Visit a class

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

Why should I visit a class?

 

• To see how another instructor implements inclusive teaching strategies and to spark ideas for your own teaching
• To be reminded of what it’s like to experience a class from a student’s perspective
• To connect with colleagues you might not otherwise see in action
• Maybe to make a new friend!

 

There's 24 different courses to choose from! How should I decide which to visit?

 

Think about inclusive practices you're working on or would like to incorporate into your class. When you visit the Claim a Seat page, you'll be able to filter the offerings by inclusive practice, date, and time to find a course that works for you.

Sometimes the most helpful and illuminating experiences come when faculty visit classes very different from their own: consider observing a class in a department far removed from yours or of a very different size than your own.

 

What should I look for?

 

While this is not a peer review, consider using TEP's Peer Review Template to guide your eye when you observe the class. Also, pay attention to what the students are doing: what kinds of activities are they doing? How do they engage with the instructor and with their peers?

 

Should I give feedback?

 

It takes guts to open one's classroom to colleagues, and we want our host faculty to have a good experience. So unless your host specifically asks for critical feedback, please center any conversation you have with them on positive aspects of the class and how you might incorporate practices you observed into your own courses.

 

This sounds great! Where can I see a list of classes and sign up?

 

See the list of open classes and claim a seat

 

Open Your Class (Closed for Spring 2023)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

What am I getting into if I open my class?

 

You'll decide which day(s) in Week 7 you want to welcome visitors. The amount of observers you will have will depend on how many you are comfortable with. This experience should not be disruptive for your students.

 

What is the goal of the event?

 

There's no pressure to be perfect. Our goal is to connect faculty and spark ideas, especially across disciplines. No feedback is required, but we encourage visitors to let host instructors know exciting practices they saw and would like to try.

 

What information do I need to provide in the signup form?

 

In the signup form, we'll ask you to identify some inclusive teaching practices you're working to include and that a visitor might see, like:

• Building community in the classroom

• Using strategies to help students feel seen and valued

• Deploying a variety of activities and pedagogical strategies, including formative assessments

• Connecting course content to everyday life, students’ interests, other disciplines, and/or prior course content

• Being transparent about the purpose, task, and criteria for success on activities and assignments

• Clearly communicating expectations for engagement in course activities

• Explicitly exposing the process of expert thought

• Helping students see/imagine themselves as practitioners in the field

• Using elements of Universal Design for Learning, such as:

  • Making materials accessible through formatting text, captioning videos, providing transcripts, etc.
  • Providing multiple ways to access materials
  • Providing multiple options for student engagement
  • Providing multiple options for students to demonstrate their learning

We'll also ask you to provide one sentence about the context of your course and, especially, what you're proud of, working on, or inspired by as you think about it.

There's no extra work after signing up.

 

When do I need to sign up by?

 

If you would like to open up your classroom, you need to sign up by 5 p.m. Friday, April 28, 2023. Click here to fill out the form.