Visit a Classroom (VaC) 

Visit a Classroom (VaC) is another signature program offered by the Center for Teaching and Learning adapted from the practices by Duke Learning Innovation, to provide faculty an opportunity to gain new insight into their teaching and students’ learning through a non-evaluative, formative process of reciprocal classroom visits and reflection. This is a program originated by Anne Wessely, St. Louis Community College as called “Teaching Squares”, or “Teaching Triangles”.

Why VaC 

Visit a Classroom (VaC) aims to stimulate reflection on teaching and learning, not evaluation. Faculty participants focus their conversations on the evidence about student learning that they have observed and reflections on their own teaching from the peer classroom visit process. The goal is to create a respectful, reciprocal, reflective dialogue on teaching and learning. 

 How it works 

Upon request and available course schedule, the 3-4 faculty members in a group agree to visit one another’s classes over the course of a semester and meet to discuss what they learn from their visits. Before and after the class visits, CTL will meet them over lunch to discuss the preparation and reflection.  For detailed guidelines, please refer to the VaC Program Manual 

 What DKU faculty say about VaC 

  • “It is a kind of relief to see each other’s teaching that affirms our own teaching as well as frustration.” 
  • “Reflective teaching through observations and discussions helps me become an effective teacher.” 
  • “Observing as a student role, I better understood the difficult part from a student perspective and the importance of prompts to guide students through the learning process.” 
  • “Seeing more connections across disciplines in terms of content, I feel this program promotes collaborative and interdisciplinary teaching among faculty and enhances faculty consolidation.” 
  • “VaC program reinforced my ideas on how students became the star and how the student-centered culture is fostered. The most effective way of teaching is to give students space to freely discuss and learn on their own while the instructor as a facilitator helps them form the habit of active learning.” 

Sign up here: https://tinyurl.com/dkuctl-vac  

Feel free to contact dku_ctl@dukekunshan.edu.cn for more information or if any questions.