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Teaching Dossier

Alma L. Juarez Dominguez

606-660 Dakota Street, Winnipeg, MB, R2M 3K4 e-mail: [email protected](204) 253-2599 web: www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/⇠aljuarez

Table of Contents

I TEACHING PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

II TEACHING RESPONSIBILITIES AND RELATED ACTIVITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

III TEACHING METHODS AND STRATEGIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3III.1 EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATION OF LECTURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3III.2 STUDENTS MOTIVATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3III.3 CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4III.4 EDUCATION BEYOND THE FORMAL DELIVERY SETTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

IV TEACHING ASSESSMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4IV.1 STUDENT EVALUATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5IV.2 CTE EVALUATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

V PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AS A TEACHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

VI FUTURE GOALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

A Sample Lecture Slides – CS745/ECE725: Compositional Reasoning Methods . . . . . . . 9

B Evaluations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12B.1 Evaluation from Chiu Hong (Alex) Lam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12B.2 Evaluation from Cory Kapser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

C CTU Observation Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Revised April 14, 2013

I Teaching Philosophy Statement

From my experience as a student and as a teacher, I believe that an efficient learning process thatallow students to obtain the knowledge and tools to succeed in any endeavour while and after obtaininga university degree should be driven by: providing effective organization of lectures, using variousmethods to keep students motivated, promoting activities for the acquisition of critical thinking andproblem solving skills, and encouraging education beyond the formal delivery setting.

To provide effective organization of lectures, I believe that lectures should be prepared in a way thatthe students progressively learn the new material, so by the end of each class the students are able toindicate the key topics presented and recognize the main methods that are available for their use. Then,they will be able to highlight the most important points while studying and remember them by the endof the course.

I consider that the key to keep students motivated (in the classroom or online) is introducing thematerial so that attention and excitement during the lectures is preserved, while giving them the nec-essary information in a structured setting. The topics introduced should appear to the students notonly interesting but also relevant, so students can be able to relate to them and make connections toknowledge previously obtained. Lectures and related course material must include examples, historicalfacts when appropriate, and references to articles that emphasize the relevance of the course materialor that further explain the concepts introduced.

Fundamental for students, I believe, is the acquisition of critical thinking and problem solving skillsbecause these abilities will allow students to infer and interpret the main ideas on the topics whenintroduced, to make connections with previous knowledge, as well as to apply concepts or methodslearned when needed in the future (in a posterior course, in a professional activity, etc). Continuousfeedback should be given to students using quizzes, regular assignments and tutorials since the acquisitionof those skills is a gradual process that needs to be supervised throughout the course. These activitiesare helpful for students to reinforce the material seen in lecture, and also for the teacher to obtain quickfeedback on how familiar the students are with the concepts presented.

Finally, I believe that education goes beyond the formal delivery setting (for example, classroom oronline delivery of lectures). Because of it, I believe in the introduction of more challenging materialand addressing the personalized needs of the students during tutorials or labs. Therefore, students canbecome more confident of the knowledge they acquired and overcome particular problems that theymight have while understanding the material. This close supervision complements the formal deliverysetting, in which part of the content and instruction can be delivered online.

II Teaching Responsibilities and Related Activities

I have had different teaching responsibilities and other additional teaching activities during my graduatestudies, and I briefly explain next my main duties.

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• As panelist for University Teaching Services at the University of Manitoba, I participated in thepanel “Reflections of teaching/learning in the International Classroom” during the InternationalEducation Week, taking place in November 2011.

• As invited lecturer for CS745/ECE725 (Computer Aided Verification) at the University of Water-loo, I delivered a graduate lecture on October 2009 on the topic “SMV: Symbolic Model Verifier”.I introduced the SMV language and explained multiple examples (10-15 students).

• As invited instructor for the week-long course “Introduction to programming” in the ‘CEMC Semi-nar in Computer Science for Young Women’ at the University of Waterloo, I lead the programmingcourse for selected high-school school female students from across Canada during two years: May2009 and May 2010 (30-40 students each year).

• As supervisor for Richard Fanson (co-supervised with Prof. Nancy Day) during the Spring andFall terms 2007 (as co-op student and undergraduate research assistant respectively), I guided himto acquire knowledge of computational tools, as well as organization and problem solving skills.

• As a mentor in the “Women In Math (WIM) mentorship program” at the University of Waterlooduring the Winter term 2007, I guided and encouraged first-year female undergraduate studentsin different Mathematics disciplines.

• As invited lecturer for CS745/ECE725 (Computer Aided Verification) at the University of Water-loo, I delivered a graduate lecture on March 2006 on the advanced topic “Compositional ReasoningMethods”. I created lecture notes, explained material and worked on examples to guarantee goodunderstanding (15-20 students).

• As a teaching assistant for CS246 (Software Requirements and Specification) at the University ofWaterloo during the Spring term 2006, I marked assignments and exams (over 100 students).

• As a teaching assistant for CS245 (Logic and Computation) at the University of Waterloo duringthe Winter term 2006 and Fall term 2003 I revised course material, and marked exams and weeklyassignments (over 100 students). Also, I led tutorials, explaining logical reasoning (10-20 students).

• As a teaching assistant for CS445/ECE451 (Software Requirements and Specification) at the Uni-versity of Waterloo during the Fall term 2005, I guided 4th year students to produce a SoftwareRequirements Specification (SRS) document, led walkthroughs, and marked exams and projectswhile advising on presentation skills (40 students).

• As a teaching assistant for CS251 (Digital Design) at the University of Waterloo during the Springterm 2005, I revised material and marked assignments and exams (over 100 students).

