At the request of a few faculty members and with encouragement from Committee on Teaching and Classroom Practice (CoTCP), we are creating easy to access resource for instructors to schedule visits of their colleagues’ courses. In addition, at the suggestion from a department chair, we are creating another easy to access resource with a list of instructors willing to provide guest lectures in their colleagues’ courses. To this end, we have created a form where you can indicate your willingness to participate in these initiatives, your teaching practices, and guest lecture topics. The responses from this form will be available to course instructors on Canvas to facilitate class visits and guest lectures. Thank you for your willingness to participate.
Class visits:
For visitors, class visits are an opportunity for silent observation with no expectation to process or debrief after. (If you are looking for debrief opportunities, please consider Teaching Triangles organized by the BCLT). For course instructors who are open to being observed, please know there are no expectations to always agree to requests for class visits.
How would you set up a visit: You will refer to the list of faculty open to class visits created from the form mentioned above and email the faculty member with your request. Please be sure to check their teaching schedule on Workday to ensure they are teaching that semester.
How to navigate a request for a class visit: In responding to a request, you can evaluate if you have the bandwidth and if there is an appropriate day/time for a class visit. Please know that being on this list does not automatically commit to honor any or all requests; saying you are unable to host a visit is a perfectly fine response. If you are saying yes to the request, share a couple of class meetings (days/times) that would work for a class visit.
Guest Lectures:
Instructors seeking guest lectures on select topics will refer to the list of faculty and topics created from the form mentioned above and email the faculty member with your request. In addition, check your guest’s teaching schedule for conflicts on Workday before you make the request. Then, you could offer a couple of class meeting days/times where the guest lecture will fit into your course design.
How to navigate a request for guest lecture: In responding to a request, you can evaluate if you have the bandwidth and if your schedule works with the times offered by the instructor. Please know that being on this list does not automatically commit you to a guest lecture if requested. Please feel free to accept or decline as appropriate for you.
Thank you for considering our request. If you are interested in either or both of these initiatives, please respond to THIS form by March 31st. We hope to have the class visit and guest lecture resource lists available by April 4th.