Dated: Feb 21, 2017

Peer Classroom Observation Report for Dr. Larry Medwetsky

I had the pleasure of observing Dr. Medwetsky during his class HSL 826 Aural
Rehabilitation:Pediatric on Feb 17, 2017. The class comprised of 8-9, second year AuD graduate
students. The focus of the lecture was, Amplification devices for Children which, was a topic
continuation from a previous class. My hour long observation comprised of lecture interspersed
with discussion and student directed class activity.

Dr. Medwetsky was friendly and interactive and his personable demeanor seemed to put the
students at ease, to ask questions and participate in the discussions. The lecture slides were
structured, organized around topics and visually non-distracting. He seemed well prepared and
comfortable with the content, narrating experiential anecdotes to underscore a point. This clearly
seemed to make the information more tangible to the students as they were able to link it with
their own clinical experiences. If a student had a contrary clinical experience, they felt
comfortable enough to articulate it. Dr. Medwetsky was never dismissive and tried to account for
the difference in perspective based on either methodological differences or advances in
technology. He frequently generated discussion by asking follow up questions that linked the
topic with previous experience and/or clinical decision making (e.g., When we visited the
schools, how was the noise level? How do you think that impacts children vs adults?)

The classroom dynamics was fairly positive, and the students raised hands and took turns to talk.
He kept the student engaged and participative, though, a few students seemed groggy from the
late class, the previous night. He interspersed his class time with intermittent 4-5 minute breaks
and encouraged the students to walk around. He also played music during those breaks to keep
them attentive and alert.

Some 15 minutes of the class was devoted to a student directed class activity where the students
had to work in groups of 2-3 and generate responses to questions related to graphs on the slides.
Dr. Metwetsky moved between groups and addressed their queries before consolidating the
answers across the groups. It was an exercise commensurate with the critical thinking demands
of a doctoral level class and the students rose up to the challenge, mostly. I noticed some parallel
conversations/digressions at this point, but Dr. Medwetsky was quickly able to refocus their
attention.

Some area of improvement would be to ask more specific questions, directed at individual
students by name (some questions could be interpreted as rhetoric) as well as add more citations

800 Florida Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002-3695

www.gallaudet.edu
on the slides (I should clarify there was literature support provided on most of the slides, but not
all).

Overall, it was a pleasurable and educative experience that bears testimony to Dr. Medwetskys
outstanding pedagogical skills. I would like to also highlight that I have been privy to his
concerted and sustained efforts in this regard, be it the excellent rapport and interest in students
well-being, detailed and clear syllabi, and honing pedagogical skills over the years by
participating in faculty development workshops and learning communities. I have high respect
for his dedication towards the students, program and the department and wish him continued
success in this endeavor.

Sanyukta Jaiswal, Ph.D.

Associate Professor,
Dept. of Hearing, Speech & Language Sciences
2224, SLCC
Gallaudet University
800 Florida Ave. NE
Washington, D.C. 20002
Phone: 202-651-5325 (v); 202-651-5324 (fax)
E-mail: sanyukta.jaiswal@gallaudet.edu