2023 Microteaching Project Guidelines
This page will be updated as the 2023 micro-teaching projects are finalized.
Objectives | Short Description | Teams and Topics | Timelines and Deadlines | Schedule, Materials and Evaluation.
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 A | 11/21 | - Patrick and Poush - | - Power point in internationally diverse classroom - |
| Team B | 11/21 | - Gina and TingTing - | - Intercultural learning - |
| Team C | 11/28 | - Hannah and Hao - | - Accessible classrooms - |
| Team D | 11/28 | - Amanda and Emily - | - Accessible assessments - |
| Team E | 12/05 | - Lisa and Ziyan - | - Constructivism in Engineering - |
| Team F | 12/05 | - Deepak and Yulin - | - Soil as living being: active learning - |
| Trey | 12/12 | - Trey - | - Active learning in large classes - |
Project Timeline and Deadlines: Below are the three main steps of the project with their own deadlines.
- Step 1 - Topics selection and team formation: Share ideas of project on the "Blog your Micro-Teaching Ideas page starting 10/24 - Team formation based on comon interest will be completed during the class period of 10/31
- Brainstorm for one or more topics of interest. For ideas, see previous years microteaching projects: [Link for document 130829 is unavailable at this time], 2020, 2019, 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 distribution of tasks among team members):
- Please download the Team Planning and Evaluation word document and complete PART I only. This document is to help team members identify specific tasks required to complete the project and for team members to decide who will do what (by when). The Team Planning Evaluation form PART I should be competed collaboratively.
- This document will serve as a "reminder" of the tasks that each team member has committed to complete (on their own) and will be used later for self-evaluation and evaluation of your team member at the end of the project.
- After completion of PART I of this document, each team member keep a copy for their own record and share the document with the instructor.
- Submit one copy of the document in the course drop box by the deadline of 11/07, 10:00 am.
- Step 3 - Design a lesson plan for a 40-min. class: Deadline the resource material you will want the rest of the class to engage in before your micro-teaching session 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 assignment materials and follow your instructions (unless specified otherwise, the default will be the usual blog entries with the usual Monday 5:00 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) INDIVIDUALLY (without consulting your partner). Submit your completed self- and team partner- evaluation in the course drop box by the deadline: 7:00 PM the day of implementation of your micro teaching project.
Schedule, Materials and Evaluation
| Pd | Date | Microteaching Module | Class Blogs | Evaluation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | T. 11/21 | Team A (Patrick and Poush) | Pre A | Post A | Select Team A tab in this Google sheet |
| 11 | T. 11/21 | Team B (Gina and TingTing) | Pre B | Post B | Select Team B tab in this Google sheet |
| 12 | T. 11/28 | Team C (Hannah and Hao) | Pre C&D | Post C | Select Team C tab in this Google sheet |
| 12 | T. 11/28 | Team D (Amanda and Emily) | Pre C&D | Post D | Select Team D tab in this Google sheet |
| 13 | T. 12/05 | Team E (Lisa and Ziyan) | Pre E | Post E | Select Team E tab in this Google sheet |
| 13 | T. 12/05 | Team F (Deepak and Yulin) | Pre F | Post F | Select Team F tab in this Google sheet |
| 14 | T. 12/12 | Team G (Trey) | Pre G | Post G | Select Trey in this Google sheet |
Wk 11 - 11/21 - Team A & Team B
Team A — PowerPoint in Internationally Diverse Classroom — Optional Reading: Introducing technology in the classroom: Power Point as a first step by Daniels (1999).
Instructions:
- Skim the reading, reflecting on your personal experience with Powerpoint;
- Go to the [Link for document 132232 is unavailable at this time] where you will find the lesson plan and the instrutions to complete the blog.
Optional readings/viewing: None
Team B — Cross-cultural Competency — Required Reading: Please see below for details.