• As invited lecturer for CS745 (Computer Aided Verification) at the University of Waterloo, I deliv-ered a graduate lecture on December 2004 on the advanced topic “Protocol Correctness Criteria”.I created lecture notes and explained concepts (15-20 students).

• As an instructor for the session “Parallel Computing: Sorting” in the ‘Imperial Oil Seminars inComputer Science for Young Women’ at the University of Waterloo, I created material to teachstudents sequential and parallel sorting algorithms in May and July 2004 (30 students).

• As supervisor for Wenceslas Godard (co-supervised with Prof. Nancy Day) during the Spring term2004, I guided him during the development of a technical solution used in a larger project.

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III Teaching Methods and Strategies

From an early age, I have been involved in teaching activities since I often tutored my classmates.By having the opportunity to teach others, I have gained important teaching skills and understood alot about the learning process. Also, I had the opportunity to complete the Certificate in UniversityTeaching offered by the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) at the University of Waterloo, whosemain goal is to promote the development and advancement of excellence in teaching and learning. Allthese experiences have helped me develop and improve my teaching strategies, which I explain next.

III.1 Effective Organization of Lectures

For my lectures, I organize the material in a way that students can better learn and remember thenew material by providing summaries and remarks about the main points in the lecture, as well as byincorporating examples and questions periods. This structure and information is essential for studentsto fully understand the concepts explained, and to remember what is relevant. For instance, during thegraduate lecture “Compositional Reasoning Methods” in CS745/ECE725 – Computer Aided Verification,I provided frequent reminders, examples and summaries, which proved to be useful for my students.Sample lecture slides can be found in Appendix A, which shows the following strategies:

• To make students aware of the key material and methods presented during the lecture, I providefrequent summaries and reminders. By providing a summary, I point out the most importantconcepts, stress what to remember and show the relationships among the concepts introduced.Also, I like the use of reminders to recall important definitions or related material to the oneintroduced. Refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 in Appendix A for sample slides.

• To help students follow all the details of my explanations, I present examples that are conciseand simple, so students can understand clearly the concepts explained. By showing a concreteexample, students understand the intuition behind a definition when it is introduced. In addition,I like showing students a small example on methods and techniques taught, as well as an applicationof the topic presented to a real world problem to explain how the methods are tools that can bepractically used. Refer to Figure 3 in Appendix A for sample slides.

III.2 Students Motivation

There are a couple of strategies that I have seen applied by professors from whom I have learned a lot(material explained, and teaching methodology), which I consider relevant to apply when I have theopportunity to teach. First, I would add extra exercises in the assignments for students to be able toobtain bonus marks; the most advanced students gain something for the extra effort, but the studentshaving difficulties can obtain good marks when they do the work. Second, for upper-year courses, Iwould require a guided project on a topic that is related to the course since I believe this experiencewould be a great opportunity to get students interested in research activities.

Graduate students are normally more active and curious learners; therefore they mainly need a guideto learn more on the particular subject that interests them. During my lectures, I provide them with

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pointers to resources and explain methods that make them understand the links between things thatthey already learned, so they will be able to create novel ideas or find new applications to already knowntechniques. For example, I challenge them with stimulating questions about the way things are, such as“How would you solve X?” or “What would you change in Y?”. Even when I give the answer by solvingthe stated problem, it is rewarding to hear answers that could improve the current status quo of thingsby allowing people to provide their own view of the situation.

III.3 Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills

One of the activities that provides me the most satisfaction is one that lets me interact with studentswhile guide them through the process of acquiring critical thinking and problem solving skills, forinstance, tutorials or small group meetings. While running tutorials for CS245 – Logic and Computation(University of Waterloo), several exercises are provided to the students, one at a time, and I help themto understand the reasoning involved in arriving to the answer since the steps in this case are moreimportant than the result itself. First, I write the problem down on the board, and ask for suggestionsto start with. Also, I brake down the problem into sub-problems that students can recognize and reuse,explaining the methods used to solve such sub-problems. Following these strategies, students learnthe skills necessary to tackle similar problems, either during assignments or exams. This exercise isreally helpful, especially in first and second year courses since the cognitive process of acquiring criticalthinking and problem solving skills is fundamental for subsequent classes where students are expectedto deduce and create, rather than just follow instructions. Moreover, I believe these skills are reallyimportant for anybody who wants to excel in an academic or professional career.

III.4 Education Beyond the Formal Delivery Setting

I believe that education should be reinforced outside the formal delivery setting, during office hours,tutorials, labs, as well as during extra-curricular activities. During office hours, I try to address thepersonalized needs of the students by answering questions they might have about lectures, tutorials orassignments, clarifying course material (explaining concepts in an alternative way), and working outadditional examples in a one-to-one setting. In addition, I consider my participation in extra-curricularactivities very important because students can benefit from my experience and also possibly engagewith the community. Some of the extra-curricular activities in which I participate are: Women inMath/Computer Science events, supervising undergraduate students, and volunteering to teach com-puter science concepts to high-school students from the community and from across Canada.

IV Teaching Assessment

To evaluate my teaching effectiveness, I have two student evaluations from the invited graduate lecture“Compositional Reasoning Methods” in CS745/ECE725 – Computer Aided Verification (University ofWaterloo), as well as three evaluations from the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) at the Universityof Waterloo. One of the CTE evaluations took place at the same invited lecture described above.

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IV.1 Student Evaluations

Students registered in CS745/ECE725 found my invited lecture “Compositional Reasoning Methods”well organized and presented, giving enough examples, pointing out the relevant ideas and the linksbetween different concepts. To see the full student evaluations, refer to Appendix B. These evaluationswere solicited. To support my claims, I provide a couple of quotes from these student evaluations:

• Method: “your slides are well-organized, and it looks very professional.” Presentation technique:“you were clear and calm when you were teaching us. In addition, your voice level was good, andyou spoke at a moderate speed.”

