Special Services

In addition to consulting faculty about teaching issues, the consultants for teaching can provide the following special services.

Ongoing Learning Evaluation (OLÉ)

This is a facilitated student discussion while the regular instructor is not present. The purpose of OLÉ is to identify improvements while the course is ongoing. An OLÉ session is designed to take approximately 30 minutes of class time and should be scheduled sometime during the middle of the semester. Consultants are happy to facilitate OLÉ sessions themselves or to advise pairs of faculty who would like to trade facilitation with each other. (Guidelines for an OLÉ session.)

In-Class Observation

This is an observation of a class in action where both the instructor and the students are present throughout the observation. The observer can provide insight to the instructor about how the instructor's goals appear to be met as well as providing observations of classroom dynamics. In order to customize the observation to the instructor's needs, there is a pre-visit meeting to discuss the instructor's learning goals for the students and strategies for meeting those goals, as well as to communicate any areas on which the instructor would like the consultant to focus particular attention. (Particular questions to be discussed at the pre-visit meeting.) Consultants are happy to observe classes themselves or to advise pairs of faculty who would like to trade observation with each other. (Suggestions for in-class observation.)

Video Analysis of Classroom

Consultants can help faculty arrange to have video of their class produced, and are happy to help analyze the video. In particular, Bill VanDerWolk has extensive experience in using video to analyze his own classroom.

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