Sociology 910    John DeLamater
Spring 2006

                                                Classroom Observation

Each participant in the seminar is asked to observe at least two classes.  You may visit lectures or discussions. 
Select classes on topics you are interested in, or from courses you want to teach.  Please complete your observations by February 20th.

Please prepare a brief commentary/critique of each class.  Please limit each report to one page, single spaced.  A good format is one paragraph describing the class, including class topic, format (lecture, discussion, lab), relevant features of the setting (seating, for example), flow of activities during the class session, and any observations of instructor or student response to the class.  Try to limit such descriptive material to one-third (or less) of your report.  The remaining one or two paragraphs should be your commentary on the class.  Here you can talk about some of the aspects of a course that we have discussed.  Was the style of presentation appropriate for the topic, type of student, physical setting?  Was the content clearly presented?  Was there interaction (instructor-student, student-student), was the interaction appropriate, relevant? /Was the amount and pace of material presented appropriate.  What worked and what didn’t, in your opinion?  How might things that didn’t work have been done differently?  If you observed two classes on the same topic, you can compare and contrast the two?

You are, of course, free to comment on other aspects.  You may write a separate page on each class, or write a report that combines the two.  Your commentaries are due on Monday, February 27th.