2019 Microteaching Project Guidelines
Objectives | Short Description | Teams and Topics | Timelines and Deadlines | Schedule and Materials.
Learning Objectives of this Project: This end-of-semester project has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to engage in the process of preparing and delivering a discussion-based class on a topic of your interest.
Short Description: The topic of the class shall be a classroom teaching and learning topic that we have covered in class or a closely related topic that you would like to explore further. You will identify topics, search for relevant educational material, develop a lesson plan (which means define the learning objectives, educational materials, classroom activities, and (optional) mode of assessment) and implement your lesson plan in a 40 minute class. You and your teammate(s) will be the course instructor(s) whereas your classmates (and your course instructor) will be your students.
Teams and Topics:
Project Timeline and Deadlines: Below are the three main steps of the project with their own deadlines.
Schedule and Materials
Wk 11 - 11/15 - Team E | Team A
Wk 12 - 11/22 - Team D | Team F
Wk 13 - 12/06- Team B
Learning Objectives of this Project: This end-of-semester project has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to engage in the process of preparing and delivering a discussion-based class on a topic of your interest.
Short Description: The topic of the class shall be a classroom teaching and learning topic that we have covered in class or a closely related topic that you would like to explore further. You will identify topics, search for relevant educational material, develop a lesson plan (which means define the learning objectives, educational materials, classroom activities, and (optional) mode of assessment) and implement your lesson plan in a 40 minute class. You and your teammate(s) will be the course instructor(s) whereas your classmates (and your course instructor) will be your students.
Teams and Topics:
| Team | Date | Team Members | Short Topic Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team E | 11/15 | - Ben & Jordan - | - Low risk assessments (to prepare for major projects) - |
| Team A | 11/15 | - Kirby & Cameron - | - Stereotype Threat - |
| Team D | 11/22 | - Michael & Eunice - | - Self-motivation ... what do students want from classes?- |
| Team F | 12/22 | - Neil & MaryGrace- | - Effective course syllabi - |
| Team B | 12/06 | - Ashley & Jonathan - | - Designing/converting courses for inquiry-based learning - |
Project Timeline and Deadlines: Below are the three main steps of the project with their own deadlines.
- Step 1 - Topics selection and team formation: Deadline Fri. November 01, 10:00 am
- Brainstorm for one or more topics of interest. For ideas, see previous years microteaching projects : 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012, and 2010.
- Do an initial library database search for relevant literature and/or educational material (see below for details);
- Share at least one micro-teaching project idea with your classmates and instructor using the Blog your Micro-teaching ideas page.
- Step 2 - Planning the project (identification and repartition of tasks among team members):
- Please download and complete part I of the Team Planning and Evaluation document. Submit in the course drop box by the deadline: Tuesday November 5, 5:00 pm
- Step 3 - Design a lesson plan for a 40-min. class: Deadline is one week (class time) before the implementation of your micro-teaching project in class (see Table above).
- This is an iterative process between identifying a learning objective and selecting educational (resource) material. To engage in this process, get familiar with educational databases and other electronic resources; read paper(s), view online materials and decide what would be relevant as pre-class assignment for "your students":
- Use the educational Library database. I would recommend "Education Full Text" and "ERIC" databases;
- See also "T&L Journals (SoTL)" page of this site;
- Manage your time so that you search these resources in multiple sessions using different databases and different keywords or descriptors;
- Select the educational material for the pre-class assignment. Try to identify a few (at the most two or three) main messages or BIG IDEA(S) that you believe everybody should take away from your micro-teaching unit. What pre-class assignement educational material will help you (and your students) get there? Please select short and concise pre-class assignment materials because most students will have to prepare for multiple micro teaching sessions the day of your micro-teaching session;
- Write a short set of instructions describing what exactly you want your students to do before class;
- Email pre-class assignment materials (pdf, ppt, excel, etc.) and specific instructions (written as a word document) to your instructor so the material can be posted on the course website giving the rest of the class one week to complete the pre-class assignment before class.