• “I thought her lecturing style was engaging and accessible, even for a student who has little back-ground in formal methods. To summarize the presentation format, she introduced the topic andgave a nice overview in the beginning of her lecture. Whenever possible, she reminded us of andlinked the new material to concepts from previous material taught in the course. Key exampleswere given for each variation or method of reasoning in composition reasoning.”

The evaluations also pointed out that, by the way I presented and motivated the concepts, at theend of the lecture students had a clear understanding of how to apply the methods in their own areaof expertise. A quote from one of the student evaluations supports the idea: “Probably what I foundof most value from the lecture was the high level view it gave over compositional reasoning, and it hassparked in mind several ideas for future research in the area of software architecture and secure systems.”

A negative remark is that, when presenting an example and asking the audience a question aboutit, I do not wait long enough for students to answer. However, the students appreciated that I workedout the examples on the white board, which allowed them to understand better the ideas. A quotedescribing this issue is the following: “There were also questions that she asked the students, and usedthese questions to work through examples on the white board. She might not have waited long enoughfor the students to answer, but this might have been difficult during this class. We were all pretty tiredand stressed from our project, and perhaps no amount of waiting would have gotten a response of anykind. I actually felt that her providing the solution on the board and working through it really furtheredmy understanding, far more than seeing a simple power point with the solution spelled out in advance”.

IV.2 CTE Evaluation

There are three evaluations performed by observers from the CTE during three different events I wasinvolved in, two guest graduate lectures and one micro-teaching session. The evaluations resulting fromthe two guest lectures are more comprehensive, and therefore, I draw from those to provide evidence ofmy teaching effectiveness in this section. To see the full evaluations, refer to Appendix C.

My first evaluation during the lecture “Compositional Reasoning Methods” provided really positivefeedback about my methods and strategies, and only one aspect to improve. On the aspects to maintain,my evaluation explains that I effectively structured my lecture, used examples and reminders to explainand put things in context, as well as provided summaries along my lecture as necessary, highlightingthe concepts to be remembered and connections between lecture sections. The following quotes frommy observation report support these assertions:

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• “Your delivery skills are top-notch. The clarity and quality of your delivery are quite sound as well.Your lecture was properly structured and you effectively used periodic summaries and transitions.Your explanations were very good and so were your electronic slides.”

• “1. Delivery Skills. Alma, you showed solid delivery skills throughout the lecture. Your bodypositioning was more than adequate; . . . You also had good hand gestures and avoided standing stillon the same spot for extended periods of time. The above added dynamism to your delivery and keptthe focus on you. Your voice was clear and loud enough to reach everybody in the room. You variedyour tone often and spoke enthusiastically about the lecture topic, which made you interesting tolisten to. Finally, your eye contact with the audience was effective. . .”

• “2. Clarity of delivery. Your lecture was clearly delivered and understandable. There are threekey elements that contributed to its intelligibility:a. Slide design. . ., b. Useful tips. . ., c. Good explanations. . .”

• “3. Quality of delivery. Alma, the quality of your delivery was remarkable. Aside from yourextemporaneous style (e.g., teaching without consulting notes), I encourage you to keep up the goodwork in the following areas:a. Lecture structure. . ., b. Summaries and transitions. . ., c. Highlight connections. . .”

On the targets for change during the lecture “Compositional Reasoning Methods”, my evaluation reportsthat I did not wait long enough for any of the students to reply and provided the answer myself. Thus, Iwas given guidelines to improve, such as waiting at least 10 seconds before attempting to give out cluesor the answer. Quotes from my observation report that support the previous ideas are:

• “1. Question strategies. Alma, although you asked good questions often during the lecture, youmust improve your question strategies. Good questions strategies can make use of questions muchmore effective. Specifically, work on these issues:a. Pause after asking questions. . ., b. Repeat students’ questions. . ., c. Allocating eye contact. . .”

My third observation during the lecture “SMV: Symbolic Logic Verifier” was also positive with acouple of aspects to improve. On the aspects to maintain, my evaluation explains that I effectivelyexplained the key ideas while managing to engage the students during the whole lecture. The followingquotes from my observation report support these assertions:

• “1. Presentation and Delivery Skills. Alma, you are a very personable and confident lecturer.You obviously enjoy your subject and manage to convey this enthusiasm to your students. Yourpresentation style is dynamic and you managed to hold the attention of your students for the fullclass. Remarkably, I did not see any students focusing on anything but you and the material onthe slides!”“Below I list several aspects of your delivery that I hope you will maintain in future teaching opportu-nities: Vocal Qualities. . ., Extemporaneous. . ., Eye Contact. . ., Movement. . ., Facial Expressions. . .,Humor. . .”

• “2. Value-Added. When the students have copies of the slides before class, there is a tendency forthem to feel that there is little to be gained from going to class. You certainly ensured that attending

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class provided beneficial information to the students. . . . By providing this extra information aboveand beyond the class notes, you provided significant value to students who attended class. Youexplained the material in a logical and understandable manner. In addition, your answers tostudent questions were thorough and complete. Great job! ”

• “3. Demonstrations. I thought it was particularly valuable and effective when you consistentlyreturned to the demonstration of the Model Verifier. . . . By actually using the program, you gavestudents a chance to become more familiar with it when you were there to answer questions. Thistype of in-class demonstration makes the material much more relevant and memorable. Good job!”

