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 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.
Step 1 - Topics selection and team formation: Deadline Fri. Nov 16, 10:00 am
Brainstorm for one or more topics of interest. For ideas, see previous years microteaching projects : 2017, 2016, 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: Deadlines are as follows: Monday Nov. 26 for micro-teaching presentations of Nov. 30 and Monday Dec. 3 for micro-teaching presentations of Dec. 07.
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:
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 presentation;
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: Friday Nov. 30 10:00 am (Teams A, B, and C) and Friday Dec. 07 10:00 am (Teams D, E, and F)
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;
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).