Teaching Observation

For my teaching observation I sat in on Dr. Jeff Offutt’s class on Software Usability Analysis and Design (SWE 205). Dr. Offutt amongst formerly being my neighbor and currently having his son enrolled at my Tae Kwon Do school, is a greatly accomplished academic and professor who has been published numerous times and worked as a teacher for GMU for over 18 years. I chose Dr. Offutt’s class after hearing positive feedback from a co-worker who is enrolled this semester which reinforced my preconception that his teaching style is probably similar to mine — an assumption I had gathered through speaking with him over the years.

I arrived as early as possible to observe the entirety of the class which for me includes the time prior to class starting as students trickle in. Students took seats throughout the room; however, the front rows were fully seated (a slight indication that he may have good rapport with his students). When he arrived he immediately greeted the class and engaged in conversation about their weekend and how they were doing. He opened with a joke and that air of informality was present throughout the class. The class schedule had two items on the agenda: reviewing the midterm and a guest speaker. I’ve sat through many midterm reviews as an undergraduate student and having the perspective of both student and professor I observed many strategies or personality traits that help Dr. Offutt be an effective teacher.

As he progressed through the midterm he hand wrote the answers for each question, but each question began with him polling the class for their feedback on the question. After completing the question he returned to asking how students felt with the material and the question. Through his process it was clear that elasticity was built into his exam and he exercised a level of flexibility for students to answer questions in their own way. The essay/short answer format he used did a fine job of engaging students to think deeper than reciting textbook jargon and provided room for free thought and opinion.

Returning back to his usage of humor, I distinctly remember him making a joke about students who write/scribble all over papers into the edges and other questions and the back of sheets. “For any of you who go on to grad school, before you put that pen back on the paper to fluff up your answer just remember that professor has to read your answer and they’re going to be pissed for reading more than they had to”. This joke while not only lightening the mood of the class also demonstrated a level of transparency and candor he conducted his class with. I personally find this transparency an aspect of my teaching that I very consciously focus on exercising. There is no better way to build trust with students than to be honest with them, and not in a “tell you what you need to know” fashion that is reminiscent of how children are treated.

The guest speaker he lined up for the class were representatives from Thermopylae Sciences and Technology, a small company based in the NoVA area. He specifically brought this group in because of their work with mobile interfaces and application design which is the forefront of the class’s field of study. Moreover, the primary speaker was a former student of GMU and specifically took many classes from Dr. Offutt. Having guest speakers who are involved in the professional field now but have their roots in the same chairs their audience are sitting in is a powerful tool. It helps provide a reason to why students are studying and a vector towards what they could aspire towards. More directly, it allows them the immediate opportunity to network themselves and begin bridging the gap from academic to professional. This is something I would like to incorporate into my classes. I try to share as many “real-world” experiences with my class as possible; however, this does not achieve the result of giving them the opportunity to network themselves with local companies. The speakers were also young enough the students clearly were able to relate with them and were very engaged.