On the targets for change during the lecture “SMV: Symbolic Logic Verifier”, my evaluation indicatedthat although I successfully addressed the previous targets for change, there are still some room forimprovement by repeating student’s responses and questions so everybody can benefit from this infor-mation, as well as avoiding some filler words and allot extra time in a lecture that includes questionsand interaction from students.

V Professional Development as a Teacher

The CTE at the University of Waterloo offers a Certificate in University Teaching (CUT). The CUTcomprises three courses, which provide a comprehensive teacher-development experience by combiningactivities such as participation in workshops on teaching strategies, writing response papers on teachingtopics, observation of lectures to evaluate structure and delivery, as well as preparation of a teachingdossier and a research project. I have completed the program and received the CUT in December 2010.

As part as my development as a teacher, I have actively participated in the workshops that the CTEoffers, which has given me numerous opportunities to learn new strategies and interact with peoplewhose experiences have also influenced my teaching. Next, I list some of the workshops that I attended.Response papers, providing my reflections on the topic discussed, can be made available upon request.

• Understanding the Learner (Response paper written)• Course Design (Response paper written)• Teaching Dossier Workshop (Response paper written)• Research Projects Workshop (Response paper written)• Teaching Problem-Solving Skills (No response paper)• CVs and Cover Letters (Response paper written)• So you want to be a Faculty Member (Response paper written)• Tutorials and Teaching (No response paper)• Facilitating Discussions (No response paper)• Motivating Students (No response paper)• Assignment Design (No response paper)• Polishing Your Presentation Skills (No response paper)• Critical Thinking (No response paper)• Freeing Your Voice (No response paper)

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VI Future Goals

To keep improving as a teacher, I plan to attend more workshops and activities that help me learn moreand reinforce the strategies that I have been introduced to by the CTE at the University of Waterloo.For instance, I could attend workshops offered by the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technologyat the University of Winnipeg. More specifically, I plan to focus on improving my question strategies,especially when it comes to pausing after asking a question, and repeating questions or comments to theclass while allocating properly my eye contact. Also, I would be looking forward to get more involvedwith the research literature in current innovation trends in teaching, as well as online and blendedlearning.

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APPENDICES

A Sample Lecture Slides – CS745/ECE725: Compositional Reasoning Methods

Motivation Alternatives Methods Summary

MotivationVerification

Recall (from lecture 2):

Verification involves checking a satisfaction relation, usually in

the form of a sequent:

M |= �

where

• M is a model (or implementation)

• � is a property (or specification)

• |= is a relationship that should hold betweenM and �, i.e.,(M,�) ⇥ |=

We say that the model satisfies or “has” the property, or that we

can conclude the property from the model.

Copyright c�Nancy Day, 2001–2006; Permission is granted to copy without modification.

(a)


MethodsJustifying Assume-Guarantee Proofs

Recall (from lecture 5):

Definition of Simulation

Two Kripke structures,

M = (AP, S, R, S0, L) andM� = (AP �, S�, R�, S�

0, L�), where AP � ⌅ AP,M ⇧M� if there exists a H ⌅ S ⇥ S� such that:

• initial states:• �s0 ⌥ S0 · s�

0 ⌥ S�0 · H(s0, s�

0)

• steps: �s, s� · if H(s, s�), then• L(s)

�AP � = L(s�)

• �s1 · R(s, s1)⌃ s�1 · R�(s�, s�

1) ↵ H(s1, s�1)

H is called a simulation relation. We sayM� simulatesM.

Copyright c�Nancy Day, 2001–2006; Permission is granted to copy without modification.

(b)

Figure 1: Reminders: (a) Recall an important definition that is the basis of this course; (b) Recall a definition

that will be incorporated in the explanation that follows.

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AlternativesModel / System / Implementation (Summary)

Model / System / Implementation

Sequential Concurrent

CommunicationSynchronization

Mutual exclusion

Conditional synch.

Synchronous comm.

Asynchronous comm.

Shared variables

Message passing

Between components

Types of

Concurrency

Maximum Parallelism

Interleaving Parallelism

Insidecomponents

Homogeneous

Heterogeneous

Types ofcomponents

Bounded

Unbounded

Number ofcomponents

(a)


Summary

To remember:

• Compositional methods enable reasoning about complex

systems by reducing their properties to the properties of

their components.

• Verification involves 4 steps, related to:Modelling language, Logic, Formula in logic,

Verification engine.

• The calculation of the satisfaction relation could becompositional in either the property or the model,

decomposing the verification tasks.

• Main methods: Based on Assume-Guarantee paradigm,Hybrid.

(b)

Figure 2: Summaries: (a) A summary after different concepts were explained, showing the relationships of

concepts; (b) Final summary pointing out the most important concepts and stressing what to remember.

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AlternativesSequentiality / Concurrency Characterization

• Sequential program: sufficient to observe their pairs ofinitial and corresponding final states (observablebehaviour ). Two different sequential programs having thesame observational behaviour are regarded as equivalent,

so from this point of view they are “atomic” units.

b=a*2;b=b-1;

(a=2, b=0)

(a=2, b=3)

{ b=a*3;b=b/2;

(a=2, b=0)

(a=2, b=3)

{

(a)


MethodsRely-Guarantee Example

An implementation of P using shared-variable:

s z := x+y

�� – action produced by �.

R-G correctness formula for P in an arbitrary environment:

<true, z’ = x+y > : { true } P { false }

(b)

Figure 3: Examples: (a) Show a concrete example that let students understand the intuition behind the

definition; (b) Show a small example on what the method is about, and how it can be practically used to verify

that a program is correct.

