ZAYED UNIVERSITY

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION REPORT

Faculty Instructing the Class : Kate O Neill

College : College of Business Sciences:

Course Title and Number: Business Communication BUS 207

Date of Observation: Monday 09 March 2009

Observer: Dr Richard Mapstone, Assistant Dean

After the observation, a written report should be completed and a meeting scheduled between the

observer and the faculty member. The report should address the areas noted on the Student

Evaluation of Teaching instruments, including, but not limited to, “Enthusiasm,” “Organization,”

“Group Interaction,” and “Individual Rapport.”

Please provide comments that will be helpful to the instructor. A copy of the report will be provided

to the instructor and will be added to his/her personnel file. Use additional sheets if necessary.

This was an extremely well organized class and enjoyable class. Kate had clearly arrived early at the

class and prepared the classroom. An outline of the class objectives was displayed on the

whiteboard and handouts were available for the students on arrival. The distribution of an

attendance sheet also ensured that the class was able to maximize its time and work positively from

the start.

Kate spent the first part of the class reviewing the work that the students had done to date. This

provided a useful lead in to the work for the current class and enabled the students to relate their

current work to the overall context of the course. Kate used a mix of questions and discussion to

cover this area. She clearly has an excellent rapport with the students and was able to engage all the

students in an extremely large class.

Kate used the class to introduce some new and difficult concepts to the students and relate their

reading to these concepts. Ideas of culture and communication noise were introduced to the

students and illustrated with examples to which the students could relate. Kate also used her own

research for her doctorate to illustrate a number of areas.

Kate has an infectious enthusiasm for her subject which ensures a lively and enjoyable class. The

students were clearly very relaxed in the class and had no difficulty asking and responding to

challenging questions. Overall this was a very good class which both I and the students enjoyed!