Record of Observation or Review of Teaching Practice
Session to be observed/reviewed:
Seminar: Exploring Size & Fit in Fashion
Size of student group: 35 students
Observer: Victor Guillen
Observee: Julia Redman
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
Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:
What is the context of this session within the curriculum?
Course: BSc/MSc Fashion Management, London College of Fashion, Unit: Product Management. The seminar is held after a morning lecture on the topic. We will be in the third week of teaching on this unit, starting to build research and information for the assessment.
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
This will be my third week with this group, as Unit Lead and Lecturer.
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
The seminar will be split into two sections, one with Tim Williams, on Exploring Size and Fit, and the second with me, working on building content for their assessment portfolio.
The students will start researching the introduction/rationale and building mood boards for a SS26 collection, for a brand they have chosen to study for the unit assessment. They will be discussing their final choice of brand & building a mind map for the brand with me during the seminar.
LO1 An understanding of fashion forecasting and design management processes and their role in the creation of sustainable fashion product (enquiry).
LO3 An understanding of the creation and planning of a successful product range using data analytical tools (process)
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
To finalise their brand choice, rationale behind that choice and continue building mood boards for colour, shape, prints & graphics and fabrics.
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
This is a 40 credit unit for which the students will have to produce a 5 part portfolio for assessment. Keeping up with the workload is a challenge, so at this stage effective planning to achieve the desired outcome is critical.
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
They will have been verbally informed during the morning lecture.
What would you particularly like feedback on?
Am I communicating requirements and activities effectively?
How will feedback be exchanged?
Written feedback as per the requirements of this form.
Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:
Hi Julia
Thank you for letting me join your post-lecture session of BSc/MSc Fashion Management, which was an interesting mix of seminar and 1:1 tutorials. You wanted feedback on communicating requirement and activities effectively, so I’ve included a few comments on that below but added a few other things that I thought were worth pointing out. I hope you find them useful in your reflection.
Communicating Activities and Requirements
You introduced the session’s focus on fit and size, clearly outlining its relevance to sustainability before explaining that Tim, a guest lecturer, would join later, helping students understand the seminar’s broader context. I thought you effectively communicated key course requirements and assessment expectations at different points of the session, helping students understand the steps needed to complete their work. When explaining the session’s purpose, you handed over handouts and signposted Moodle resources, signposting multiple access points of information on the same topic (e.g. verbal, printed, and online), promoting a degree of student agency. You also reinforced assessment expectations (e.g. the range plan is a mandatory part of the assessment and will need to be presented in Formative Assessment 2), helping students focus on requirements. You also provided practical guidance on research, clarifying aspects of the brief when needed (e.g. the history of the brand is less important than its sustainability strategy), and pointing students toward useful resources and tools such as GoodOnYou and the Fashion Revolution Fashion Transparency Index. This encourages students to focus their research on industry-relevant sustainability criteria.
Perhaps one area to refine is ensuring students remain focused during your initial explanations. Some students seemed distracted on phones, laptops, or engaged in private conversations during the initial stages. While I appreciate you want to keep an informal and relaxed atmosphere, perhaps a more directive approach from the start would help, given the size and characteristics of the group. They really respond well to your directions (e.g. when you draw their attention to relay relevant questions and answers that came up during the tutorials), so I wonder if you could take more advantage of this and direct their attention to you more explicitly (e.g. everyone, eyes to the front please) at the start of the seminar to help them focus on your explanations or demonstrations on the screen (once you got it working, great problem-solving by the way!!!)
Linking Theory to Industry Practice
I thought you connected sustainability concepts to industry practices really well, demonstrating who to apply key concepts in professional contexts. You introduced the topic of waste by linking it to production practices such as sample production, fabric cutting, and print production. This helped students understand how size and fit contribute to sustainability challenges at different stages of production.
Your use of industry examples further strengthened these connections. When discussing sustainability strategies, you prompted students to think critically about brand competition (e.g. If Primark prices are going up, what does that mean? Think of relativity of the chosen brand and competition). Encouraging students to analyse current industry trends help them focus on how sustainability fits into business strategy.
Your use of practical tools and templates also supported student learning. You signposted the Moodle page, examples, and explained one of the templates, helping students understand how to structure their research effectively.
Encouraging Reflection and Critical Thinking
From the start you encouraged reflection on the lecture (e.g. Was there anything from the lecture anyone is confused about?) and linked it to key themes on the course and their research. This allowed students to identify areas where they needed clarification, reinforcing an active learning approach. Throughout the sessions, you provided examples and asked questions to help students critically engage with industry practices and apply this to their own projects.
Supporting Students in Ad-Hoc Tutorials
I couldn’t catch everything from where I was sitting but enough to get a sense of what you were doing. For example, you prompted students to refine their ideas and offered scaffolded guidance (e.g. Have you decided on your brand? Look at their website, think of X, see if you can find…). You also encouraged them to produce SMART goals (e.g. If your brand currently uses 30% recycled polyester, how could that be increased?), helping students move beyond vague statements and instead develop concrete, measurable sustainability strategies.
One thing I noticed is that many students not engaged in 1:1 tutorials seemed distracted and not on task, so I just wonder if it’d be a good idea to set a more structured task (e.g. timed tasks like show and tell on their research, completing a checklist or a specific document) and check they are on task before starting 1:1s.
Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
Thankyou so much for your feedback Victor, it is always useful to hear positive assurances about my teaching techniques and impact on student engagement. Coming from a more industry focused, rather than an academic background, it is good for my confidence and understanding of my own personal development as an educator to receive such comments, thankyou.
I completely agree with your comment regarding strategies for keeping the students focused on the class tasks, particularly whilst conducting 1:1 discussions. I really liked your suggestion regarding “show and tell” of their research, which is something I will implement in classes after the spring break.
Regarding the fact that students were on phones, laptops and engaged in private conversations during my initial explanations, this is often a source of frustration, particularly when dealing with the larger group of approx. 140 students in a more formal lecture format. As a direct result of your pointing it out, I have started to take a more pro-active approach to managing this. During the lecture this morning, for which we had a guest speaker, I was able to make my way around the room, asking the students in question, politely but firmly, to refrain from being on their phones in class. I will continue to find ways of implementing this pro-active approach in class to maintain concentration levels.
Once again, your comments are much appreciated!