- Step 4 - Prepare for the 40-min. classroom interaction with your students: Deadline is class time the day of implementation of your micro-teaching (see Table above)
- What will you do in class to reach the learning objectives? What will you do in class to complement the pre-class assignment? Classroom time should be structured in anyway you see fit to maximize effectiveness of your discussion-based teaching. Examples of what you may elect to do include:
- A handout highlighting micro-teaching unit goal(s) and instruction(s) for class activities;
- View or review electronic resources (web-pages, Youtube videos, etc.) as an introduction to class discussion;
- Plan for individual, pair, small groups or whole-class discussion activities (feel free to review the best practices in facilitating a discussion);
- Invite a panel of guests to provide a "real-life" perspective of the subject of discussion.
- The class will review your pre-class assignement materials and follow your instructions (unless specified otherwise, the default will be the usual blog entries with the usual Thursday 7:00 pm deadline).
- Step 5 - Evaluation of the project (self evaluation and evaluation of team members):
- Please complete part II of the team planning and evaluation document (see step 2 above). Submit in the course drop box by the deadline: 7:00 PM the day of implementation of your micro teaching project.
Schedule and Materials
| Pd | Date | Microteaching Module | Class Blogs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | F. 11/15 | Team E (Ben and Jordan) | Pre E | Post E | |
| Team A (Cameron and Kirby) | Pre A | Post A | |||
| 12 | F. 11/22 | Team D (Eunice and Michael) | Pre D | Post D | |
| Team F (Neil and MaryGrace) | Pre F | Post F | |||
| 13 | F. 12/06 | Team B (Ashley and Jonathan) | Pre B | Post B | |
Wk 11 - 11/15 - Team E | Team A
Team E Required Reading: Formative and Shared Assessment ... (Lopez-Pastor and Sicila-Camacho, 2016) | It's Not for a Grade: The Rewards and Risks of .... (Duhart,2015)
Instructions:
- Read the following sections from Lopez-Pastor (2016): “Introduction” and “Formative and Shared Assessment in Higher Education”
- Read the following sections from Duhart (2015): “Introduction,” “Summative vs. formative assessment,” “Practice Makes Perfect,” and “Is This for a Grade?”
- Write a 2-3 sentence pre-blog about what stood out to you in these papers before Thursday 11/14 at 7pm.
- Start brainstorming a potential formative assessment technique that you can utilize when you are TAing a current class or teaching as a professor someday. This will be a very open-ended activity – be creative!
Team A Required Reading From Stereotype Threat to ... (Shapiro and Neuberg, 2007)
Instructions:
- Please read the Shapiro and Neuberg paper. We appreciate that this is a fairly lengthy piece, so do not feel obligated to read it in its entirety. Pages 114-119 and 122-123 in particular can be skimmed without losing the key points of this paper;
- Complete the pre-class blog (as usual; see link above);
- Select a passage that stood out to you, to be discussed in class.
Wk 12 - 11/22 - Team D | Team F
Team D Required Readings: The Toxin Puzzle (Kavka,1893) | A Social Inequality of Motivation? The Relationship between .... (Smith and Skrbis, 2017)
Instructions:- Read: Kavak (1983) The Toxin Puzzle;
- Watch: Pink (2009) Ted Talk on Motivation;
- Skim: Smith & Skrbiš (2017). A social inequality of motivation? The relationship between beliefs about academic success and young people's educational attainment.
- Upload: Pre-blog (due Thursday, November 21 7:00 pm)
Resource material Team F : How To Create a Syllabus (Chronicle of Higher Education, Advise Guide, 2019)
Instructions:
- Read the “How to Create a Syllabus: Advice Guide” from the Chronicle of Higher Education;
- Write the usual pre-blog to share highlights or insights that you had while reading;
- Think about syllabi from previous courses you’ve taken or taught – do any stand out as being particularly “good” or “bad”? What were they like? Be prepared to share/discuss in class.
Optional readings/viewing: None
Wk 13 - 12/06- Team B
Resource material Team B: Inquiry-Based Course Inquiry in Higher Education: Reflections and Directions on Course Design and Teaching Methods (Justice et al. 2007)
Instructions:
- Watch Shelley Wright's Ted Talk on the power of student-driven learning.
- Read Justice et al. (2007) article posted above
- Use the Pre-blog to write down 2-3 sentences about a definition and/or elements of inquiry that interest you.
- Bring to class a lesson plan or unit from a class you've taken, taught, or TA'ed to use in class (Examples: a unit on photosynthesis, a lab on nitrate reductase activity, etc.)