on analyzing primary and secondary sources for the purpose of developing
research and critical thinking skills. Gabrielle used a variety of communicative modes, including
the chalkboard, video technology, group and class discussions, and an organized class debate.
2. Comment on the instructor's objectives and expectations for the class, the degree to which they
were reasonable and appropriate, the instructor's flexibility in adapting and adjusting plans
during the class, and the degree to which objectives were met.
Gabrielle clearly expects students to use their critical rhetorical faculties, both in class and
outside of class. She expects them to work collaboratively to exercise these faculties.
3. Comment on the class content and the degree to which it is current, appropriate, and reflective
of the best knowledge in the field.
The multimodal format is engaging and helps students recognize the validity of digital
composition. The debate is clearly designed to help students exercise their critical thinking skills,
as well as helping them practice researching and identifying credible, effective sources, and
practice arguing a thesis using sources.
4. Comment on the interaction between instructor and students: audibility, eye contact,
solicitation of and response to student questions and comments, efforts to involve all students,
respect and consideration for students, adjustments made on the basis of student feedback, clarity
and comprehensibility, attention and interest shown by students, and so on.
Gabrielle speaks clearly and manages to be very personable while maintaining a formal
atmosphere. She does a good job listening to student responses to questions and encouraging
them to expand their ideas.
5. Comment on the strongest features of the class session.
The students were passionate about arguing their side of the debate. The format challenged them
to think critically about arguing a point, and they appreciated the promised reward in the event
that they won.
6. State suggestions that could help the instructor to improve teaching effectiveness.
Putting them into discussion groups, rather than having them decide amongst themselves, may
help reduce the number of people who do not participate in a discussion. Encouraging them to
dig deeply into the more difficult aspects of rhetorical analysis, such as logos, can help foster
their critical thinking skills.
REPORT OF CLASSROOM VISITATION
Instructor: Gabrielle Turgeon
Observer: Bret Zawilski
Class (number, section, title): RC 2001
Date:
1Briefly describe the general topic of the class meeting and the class's format (lecture, seminar,
workshop, etc.) and approach (use of materials, blackboard, AVs, etc.). Comment on the
appropriateness of the format and approach for that class.
Gabrielles class was divided roughly into three segments: in the first, students looked together
at a YouTube video on privilege. The used this video to discuss the role of various appeals,
discussing how it evoked a reaction in the students and whether it was an effective rhetorical
text. The second segment focused on meeting within the gameplay groups and working to better
understand the assignment prompt. The third segment involved an activity where students wrote
down one of their discourse communities on a post-it note, traded it with another student, and
then had to explain what was involved to be a member of their group-members discourse
community. After this, they formed larger groups and looked for similarities and differences
across all of their different discourse communities. Overall, Gabrielle made great use of the
affordances of the classroom, using the technology to access a digital text to analyze and
eventually having students write down their findings on their discourse communities on the
board to share. As a lead-in to an ethnography task, these activities seemed very appropriate,
and the mix of small- group activities and full-class discussion prompted a very dynamic
environment. The students were engaged with each of the three segments.
2Comment on the instructor's objectives and expectations for the class, the degree to which they
were reasonable and appropriate, the instructor's flexibility in adapting and adjusting plans
during the class, and the degree to which objectives were met.
Gabrielle demonstrated her flexibility with the class when she consistently took student
comments and related them back to the main points of discussion. She was very comfortable
responding to inquiries and providing guidance for the small-group activities. Her primary
objective seemed to be fostering a greater understanding of discourse communities, which
again was highly appropriate for the class. Eventually, the students were making some
wonderful connections across their varied discourse communities in a way that productively
de-naturalized the characteristics of each community. In other words, Gabrielles approach led
the majority of her students to better understand the concept of discourse communities and
how it affected them.
3Comment on the class content and the degree to which it is current, appropriate, and
reflective of the best knowledge in the field.
For a class devoted to Writing Across the Curriculum the content and strategies that Gabrielle
used were incredibly effective. Her opening segment devoted to analyzing the privilege walk
video might have been expanded slightly to offer more room to discuss the various appeals in
play and how they affected meaning, but the portions of the class on discourse communities
were presented in a novel way.
4Comment on the interaction between instructor and students: audibility, eye contact,
solicitation of and response to student questions and comments, efforts to involve all students,
respect and consideration for students, adjustments made on the basis of student feedback,
clarity and comprehensibility, attention and interest shown by students, and so on.
Gabrielle demonstrated a very friendly rapport with her students, talking casually with
individuals as they entered the classroom. She also used their names actively when calling
upon students to respond to questions and prompts. Additionally, the form of the classroom
took on a very dialogic format, with Gabrielle frequently asking questions and then following
up student responses with commentary that connected student discussion points back to the
main objectives of the class. This meant that she consistently brought them back to the focus of
their activities and rendered the material very coherently. As a result, the class was extremely
engaged and participatory throughout the duration of the class and when Gabrielle floated
amongst the various small groups, almost all of her students willingly contributed to the
discussion, asking questions and responding to her inquiries. As a whole, the sense of
community was very strong in the section I witnessed and created a very ideal atmosphere for
the kind of work Gabrielle expected of her students.
5. Comment on the strongest features of the class session.
I found that the small group assignments were one of the most effective parts of the class, in
part because Gabrielle would expend a significant amount of energy ensuring that each group
was on track and being productive with their conversations. She engaged with students in a
way that was supportive and yet challenged them to go deeper into their discussions and reevaluate assumptions. The in-class activities were very well-structured, having students
brainstorm initial thoughts about their own discourse communities together with one other
participant and then coming together with another group to talk about what were the main
facets of each of their communities. The post-it note activitywhere students had to write
down one of the discourse communities to which they belonged, trade it with another student,
and then have that student explain what knowledge was required to enter into that community
was very effective in having students consider roles and communities other than the ones to
which they personally belonged.
6. State suggestions that could help the instructor to improve teaching effectiveness.
I really enjoyed observing the first discussion on the privilege walk video, and there was a lot
of involvement from the class, but this might be an instance where a brief writing exercise after
watching the video might have led students to more critically engage with the message of the
video. Combined with Gabrielles excellent guiding questions and her familiarity with
individual students, I think it would have made the discussion even more productive. This
actually might have been addressed in a previous class, but part of the discussion surrounding
discourse communities drew on an article by Swales, and while students engaged with the
discussion, if this was the first time theyd grappled with the material, it might have been
helpful to more systematically move through each of the criteria before asking students to
apply those to their chosen discourse community. Again, if this was following up on a previous
class discussion, then its not an issue at all. Finally, there might be some room to build in
more explicit connections and segues among the various segments of the class. In other words,
at times it felt like the transitions between privilege walk video, gameplay groups, and
ethnography activity were a bit abrupt, and perhaps the privilege video could have been
connected a little more to the rest of the session carried forward. However, these suggestions
would only further improve an already strong class.
