Amanda Gray

EDUC 388
Professor Eacho
17 September 2015
Class Observation
For this assignment I observed two lectures for the class that I am a teaching
assistant (TA) for. This class is Social Psychology (Psyc 221) and it is taught by Dr.
Wessel. During these lectures I noticed that she used elements of both UDL and of good
teaching very frequently. Because of this, I feel as if her class is very beneficial to the
students leaning therefore I also think that she is an excellent teacher.
In one of the lectures I attended, Professor Wessel was essentially just going over
the mechanics of the class. It was during this part of the lecture that I observed her to be
activating the students prior knowledge. Activating a students prior knowledge falls
under the means of representation principle of UDL. She did this by reviewing things that
she had talked about last week while also adding some new information. For example,
when talking about an upcoming assignment, she first reminded them what it was and
when it was due; then she disclosed the actual topic for it. In addition to recapping, she
almost always uses power points. In these power points she uses even more examples of
means of expression. This includes one such as: bolding and highlighting certain words
(customizing display), including videos and clearly defining vocabulary.
Another element of UDL that she uses is that of multiple means of engagement.
One example that falls under this category would be her interactive clicker questions. In
order to earn participation points for that day, students are required to click in their

answer to a question that is shown on the screen. Once all students have provided an
answer, she then reveals the correct answer and explains why it is correct. This is an
excellent element of UDL to use for many reasons. The first reason is that it engages
students. The second is that is recaps what they have learned in class today. Lastly, it
provides a method of reviewing where the student feels comfortable enough to take risks.
Their specific answers are not displayed to the class, therefore no one except the student
themselves will know that they got the answer right or wrong. This alleviates anxiety or
stress that one may have about being publicly wrong.
Although every element of UDL that Professor Wessel utilizes is important and
beneficial to the students, there is one in particular that really stands out to me; guided
notes. Prior to each lecture, she uploads a word document that contains all of the key
elements and vocabulary for that day. The worksheet is left blank so that students can use
this to take their notes on. By providing a recap of what was most important from each
lecture, it will help the student study for an exam and to review their notes. Some
teachers may find this to be controversial due to the fact that it is essentially telling the
students exactly what to study. However, I disagree with that and I think that it is
beneficial due to the fact that it is easier to follow along in lecture and to take notes more
efficiently. This method, along with many others, is what makes Dr. Wessel such a great
teacher. By using such beneficial and interactive elements to help her students, it portrays
some of her qualities that classify her as a great teacher.
Aside from their actual teaching method, it is important for great teachers to have
certain personality traits as well. Some of these traits (qualities) include ones such as:
being approachable, straightforward, responsive and dedicated.

Even though I believe Professor Wessel to be an amazing teacher, both in her

qualities as well as teaching style, there is always room for improvement. The one thing
that I think could be added to her lectures in order to make them even better is to use
more visual elements which is a mean of expression.