Instructions for pre-class assignment:
We selected many resources about this theory in different representations: Please choose ONE hat works best for you to review this theory
- You can listen to: Weaving Kolb's Learning Styles and Experiential Learning Cycle Into Your Classroom
- You can watch: Kolb's Cycle Experiential Learning
- You can read:
- The section about Kolb's Learning Cycle on page 112 of Learning how to Learn by Wirth and Perkins (2010);
- The section on page 52 in the class-by-design document;
- Complete the Pre-class Blog Team B (our default class preparation).
Optional readings/viewing: None
Wk 12 - 11/28 - Team C & Team D
Team C — Making Classroom Accessible Using Interactive Technology— Required Reading: See details below
Instructions:
- Optional, watch video: Technology Tool or Toy? Exploring Play in the Classroom, a Tedx Talk by Chris Meylan
- Read two short passages from the following pdf document : 1) Invisible Disabilities and Chronic Illness - 2) Leaning Disability
- Use the pre-class blog Pre C (shared with Team D) to define "accessibility"
Optional readings/viewing: None
Team D — Accessible Assement and Grading Practices — Required Reading: See details below.
Instructions:
- Complete the pre-class blog Pre D (shared with Team C) to define "accessibility"
- Read selected passages of Teaching More by Grading Less (or Differently) by Schinske & Tanner (2014)
- "Grades as Feedback on Performance—Does Grading Provide Feedback to Help Students Understand and Improve upon Their Deficiencies?”
- “Grades as a Motivator of Student Effort—Does Grading Motivate Students to Learn?"
- “Grades as a Tool for Comparing Students—Is Grading on a Curve the Fairest Way to Grade?”
- “Grades as an Objective Evaluation of Student Knowledge—Do Grades Provide Reliable Information about Student Learning?”
- Read the introduction only of Traditional Versus Authentic Assessments in Higher Education by Saher, Ali, Amani and Najwan, (2022).
Optional readings:
- Read the entire paper of Schinske & Tanner (see above)
- Read the entire paper of Saher, Ali, Amani and Najwan (see above)
Wk 13 - 12/05 - Team E & Team F
Team E Required Viewing / reading: See Instructions below.
Instructions:
- Watch the following video to understand Newton's first law: Newton's First Law of Motion | Forces and Motion.
- Either
- Read this Travis Lee bog: Learning theories,: Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, and Connectivism (Travis Lee, 2016)
- Or, watch this video until 5:15 min (stop at the end of constructivism): Learning Theories (Travis Lee).
- Complete the pre-class blog Pre E.
Optional readings/viewing: None
Team F Required Reading: Two constructivist approaches to teaching ecology at the middle school level (Vance, Miller and Hans, 1995).
Optional but encouraged to better understand in-class activities
(an example of what we might offer as pre-class discussion to undergraduates taking our soil biology class)
Please read or listen to the audio (within) this newspaper article (10-15 min.): Research ties healthy soil biology to a host of benefits (S. Wise, 2023; South Dakota Soil Health Coalition).
Now, imagine yourself in high school and your parents moved your family recently. You are starting afresh in a new high school. When you enter your new class, what are the kinds of interactions you might have? You may draw from your own personal experiences or if you have watched the movie “Mean girls”, you could think about that for a minute. If you haven’t watched the movie and have a couple of hours to spare, it is on youtube for free. What are some (or one) parallels or dissimilarities can you draw between your experience and the newspaper article?
Instructions:
- Do the required reading
- Complete the pre-class blog Pre F. based on the required reading.
Wk 14 - 12/12 - Team G
Team G Required reading: Please read: Learning transferable skills in large lecture halls: Implementing a POGIL approach in biochemistry by Bailey et al. (2011).
Instructions:
- Complete the pre-class blog Pre G.
Optional readings:
- Scaling-up Process-Oriented-Guided-Inquiry Learning (POGIL) techniques for teaching large information systems courses by Trevathan et al. (2014)
- Short-term and long-term effects of POGIL in large-enrollment general chemistry course by Vincent-Ruz et al. (2020).