What SCOTAY Means to Me
Student Consultants on Teaching at York (SCOTAY) is an exciting new initiative offered by the Teaching Commons. Undergraduate students with a keen interest in teaching and learning are ready to observe a lecture and provide feedback to faculty based on a pre-observation meeting designed to jointly set goals and expectations for the classroom observation. This post is written from the perspective of two of our student consultants, Zuzana Balazova & Cassandra Piccoli, students in the Faculty of Education, who have come to the Teaching Commons for their community placement. They have been engaged with the program since Fall 2018.
SCOTAY (Student Consultants on Teaching At York) is a pivotal program run by the Teaching Commons at York University. Four students from the Faculty of Education decided to join the new program. During the fall term, we were trained by Lisa and Genevieve (Educational Developer and Interim Director at the Teaching Commons) on the various aspects and responsibilities of our role as student consultants. We then met and worked with instructors from different faculties. We continue to work together with Genevieve and Lisa to ensure that we are providing constructive and helpful feedback to effectively perform in our roles.
Personally, I (Zuzana) have found the role of Student Consultant very empowering. Previously, I have been accustomed to being a receiver of an educational service, yet I now have the opportunity to take on an active role in my learning. I reflect on my learning strategies and pay more attention to what instructors do to help us learn and why they choose to ask particular questions during lectures. I feel inspired and enthusiastic about instructors’ desire to work with us and their interest in a student perspective on any aspect of their teaching (for example, the pace of the lesson or coherence of verbal or digital presentations). It has been nothing short of a very positive experience.
Instructors have been very attentive to our feedback. Instructors feel validated for the great work they are already doing, but also appreciate aspects that they may need to improve on, such as the overall pace of the lesson or making assumptions about what students already know. Even professors with 30+ years of teaching experience are interested in whether their teaching is comprehensive.
The advice I have given regarding making assumptions on students’ behalf was to consider if the example you are using to introduce a concept is something that students are likely to come across in their daily lives. For instance, does a non-psychology student understand what psychosis is? If not, the instructor could consider an explanation (verbal/visual/audio) of what psychosis is, to ensure that students will get more benefit from the exercise. I have learnt to be more critical about my learning experiences, but also more grateful for all the excellent teaching and learning on the campus. We are not just a means to a monthly paycheque; we are partners in teaching and learning.
My name is Cassandra and I am also a student consultant at the Teaching Commons at York. In my opinion, being a student consultant has taught me so much about what it looks like to be an active member within teaching and learning. I feel that my role is to act as a partner with those who wish to improve in any way within the classroom. Being a student, I feel that I can give very honest and helpful insights in how information is being communicated and understood within the classroom.
A lot of the time the way information is interpreted by the student may differ from what is meant by the instructor. I have learned how important and difficult it is to promote student engagement and active learning within the classroom. I work with the instructor to work through some of the areas for improvement that they wish to explore. One of the observations I took part in was about the concern of whether the students were actively engaged and participating in class. As I watched the lecture, I myself felt engaged and able to participate so it was clear to me that this was not an area that needed a lot of focus. However, it is difficult to judge how a student is participating because each student actively learns and participates in different ways. One student may be answering every question during class, but another may be actively engaging with the content by writing detailed and descriptive notes. Therefore, it is difficult to fully grasp whether or not a student is understanding and receiving the information within a lecture.
Through this experience, I have learned to reflect on my own learning experiences and how I can be a more active member within my own education. This experience has been so helpful and positive so far and due to this, I am very excited and thrilled to be a part of this program!
Are you interested in inviting one of our students to observe your class? To enroll in the program and request a student consultant to visit your class, here is the link to register. For questions about the SCOTAY program, please contact Lisa Endersby, Educational Developer, at lendersb@yorku.ca. More information about the program is available on the Teaching Commons website: here is the link to learn more
About the authors
Zuzana Balazova is a mature and international student at York. She is in her first year in the BA Educational Studies programme, after completing a BSc Honours degree in Psychology from the UK. Originally from Slovakia, she spent her whole adult life living in the UK, and has worked in childcare and education for the past 5 years, including teaching Math at the high school level.
Cassandra Piccoli is in her third year in the concurrent education BEd program and she aims to become a special education teacher. She has always had an interest in helping those who learn differently and hopes to help and facilitate active learning in her own classroom one day.