2018 Microteaching Project Guidelines
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.
2016 Teams and Topics:
| Team | Date | Team Members | Short Topic Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team E | 11/30 | - Reed & Taylor - | - Universal Design / Validity, reliability of survey data - |
| Team A | 11/30 | - Serkan & Elias - | - Power point and educational technology in the class - |
| Team D | 11/30 | - Korri & Prathana - | - Invisible differences - |
| Team F | 12/07 | - Gordon & Lauryn - | - Effectiveness of learning techniques and strategies - |
| Team B | 12/07 | - Josie & Katie - | - Introductory, large enrollment classes and discussion - |
| Team C | 12/07 | - Bri, Konstanze, & Aybuke - | - Intercultural impact on expectation (and 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. 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: TUESDAY Nov 27 for micro-teaching presentations of Friday Nov. 30 and TUESDAY Dec. 4 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":
- 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 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 E, A, and D) and Friday Dec. 07 10:00 am (Teams F, B, and C)
- 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 9:00 pm deadline).
Schedule and Materials
| Pd | Date | Modules and Topics | Class Blogs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | F. 11/30 | Microteaching: Team E | Pre E | Post E | |
| Microteaching: Team A | Pre A | Post A | |||
| Microteaching: Team D | Pre D | Post D | |||
| 12 | F. 12/07 | Microteaching: Team F | Pre F | Post F | |
| Microteaching: Team B | Pre B | Post B | |||
| Microteaching: Team C | Pre C | Post C | |||
Wk 11 - 12/08 - Team E | Team A | Team D
Team E Required Reading: Questionnaire for Educational Research by Artino et al. (2014) | Instructions: Please complete the pre-class blog to highlight ideas, concepts or findings that you have found interesting or novel in this pre class assignment. Feel free to add one question you wish to discuss in class or to respond to a classmate's post. (see "Pre E" link above).
Optional readings: Tip sheet on Question Wording from Harvard University Program on Survey ResearchTeam A Required Reading: Clickers Benefits and Strategies by Blood and Gulchak (2012) (alternatively see doi link) | Instructions: Please post your take-home [message] in the Pre-A blog section after reading this article. We also encourage you to provide your opinion about whether clickers could be used at college classroom or not (see "Pre A" link above).
Optional youtube video viewing: Using Clickers in the College Classroom.Team D Required Readings: Reduce Stereotype Threat by Eschenbach et al. (2015) | Instructions: Please read the Eschenbach et al., (2015) article. Then, complete the pre-blog with your reflections; What are perceived stereotype threats of a group you belong to?; Question(s) and/or statement(s) that you have received which has imposed a stereotype threat on you; Can you recall any physical or emotional reaction you have had in such situations?; What are the steps you've taken to deliberately not fall into that stereotype?.
Optional readings: McNair scholar's STEM graduate experience: A pilot project by Brancroft et al. (2016)Wk 12 - 12/15 - Team F | Team B | Team C
Resource material Team F : Assessing experiential learning styles: A methodological reconstruction and validation of the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (by Burns et al., 2013) | Instructions: Complete the required reading and post your pre-class blog (see "Pre F" link above) in response to the following prompt: Based on the Kolb Experiential Learning Model (Fig. 1 in Burns 2013, page 3), where do you think your learning style is best represented? Do you think this scale captures the spectrum of learning styles?
Optional readings: Kolb's Experiential learning bookResource material Team B: Please read Making Primary Literature Come Alive in the Classroom (by Hartman et al., 2017) | Instructions: Complete the required reading. Post your pre-class blog (see "Pre B" link above) using the following prompts: Please reflect on the reading and describe your experiences with reading and discussing primary literature as a student in undergraduate classes. What did you learn from these experiences? Please give examples if possible.
Optional readings: How to Create Successful Discussions in Science Classrooms (by Grover et al- (2007) | First-Year-Seminar (FYS), The Advantages that This Course Offers (by Jaijairam,2016)Resource material Team C: International Teaching Assistants’ Experiences in Educational Cultures and Their Teaching Beliefs (by Gorsuch, 2012) | Instructions: Complete the required reading. Post your pre-class blog (see "Pre C" link above) reflecting on the following prompts: Do you think that your educational culture affects your teaching/learning expectations? How do you feel about the cultural differences in teaching attitudes and beliefs mentioned in the paper? What is U.S. educational culture?
Optional readings: Student Learning Preferences: International Students in Comparative Perspective (by Gillett and Baskerville, 2012) | (An Examination of Learning Peferences of U.S. and International Students (by Stowe and Clinbell, 2015)