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B Evaluations

B.1 Evaluation from Chiu Hong (Alex) Lam

Date: November 3, 2006 10:08:40 AM EST (CA)

Hi Alma,

here is your evaluation:1) method: your slides are well-organized, and it looks very professional. Given the amount of time forpreparation (I assume that you did not know too much in advance that you had to replace Mark), yourmethod of teaching was excellent.2) presentation technique: you were clear and calm when you were teaching us. In addition, your voicelevel was good, and you spoke at a moderate speed.3) philosophy: you have good understanding of the material, and you were able to respond well toquestions.

other comments:in summary, you were an excellent teacher given such a short notice!

- Alex (electronic signature with personal details removed)

B.2 Evaluation from Cory Kapser

November 3, 2006

Review of the lecturing Alma L. Juarez-Dominguez

I was a student in CS 745 when Alma presented Compositional Reasoning Methods. I thought herlecturing style was engaging and accessible, even for a student who has little background in formalmethods (aside from the course itself). To summarize the presentation format, she introduced the topicand gave a nice overview in the beginning of her lecture. Whenever possible, she reminded us of andlinked the new material to concepts from previous material taught in the course. Key examples weregiven for each variation or method of reasoning in composition reasoning. These examples providedconcrete evidence as to how these methods differed, and by continuing with a consistent example it waseasy to follow along.Alma’s slides were simple and easy to understand. I didn’t feel distracted by the typical complicated orwordy slides, something I feel many of us are plagued by. In order to cover the necessary material sheverbally elaborated on the content. This made it very easy to follow the material and because we hadbeen provided the slides before hand, important points could easily be jotted down. This was a smallclassroom setting ( 20 students) so she was easy to understand. In a larger classroom, Alma may haveto really push her words to cover the distance.

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There were also questions that she asked the students, and used these questions to work through exampleson the white board. She might not have waited long enough for the students to answer, but this mighthave been difficult during this class. We were all pretty tired and stressed from our project, and perhapsno amount of waiting would have gotten a response of any kind. I actually felt that her providing thesolution on the board and working through it really furthered my understanding, far more than seeinga simple power point with the solution spelled out in advance.Probably what I found of most value from the lecture was the high level view it gave over compositionalreasoning, and it has sparked in mind several ideas for future research in the area of software architectureand secure systems. I plan to carry this research out upon the completion of my Phd.In closing, I think Alma has a very good lecturing style and I felt I learned a lot and remained interestedthroughout the talk.

Cory Kapser (signature with personal details removed)

C CTU Observation Reports

Three evaluations are provided from different events in which I was observed by personnel from theCentre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) at the University of Waterloo:

1st Observation: Evaluation during the guest lecture “Compositional Reasoning Methods” in CS745/ECE725 – Computer Aided Verification.

2nd Observation: Evaluation during the micro-teaching session “Formal vs. Informal Specifications”as part of the CTE events.

3rd Observation: Evaluation during the guest lecture “SMV – Symbolic Model Verifier” in CS745/ECE725 – Computer Aided Verification.

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Observation Report #1Alma Juarez Dominguez

Computer Science

Event Observed:

Date of Observation:Location:Time:Audience size:Prepared By:

ECE 7 25lCS 745 "Computer-aided Verification' -Guest LectureMarch 21,2006EIT 31412:30-4:00 p.m.12Guillermo Ordorica-G arcia - TRACE TA Developer

Plan for Teaching Event

ECE7211CS 745 is a graduate course that many students from the E&CE and CSdepartments take. Your guest lecture, entitled "Compositional Reasoning (CR) Methods'would draw from the majority of concepts taught during the course so far. Your lecturewould begin with a discussion of the motivations for using CR methods, followed by anintroduction of alternatives for verification. You then planned to review the CRmethodologies before ending the lecture with a summary of its main concepts. Youintended to deliver your lecture with the aid of electronic slides, which you would makeavailable to the students prior to the lecture. Your goals for the students for this eventincluded: 1) understand what CR is and its main methods, 2) recognize challenges andalternatives for verification of systems, and 3) link previous knowledge with current topicsand propose new ideas for application in the students'field of study.

Focus for Teaching Event

During our pre-observation meeting, you asked me to focus on the quality and clarity ofyour delivery skills and on your question strategies.

Evidence of Plan's Success

Alma, I believe that you successfully met the goals you had set for the lecture. Yourdelivery skills are topnotch. The clarity and quality of your delivery are quite sound aswell. Your lecture was properly structured and you effectively used periodic summariesand transitions. Your explanation$ were very good and so were your electronic slides.Read on for more details about the above aspects and for a list of targets for change.

Aspects to Maintain

1. Delivery skills. Alma, you showed solid delivery skills throughout the lecture. Yourbody positioning was more than adequate; you chose to stand beside the screen ina way that did not block anybody's view of it. You also had good hand gestures andavoided standing still on the same spot for extended periods of time. The aboveadded dynamism to your delivery and kept the focus on you. Your voice was clear

This confidential report is based on an observation of a single teaching event and is intended for the personal use ofAlma Juarez Dominguez in support of teaching activities.

2.

Private and Confidential

and loud enough to reach everybody in the room. You varied your tone often andspoke enthusiastically about the lecture topic, which made you interesting to listento. Finally, your eye contact with the audience was effective; you scanned the roomoften, pausing on individuals occasionally for 1-3 seconds. All of the above helpedyou establish a good connection with your audience and contributed to makingyour delivery more clear. Nicely done.

