By SUSAN COLTRI
Students observe their teachers every day in the classroom, but most students don’t give their instructors feedback to let them know exactly how they are coming across.
The Classroom Student Observer Program provides professors with students who sit in on their classes and watch. The students then discuss their observations with the professors and provide them with a detailed report of what happened in class.
The program, offered by the Faculty Center, is now hiring new student observers. The students must have a 3.0 grade point average, a professor’s recommendation and an interest in teaching. Students are hired at the BYU minimum wage.
“The students are not there to evaluate the professors, but to act as a mirror,” said Tania Schoonmaker, classroom student observer program coordinator.
By pointing out what goes on in class, a teacher can see what he or she is doing right and wrong. The teacher doesn’t have to be judged, Schoonmaker said.
“It’s like when you come into school and your hair is sticking up,” said Lynn Sorenson, Faculty Center assistant director for instructional development. “If someone hands you a mirror, you will know you need to fix your hair. You don’t need to be told.”
Often teachers can lecture and think they’re doing a great job. But teaching is more than delivering a fact-filled speech, it’s helping someone else learn, Sorenson said.
A student observer must be requested by the instructor. The professor can choose from different services including: recorder/observer, faux student, filmmaker, interviewer, primed student and others.
The recorder/observer records classroom characteristics such as the number of people who come in late, the amount of class participation by men versus women and the total time spent taking the roll.
The faux student takes notes as if he or she were a student in the class and then returns them to the professor while the filmmaker videotapes the class and returns the tape to the instructor for evaluation.
The interviewer conducts interviews with the students after the professor has left the room and asks students what helps or hinders their learning in the class, what suggestions they have and any other questions the professor may request.
The primed student meets with the professor ahead of time to discuss his or her concerns and receive instruction on what to watch for.
“Being a student observer has made me more aware of how hard it is to be a teacher,” said Julie Smith, a student observer majoring in history education. “Sometimes it seems like the professors don’t really care, but this program has made me realize that they really are trying to help.”
Martin Kokol, a new member of the Secondary Education Department who used the interviewer option for his class, felt good about the program.
“I have used the program and will continue to use it in the future. Why wait till the end of the class to find out what students are thinking when you can get feedback now?” Kokol said.
Instructors who would like to participate should call the Faculty Center at 378-7419. Students who would like to be observers should contact Tania Schoonmaker at 378-7419 or 370-9863.
