Teaching Assistant Observation Feedback

Teaching Assistant Name*

First Last

Email of observed Teaching Assistant*

Observer Name*

First Last

Observer Email*

Class*

Section*

Professor

Date*

Class Official Start Time*

:

Class Official End Time*

:

Description of Class Session

Topic of class session*

Learning objective(s) for class session*

When did the instructor publicly start class?*

:

How many students were in class at the scheduled start time?*

How many arrived late?*

Timing and Structure of Class Session

Add rows to the table below to subdivide the class session into "episodes" by participation structure (e.g., "lecture," "individual work," "group work," "student presentation") and by the focus of the class's work (e.g., "related rates examples," "introduction of definition of limit," "discussion of administrative matters").*

Start Time	End Time	Participation Structure	Focus of Class's Work

Mathematics of Lesson

Please include descriptive comments about the mathematics in the lesson, including lesson organization, quality and conceptual integrity of explanations, and unresolved mathematical errors in the lesson (if any occurred).

Communication of Mathematical Ideas

Please include descriptive comments about the instructor's oral communication with students, including explanations given by the instructor as well as how the instructor responded to utterances by students.

Describe the instructor's use of visual media, including chalkboards, whiteboards, and handouts; please note any remarkable features of the instructor's use of mathematical language and notation.

Engagement and Sense-making

What opportunities did students have to participate in the mathematics of this lesson?

To what extent did students actually participate when these opportunities occurred?

Describe the level of cognitive demand in the tasks the instructor presented during the lesson, and how the instructor responded to any instances in which tasks turned out to be significantly easier or harder than expected.

Formative Assessment

Describe the strategies the instructor used to get feedback from students on their thinking about the mathematics of the lesson. To what extent were these formative assessment strategies likely to elicit authentic student thinking about ideas essential to the lesson?

Describe the “breadth” of the instructor’s formative assessment strategies – from which students did the instructor get feedback? How many students, and how often?

Classroom Culture and Rapport

Describe what you noticed about the rapport between the instructor and students in the class you observed.

How did the instructor respond to questions and answers that seemed to reflect confusion or incorrect thinking on the part of students?

How did the instructor respond to instances in which students were inattentive, off-task, or otherwise in violation of classroom norms?

Professionalism

Describe the instructor’s “teaching persona” and how the instructor set the tone for the mathematical work of the lesson you observed.

Strengths of Lesson

Please describe any features of the lesson, or of the instructor’s delivery of it, that you found particularly effective.*

Suggestions for Refinement

Please describe two or three aspects of the lesson, or of the instructor’s delivery of it, that could be made more effective with some adjustments.*