Glarity of delivery. Your lecture was clearly delivered and understandable. Thereare three key elements that contributed to its intelligibility, which are described indetail below:

a. Slide design The design of your presentation was very professional andeffectively enhanced the clarity of your delivery. Some noteworthy elementsincluded the text size, consistent colour scheme, and good balance of textand figures in your slides. Your slides were easily legible; the amount of texton each was just right and so was the font size that you chose. I also foundthat the diagrams on the slides helped enormously to illustrate lectureconcepts in a clear manner.

b. lJsefulfps. You provided many tips throughout the lecture, which helpedreinforce the students' understanding of the material. For instance, duringthe assumption commitment part of the lecture, you told students that "thekey point here is that we are checking the pre-condition." By doing so, youclearly and succinctly made evident what was most important concerningthis particular concept. Well done!

c. Good explanations. Your lecture was clearly understandable because yourexplanations were helpful and accessible to all people in the class. Youused accessible language to describe complex concepts. For example,after you presented Theorem 19, you told your class that "the intuition hereis that... the set of behaviours is smaller than the model of thepropositions." Such explanation made it easier to understand themathematical proposition of theorem 19. I commend you for making thelecture concepts accessible and clear.

Quality of delivery. Alma, the quality of your delivery was remarkable. Aside fromyour extemporaneous style (e.9., teaching without consulting notes), I encourageyou to keep up the good work in the following areas:

a. Lecture structure. Your lecture had an effective beginning and end. Youprovided a lecture outline and briefly described its elements. By includingan outline, you set a clear framework for the lecture and helped studentsmentally prepare for it. A good rule of thumb for teaching is: "tell 'em whatyou're going to tell 'em, tell 'em, then tell 'em what you told 'em'" Youadhered to this rule and concluded the lecture with a brief summary of itsmain points. I believe that the above structural elements, coupled with youreffective use of periodic summaries and transitions (see next point)enhanced the students' learning and increased their retention of the mainlecture concepts.

b. Summaries and transitions. I was pleasantly surprised to see that youconsistently gave short summaries throughout the lecture and usedtransitions when moving from one section to the next. You provided periodic

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3


summaries that covered the material presented during each major lecturesection. This is effective because it allows you to remind students of whatwas taught so far in the class. Periodic summaries also give you anopportunity to ask questions to assess the students' understanding of thematerials or to answer their questions before moving on to the next topic.Concerning transitions, you used phrases such as "the next point istheory... I want to give you an overview of the justification formulas" to linklecture sections. By doing so, you provided continuity to the lecture, thusimproving the flow of information.

c. Highlight connections. Alma, you presented information within the context ofthe course as a whole. You made reference to concepts from previouslectures and highlighted connections between lecture sections as well. Forexample, when explaining "assume-guarantee proofs" you remindedstudents about the definition of simulation, which they learned in lecture 5.By highlighting relationships between concepts from past and currentlectures, you encouraged students to apply previous knowledge to newcourse material. Showing connections within various course contents is agreat way to make students see 'the big picture' and to bring clarity to thepurpose and application of the knowledge they assimilate in a course.

Targets for change and methods for improvement:

1. Question strategies. Alma, although you asked good questions often during thelecture, you must improve your question strategies. Good question strategies canmake the use of questions much more effective. Specifically, work on these issues:

a. Pause after asking quesfibns. Even though you sometimes waited for a fewseconds after you asked questions during the lecture, you often ended upanswering your own questions. This can be discouraging for students, beinggiven a question, but little chance to answer it. On average, you waited insilence for 3 seconds before you answered the question or moved on to thenext topic. I recommend that you develop a habit of pausing for no less thanl0 seconds anytime you pose a question to the class. As a general rule,students require about that long to shift from passive listeners to activeparticipants. Alma, you need to provide enough time for this transition totake place. lf after waiting you do not get the desired participation, tryrephrasing the question or providing a hint to help students formulate ananswer. Above all, you must avoid answerinq vour own questions.

b. Repeat students' quesfions. Although you answered studentgeneratedquestions competently, you often forgot to repeat them to the rest of theclass. During the lecture, I found that most times when somebody asked aquestion, I could not hear it or understand its nature. Later when youprovided an answer, it was of little value to me, since I did not know whatthe initial question was. To improve this, I suggest that you always repeateach individual question (or comment) so that the entire class can hear itbefore you answer.

c. Attocating your eye contact. When you answered questions (or followed upindividual comments) you tended to look only at the student whoparticipated. This, aside from potentially making certain students feel

3For response paper guidelines and more, visit http://www.trace.uwaterloo.caltacertprac.html

t-


uncomfortable, also excluded the rest of the class from the dialogue(sometimes for several minutes). To include everybody in the discussion, I

suggest that you aim to give 25 percent of your attention to the person whoparticipated and 75 percent to the rest of the audience. This is known as the25175 rule, which you should always follow when addressing studentquestionslcomments in class.

2. Delivery skills - pointer use. You must consider using a (laser, preferably) pointerwhen lecturing with electronic slides. Frequently during the lecture, you pointed atparts of the screen with your finger and partially blocked its contents. Pointing atthe screen with arms/fingers is ineffective in clearly showing exactly what you arereferring to. I recommend that you always use a laser pointer when lecturing usingelectronic media. With it, you can easily reachlhighlight specific parts of the screen,without blocking its contents.

Remarks:

Alma, you possess strong teaching and delivery skills. Chief among them are the clarity ofyour delivery, and the use of periodic summaries and transitions. My advice to you is tofocus on improving your question strategies, particularly when it comes to pausing afterasking and repeating individual questions/comments to the class.

Decision:

Accepted. Response paper due on April27. 2006.

Response paper prompt:

ln your response paper, please identify the main reasons for your struggles with questionstrategies and explain practical ways in which you can overcome them.

