Open Classroom Week – March 2015
Open Classroom Week is an initiative of the Taylor Institute Teaching Academy, supported by the Educational Development Unit. The event gives instructors the opportunity to observe what others are doing in their classrooms and engage in conversations about teaching with their colleagues. A number of instructors opened their classroom doors to allow their colleagues to watch them teach and observe their approaches to different classroom settings, teaching practices, technology applications and learning experiences. The week wrapped up with a themed discussion on making teaching public.
Participants were encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to observe teaching across disciplines and choose which classes to observe based on classsize/type, instructional approach or a particular teaching challenge.
For the pilot initiative, 53 participants signed up for more than 90 observation slots, and more than 25 observers and instructors attended the themed discussion that wrapped up the week.
Documentation and Materials
A number of instructors are throwing open the doors of their classrooms to give colleagues at the University of Calgary the opportunity to watch them teach.
Open Classroom Week takes place March 9-13 and will see 11 instructors open 22 different classes to observers. Participants will have the opportunity to see how their colleagues approach different classroom settings, teaching practices, technologies and learning experiences.
Assessment Strategies and Results
- Open Classroom Week – March 2015 – Participant Follow-up Assessment
- Themed Conversation – Making Teaching Practice Public (Open Classroom Week Debrief)
- Open Classroom Week March 2015 – Assessment Summary
Reflection and Impact
How was this activity useful? Why did it matter, and to whom? How will we move forward? What will we do differently to improve this activity? What changes, additions, or modifications might be considered for even greater impact?
OCW was useful in several ways: (a) it raised the profile of teaching on the U of C campus, (b) it “normalized” the desire to see other people teach, (c) it raised awareness of common teaching issues and challenges, (d) it started an open dialogue about teaching at the U of C, (e) it helped individual teachers to challenge assumptions and explore new practices (the assessment data supports these claims). We will move forward with OCW by offering it twice yearly (in the fall and winter terms), and we’ll improve the initiative by exploring and experimenting with alternative ways of opening different kinds of teaching experiences (online, etc.), and perhaps with different format for OCW. I have already begun working with two Teaching Academy members to plan how to incorporate online courses into the OCW offering.