Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: Lesson plan/Slides/Activity
Size of student group: 39
Observer: Matt Careless
Observee: Antonella Nonnis
Note: This record is solely for exchanging developmental feedback between colleagues. Its reflective aspect informs PgCert and Fellowship assessment, but it is not an official evaluation of teaching and is not intended for other internal or legal applications such as probation or disciplinary action.
Part One (Completed by Antonella)
Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:
What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?
This content is presented during the Friday morning session of week 2 for the Enquiry in Design for User Experience unit. It is the first unit of the 2024/25 academic year for second-year students enrolled in the User Experience Design BA (Hons) course. The previous Wednesday, students received a brief requiring them to conduct non-participant observations of individuals at the ‘Who Am I’ exhibit at the Science Museum. They are tasked to document how people interact within the space and with each other, critically reflecting on their engagement and interactions in the exhibit’s physical and digital realms. They are to analyse both primary and secondary data, visualise and synthesise their findings, identify pain points where interactions with digital and physical spaces could be enhanced, propose design solutions, and document and curate the design processes.
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
I have been working with this class since September 2024 as Y2 Lead – their main point of contact.
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
For students to grasp the implications of conducting ‘covert’ research involving people (including benefits and limitations), understanding research ethics, areas of ethical concerns, practicalities of doing ethical research, and ethical concerns for this unit.
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
At the end of the slides, students did an outside class activity called ‘Point of view’
- Participants: Individual work
- Time: ~ 30 minutes (15 mins of writing) + in class discussion
As a class, we went to the Typo cafè and observed other people.
I asked students to use a notebook with 3 separate pages to free-write from at least three different perspectives about the space around them.
They were not allowed at any time in the writing to mention directly what perspective they are writing from and what their viewpoint is or to use any word given in the prompt. Instead, they had to use their five senses and try to imagine writing about the environment as if they were a different person.
Later, when we returned to class, I asked students to take one of the pages they thought was their strongest and hand it to me. I then mixed up all the pages and discussed what point of view they thought each was written from and why.
The aims of this activity are clearly explained to students before the activity starts, such as:
- Look at the same space and group of people, but adjust your viewpoint.
- Recognising your prejudices and assumptions is essential to being open to other people’s points of view.
Students can learn a great deal about how their life experiences influence their perception of others and what it might be like to experience things from others’ perspectives. However, they must also grapple with the concept that unbiased research is impossible. It is important to recognise one’s own biases.
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
Many students are unfamiliar with the key concepts expressed, and they find it challenging to consider ethical implications when designing UX. UX design is all about improving people’s experiences by getting to know them, their needs, strengths, knowledge, challenges, etc., and conveying experiences that are meaningful, fair, respectful, beneficial, and resonate with people instead of being exploitative, individualistic (based on design preferences), or universalistic (based on dominant norms).
Some students have low language proficiency and encounter difficulties during sessions. I strive to alleviate this through clear communication, although conveying tasks and concepts can sometimes be challenging.
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
N/A
What would you particularly like feedback on?
I would greatly appreciate any thoughts on maintaining students’ focus and supporting those with lower language abilities. I would also welcome any feedback on simplifying language (I recently thought of providing a glossary for the key terms used throughout the unit and perhaps translating them into the main languages spoken in class – any thought on this ? ), the content itself, how it is structured, and the exercises.
How will feedback be exchanged?
Verbally, via Teams, and written.
Part Two (completed by Matt)
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:
Hey Antonella 🙂
Firstly I just wanted to say thank you for being my partner for this observation, I thoroughly enjoyed looking through the lecture notes you sent me. It looks to me like a wonderfully thought out module which is very engaging for the students. I think we covered this well in the recorded meeting the other day but below are the few ideas I had that we spoke about.
Maintaining Student focus – Breaking up the information
Something that I think might be helpful within the main body of the lecture is to break this up with some physical activity to help solidify the students’ understanding of this information. The slides you have presented are wonderfully informative, however I think depending on the learner this could possibly feel overwhelming if they are new to the ideas.
Something that I think might help to settle some of this information and the group is to split them off into smaller teams after the first 30 – 45 minutes of the lecture and prompt them to discuss some of the content.
Exercise idea – 15mins/20mins
Split the class into smaller groups, get them to discuss and write down a list of the ethical concerns. Then they have to try and think up how you can practically mitigate this, again matching this to what they have written down.