4For response paper gukielines and more, visit http:/lwww.trace.uwaterloo.caltacerlprac.html

ITA Programming

Micro-Teaching Feedback Form

Date: October 24, 2008

Presenter’s Name: Alma Dominguez

Structure ( = acceptable; X = needs improvement; N/A= not applicable)

Elements of

Structure Comments

X

N/A

Introduction/

Preview

- Alma, your introduction was very professional as the rest of your

presentation. You presented clear outline, clear objectives and

your goals were also clear. Well done!

- Try to define the terms in the title of your presentation before

asking the audience any questions about it (you asked what is the

difference between formal and informal specifications).

Transitions

- Overall, the transitions were smooth, but can be further improved

if you link different sections together. You can do so by

reminding the audience about what you said and what you are

going to say and how they relate together.

X

Clarity of

explanations/

lecture points

- Your explanations were very clear. Excellent job!

- You gave clear definitions for the important terms which helped

us follow your presentation.

- You used real-life examples in your presentation which gave the

impression that your topic is really important.

Summary &

Conclusion

- You had an excellent conclusion and wrap-up. Good job!

Design of visuals - Very good design of slides and use of pictures.

Amount of content - Suitable amount

ITA Programming

Micro-Teaching Feedback Form

Delivery ( = acceptable; X = needs improvement; N/A= not applicable)

Elements of

Delivery Comments

X

N/A

Eye contact - Your eye contact was very good.

Speed & Volume

- Very good speed

- Your volume is a bit low, maybe you can think of using a

microphone for large classrooms.

Articulation

- Very good explanation and clear language.

- Many of us use tend to use filler words when presenting. I

noticed that you used the word “Aammm” a couple of times. I

know it is not easy to overcome this problem, especially if we try

to express ourselves in a language that is not our first. However,

being aware of this issue and continuous practice will help a lot.

X

Gestures/Movement

- Your hand movements were very good. Well Done!

- You used a pointer when referring to the slides; try to avoid

moving the pointer in circles around the word that you are talking

about. This might distract the students.

X

Use of visuals /

whiteboard N/A

Questioning

Strategies

- You grabbed the attention of the audience by interesting

questions, especially, the one about which language is better. You

made us think about the answer and then you mentioned the

advantages and disadvantages of each language. This really

helped us compare between both languages as you moved on.

Excellent job!

- Try to ask more precise questions so that you don’t confuse the

students. If the students still don’t understand your question, try

to re-ask it in a different way.

X

Enthusiasm - It was obvious that you were very enthusiastic about the topic

Confidence - Very confident

Private & Confidential

This confidential report is based on an observation of a single teaching event, and is intended for the personal use of Alma Juarez Dominguez in support of her teaching activities.

Observation Report #3 Alma Juarez Dominguez – Computer Science

Event Observed: CS 745/ECE 725: Computer-Aided Verification; Guest Lecture Date of Observation: Tuesday, October 27, 2009; from 9 to 10:20 a.m. Location: MC 2034 Students Present: Approximately 14 students Prepared By: Sheila Hannon, TA Developer, Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) Plan for Teaching Event: As a guest lecturer in this class, you planned to discuss SMV: Symbolic Model Verifier as well as give an overview of other types of models. Your plan was to use a combination of PowerPoint slides provided by the professor, the blackboard, and a live demonstration to explain this topic to students. CS 745/ECE 725: Computer-Aided Verification is a graduate-level course for students in Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering. Your goals were that after this class, students would have an understanding of the motivation of model checking, know the main uses of SMV, and recognize the challenges and alternatives for modelling in SMV. Focus of Teaching Event: Since this was your third teaching observation, I indicated that I would look for improvement in the areas pointed out to you as targets for change in previous observations. You also asked that I pay specific attention to your presentation technique and questioning methods. Evidence for Plan’s Success: Alma, congratulations on a successful third observation for GS 903! In this report, I will comment further on what I felt were some of the teaching strengths that you demonstrated, such as your strong delivery skills, your ability to add value to the PowerPoint slides, and your use of an in-class demonstration. I will also highlight some areas for you to keep in mind for future teaching opportunities, focusing in particular on how you can continue to polish your skills. Aspects to Maintain: 1. Presentation and Delivery Skills. Alma, you are a very personable and confident lecturer.

You obviously enjoy your subject and manage to convey this enthusiasm to your students. Your presentation style is dynamic and you managed to hold the attention of your students for the full class. Remarkably, I did not see any students focusing on anything but you and the material on the slides! Below I list several aspects of your delivery that I hope you will maintain in future teaching opportunities:

Vocal Qualities: Although I was a little concerned at the beginning that you were speaking rapidly, you slowed down very quickly, probably as you became relaxed with the class. You spoke at a volume that was easily heard throughout the classroom. Your voice indicated your interest in this subject, and the varying tones and volumes made your voice very dynamic and interesting to listen to. Your pace was also appropriate; it



was easy to follow your explanations and I never felt that you were rushing. You also included occasional pauses, which were very effective in allowing students to catch up and to rivet attention on you as the speaker. Extemporaneous: No notes! Your knowledge of the material and confidence in your teaching ability allowed you to deliver the guest lecture without relying on notes. You were able to add a great deal of information or explanation to the slides, which helped reinforce the information for students. An extemporaneous delivery makes the class interesting for students because it feels more like a conversation than a lecture. Eye Contact: Because you did not need to rely on notes, you were able to establish eye contact with students in all parts of the room. Connecting visually with students is important because it allows you to determine if they understand the material, and also makes them feel included in the lecture. Movement: You moved confidently back and forth across the front of the classroom, and positioned yourself appropriately when you used the laser pointer to highlight information on the screen. In addition, you had very expressive hand gestures and body movements which helped you emphasize important points and added to your dynamic delivery. Facial Expressions: In combination with your gestures, your facial expressions were not only pleasant but very animated and expressive. Smiling often, as you do, is a great way to create a positive atmosphere. Your facial expressions show students that you are friendly and approachable and help convey your enthusiasm for the subject. Humour: Despite the seriousness of the topic, you managed to inject small touches of humour, such as when you noted that you could tell students “nice stories, horror stories” about how model checkers actually work. Or later, you checked in with students, saying, “Are we good so far? Not sleeping?” A little sprinkling of humour certainly makes the class more interesting and enjoyable for both you and your students.

