2016 Microteaching Project Guidelines
Learning Objectives of this Project: This project has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to engage in the process of preparing and delivering a discussion-based class.
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 35 minute class. You and your teammate(s) will be the course instructor(s) whereas your classmates (and your course instructor) will be your students.
2016 Teams and Topics:
| Team | Date | Team Members | Short Topic Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team A | 12/09 | - Brian Cornille and Natalia Spitha - | - Teaching Critical Thinking - |
| Team E | 12/09 | - Daniel Bornstein and Sarah Stefanos - | - International experiences and bringing back in the classroom - |
| Team F | 12/09 | - Erika Carlson, Connor Hendrich, and Jen Cruz - | - Proper test design - |
| Team B | 12/16 | - Annette Dean, Michael Pinkert, and Sydney Thomas - | - Privileges / unconscious biases - |
| Team C | 12/16 | - Robert Mooney and Fei Sun - | - Mentoring undergraduate researchers - |
| Team D | 12/16 | - Liz Ceperley, Maria José Fuenzalida Valenzuela, and Juliana Pacheco Duarte - | - Motivation and effective learning techniques - |
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. Nov 18, 10:00 am
- Brainstorm for one or more topics of interest. For ideas, see previous years microteaching projects : 2015, 2013, 2012, and 2010.
- Do an initial library database search for relevant literature and/or educational material (optional; 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 - Design a lesson plan for a 35-min. class: Deadline the Friday before your micro-teaching presentation (Dec. 02 for micro-teaching presentations of Dec. 09 and Dec. 9 for micro-teaching presentations of Dec. 16)
- 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?
- 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 at least 4-5 days to complete the pre-class assignment before class.
- Step 3 - Prepare for the 35-min. classroom interaction with your students: Fri. Dec 09 10:00 am (Teams A, E, and F) and Fri. Dec 16 10:00 am (Teams B, C, and D)
- What will you do in class to reach your pedagogical 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, You-Tube 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 9:00 pm deadline).
Schedule and Materials
| Pd | Date | Modules and Topics | Class Blogs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | F. 12/09 | Microteaching: Team A | Pre A | Post A | |
| Microteaching: Team E | Pre E | Post E | |||
| Microteaching: Team F | Post F | ||||
| 14 | F. 12/16 | Microteaching: Team B | Pre B | Post B | |
| Microteaching: Team C | Pre C | Post C | |||
| Microteaching: Team D | Pre D | Post D | |||
Wk 13 - 12/04 - Team A | Team E | Team F
Team A Required Reading: Teaching Critical Thinking: Some Lessons from Cognitive Science (vanGelder, 2005) | Instructions: Complete the required reading and - as usual - post your blog entry using the "Pre A" link (see above).
Optional readings: Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking (Mulnix, 2012). Also, feel free to spend quality time on this Logically Fallacious webpage.Team E Required Reading: Encouraging reflexivity in urban geography fieldwork: study abroad experiences in Singapore and Malaysia (Glass, 2014) | Instructions: Complete the required reading and - as usual - post your blog entry using the "Pre E" link (see above).
Optional reading: To be posted.Team F Required Reading: The materials and instructions for Jen, Erika and Connor's micro-teaching on test design is now available. | Instructions: Notice that instructions are described in the document to download; they do not include completing a pre-class blog.
Optional reading: See inside posted pdf.Wk 14 - 12/11 - Team B | Team C | Team D
Resource material Team B : Mind-set Interventions are a scalable treatment for academic underachievement (Paunesku et al., 2015) | Instructions: Complete the required reading and - as usual - post your blog entry using the "Pre B" link (see above).
Optional reading: Social-Psychological Interventions in Education — They’re Not Magic (Yeager and Walton, 2011) | Eye of the Beholder: How Perception Management Can Counter Stereotype Threat Among Struggling Law Students (Christopher, 2105).Resource material Team C: Successful Mentoring of Undergraduate Researchers (Shellito et al., 2001) | Instructions: Complete the required reading and - as usual - post your blog entry using the "Pre C" link (see above).
Optional reading: None.Resource material Team D: Please read this On-line article on Motivation (from Vanderbilt University) and watch videos 1 & 2 from the Motivating College Student Learning webpage | Instructions: Please on the pre-blog page (see above), post a memory about what motivated you to continue in your field. What is a specific experience or role model in your childhood, high school, or undergraduate years?
Optional reading: None.