You could then open up the discussion by getting each team to name a concern and how they would mitigate it. You would then be able to cover the next few slides of information in a more conversational way, as you move into defining the practicalities of conducting research.
Thoughts on language used
To me the slides you have presented are clear and well written, however there might be a bit too much information presented on them at one time. I think splitting this into two separate handouts (personally I would go physical if possible and put them on moodle ofc) one a glossary of terms as you have suggested, but another with some of the facts/legislation on.
With any dates/legislation etc I think for the students it would be best to be able to come back to this at a later date and review. By losing some of the information on the slides it puts more focus on your verbal points in the moment.
A glossary of terms I think also would be an exceptional idea! Students often are not as equipped with the terminology they need and adding this as an asset I think would be a great addition to the lecture. If this is available on moodle beforehand as well, those who chose to use it might have a better retention from the session.
Handouts for forms
In the practicalities segment of this lecturer when you are giving information of the consent forms etc, do you have any physical examples in class? I think this would be really useful for the students to see an example during the session.
Class exercise
Something here which might be useful, is to hand out/give a digital example before the break of a piece of freewriting. On their break ask them to give this a quick read and for them to think about the form/way it is written, what it is etc. I feel this prompt will be useful to the students if they haven’t had much experience of doing this practice before.
Breathwork exercise?
Additionally you might want to seed the idea of using breathwork to center themselves before they begin to write/observe. Introducing the idea of a simple counting from 5 – 1 slowly in time with nose to mouth breathing as an exercise in finding stillness. I’ve seen this work quite effectively in class before to help bring collective clarity before they begin the task.
Thank you again for pairing with me for this exercise, I really enjoyed our chat the other day 🙂
Part Three (completed by Antonella)
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
Matt, I really appreciate the time you took to provide such thoughtful feedback on my teaching session. It was incredibly useful to hear your perspective, especially since you approached it with a fresh and constructive lens. Your comments reinforced some areas I was already considering for improvement, but you also pointed out things I hadn’t fully reflected on. This process has been valuable in helping me refine my session structure, enhance student engagement, and provide better support materials.
Enhancing Student Engagement and Focus
One of the key takeaways from your feedback was the suggestion to break up content-heavy sections, particularly in the ethics discussion, by integrating more structured interaction. I agree entirely that simply asking the class open-ended questions often results in only one or two responses, which doesn’t always encourage deeper thinking. Your idea of having small group discussions where students brainstorm ethical risks and solutions before we open it up to the class makes a lot of sense. I’m planning to incorporate this approach so that students have a chance to engage more critically before we bring the discussion back to a larger setting. I think this will create a more dynamic classroom environment and improve engagement.
Refining Instructional Materials
You pointed out that my slides contain a lot of text, which could overwhelm some students. I’ve been debating this myself, so your feedback reinforced the need to adjust my approach. To address this, I will condense the slides to highlight essential points and shift detailed explanations into a supplementary handout. This will allow students to stay more present in the discussion without feeling overloaded.
Providing Concrete Examples for Exercises
I loved your suggestion of giving students a real-life example of the free-writing exercise before they attempt it. This makes perfect sense, as some students may struggle to visualise what’s expected of them. I will provide a sample before the break, allowing them to review it in advance and gain confidence before starting their own work
Supporting Diverse Learning Needs
Your suggestion about a glossary of key terms was another really valuable insight. Even though I know these concepts well, it’s easy to forget that technical terms might not be immediately clear to some students, particularly those with different levels of prior knowledge or language barriers. I love the idea of creating a printed glossary that students can reference throughout the session. This would be a small but meaningful addition that could help ensure everyone is on the same page, regardless of their background.
Exploring the Use of Breathwork for Grounding Students
The idea of integrating breathwork as a way to help students ground themselves before engaging in deep reflection was really interesting. I hadn’t considered this before, but I see how a brief breathing exercise or mindfulness moment could help students transition into a more focused state, especially before observational work. While I’m not sure how students would react to it, I’m definitely open to exploring ways to incorporate this kind of centering activity. Even if just a few students find it helpful, it could be a great addition to the session.
Final Reflection
Overall, your feedback has been incredibly useful in helping me refine my teaching approach. Your suggestions align well with my goals for the session, and I feel that by incorporating more interactive discussions, refining instructional materials, and providing additional resources, I can create a more engaging and accessible learning experience. I’m excited to implement these changes and see how they enhance the session moving forward. Thanks again for your thoughtful input; I really appreciate it!