Overall, you seemed very comfortable and relaxed in your role as lecturer. These delivery skills not only make the class more interesting for the students, but add to your credibility as an instructor. Well done!

2. Value-Added. When the students have copies of the slides before class, there is a tendency

for them to feel that there is little to be gained from going to class. You certainly ensured that attending class provided beneficial information to the students. You often added important hints about how to use a model verifier. For example, you said, “The important thing to see here in modelling systems...” or “It is very important to note that variable 5 is not allowed syntactically.” You also shared your experience with students when you pointed out, “Just be careful. These are the things you discover through time and pain.” In addition, you included a great deal of information that was not on the slides. By providing this extra information above and beyond the class notes, you provided significant value to students who attended class. You explained the material in a logical and understandable manner. In addition, your answers to student questions were thorough and complete. Great job!

3. Demonstrations. I thought it was particularly valuable and effective when you consistently

returned to the demonstration of the Model Verifier. This allowed the students to connect the theory presented in the PowerPoint Slides with the actual operation of the program. You also helped students participate in the demonstration when you asked questions about what they



expected to happen, by asking questions such as “How could we modify the property?” and “Is there any way we can change property 3?” Then, you ran the program and showed students what would really happen. By actually using the program, you gave students a chance to become more familiar with it when you were there to answer questions. This type of in-class demonstration makes the material much more relevant and memorable. Good job!

Targets for Change and Methods for Improvement:

1. Repeat Responses. Alma, I think you have been very successful in addressing the target for

change concerning questioning strategies. You consistently validated student responses with encouraging comments such as “Exactly” or “That was a great question.” I noticed that you generally waited at least 5 seconds before giving another prompt when students were slow to answer. While you did an admirable job of engaging students in the class, you might want to ensure that you try to include all students in answering questions, since I noted that the same 5 or 6 answered most of the questions. One way that you can make the questions and answers even more valuable for your students is by consistently repeating the response of the student. Some of the students spoke clearly and loudly so that I could hear what they were asking or answering. But others were more soft-spoken, and I often just caught your answer. Try to always repeat what the student is asking or answering. You can paraphrase or summarize their response, which allows you to check that you have understood them correctly. This also allows the rest of the class to know what is being talked about. Another technique is to ask the student to speak loudly enough so that all can hear. This would be most effective and efficient, for example, with the one female student who asked a quite lengthy clarification question. You did an awesome job answering student questions, offering detailed information and explanations, so it is important that the other students know what the initial question was!

2. Filler Words. Filler words are those pesky little speech tics that we sprinkle through our daily conversation, often without even being aware of them. Do you know that you often use “um” between words or sentences? Or that you often end sentences with “OK?” which tends to be simply rhetorical since you do not really expect students to answer. Many of us work to overcome these speech habits that distract your audience from your message. I recommend that you try to raise your level of self-awareness and try to limit – and eventually discontinue – your use of these types of filler words when lecturing. Try to replace “um” or “ok” with silence. This will take much practice, but is an important part of clear communication.

3. Time Management. It is always difficult to gauge exactly how long a lecture will take, especially when you are answering student questions. You were almost at the end of a section when there was only one minute left in the class. Your students were still paying rapt attention up until the end, but unfortunately the incoming class was anxious to get into the room. When the incoming students informed you that they were having a quiz, you accommodated them and quickly finished the diagram on the board. And you even managed to give a brief summary and a preview of the next class! In future, try to keep an eye on the clock and check when you have 15 or 20 minutes left in the class. This will give you some options about whether to leave something out or speed up. In this case, I thought you handled the situation very well, giving the students a final word rather than just stopping!



Other Comments: Alma, I thought that this guest lecture was very well done and a successful way for you to conclude GS903. I commend you for successfully addressing the Targets for Change from previous observations. As teachers, it is important for us to reflect on each class and determine how we can make the next one better. You have strong presentation and delivery skills and present yourself as a polished and professional lecturer. The students certainly benefited from your sharing of your experience in this area and your openness to questions. I hope you find my suggestions for improvement will allow you to continue to enhance your teaching skills. Congratulations on completing this teaching event and GS903! I wish you all the best in your future teaching! Decision: Accepted. Response Paper Due: Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009. (Please submit by email.) Response Paper Prompt: For your final response paper, I would like you to discuss your progression as a teacher since you started GS 903 and the Certificate in University Teaching. What surprising things have you learned through this process of having your teaching observed? What elements of your teaching have you been working to improve, and what methods have worked/not worked in accomplishing those goals? Do you plan to continue teaching and what is it that draws you to teaching? With reference to this particular observation, if you were to go back and teach this class over again, what might you do differently the second time? If you were teaching this class to undergraduate students, how might you modify the teaching techniques or information? Papers should be two to three, typed, single-spaced pages. Before you begin writing your response paper, I suggest you review the guidelines for response papers on the CTE website: http://cte.uwaterloo.ca//graduate_programs/CUT/sample_response_paper.html

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