My Lesson
Introduction
In my immediate context, I teach first year undergraduate students in a mandatory writing course. In this course, students are required to complete two reflective essays: one at the beginning of the semester and one at the end of teaching. Typically students are asked to reflect on a certain aspect of the course that has been emphasized throughout the semester. The lesson planning assignment was based on the requirements for the final reflection with emphasis on getting students to engage in reflections using online technological tools; the tools selected were discussion forums and a graded wiki.
Planning the lesson
As I prepared to plan the lesson, I was guided by Karunanayaka, Naidu, Rajendra and Ratnayake (2017) who asserted that meaningful reflective practice "should be carefully designed, with appropriate structure and guidance" (p. 143). They identified online discussions and reflective journal writing as "authentic learning activities" (p. 143). I believe that the reflective model that I selected, the DIEP model, is well suited to online discussions and wikis which can be used for online journal writing.
The DIEP Model
I selected the model because of its relative simplicity for students who are learning how to reflect for the first time. DIEP is the acronym for describe, interpret, evaluate and plan. Since I wanted them to reflect on one aspect of the content and to make sense of lesson(s) they learned, evaluate the lessons and project how they would transfer the lessons to studies in their sub-disciplines, this model seemed appropriate for the task. This perception about appropriateness was borne out by Ichii and Ono (2018) in a study they conducted which found that using the DIEP model to reflect helped them to interpret and transfer their learning to other contexts.
The planning
As I started the planning process, I realised it would be somewhat more detailed than what I was accustomed to preparing, based on the template that was provided. However, I found elements of the template very useful as I was able to incorporate all the lesson components. The value of the template became even more evident when I had to indicate the technology tools I would be incorporating to facilitate reflection in my students. My lessons are usually delivered in a face-to-face mode.
The lessons learned
- The objectives had to be carefully aligned with my focus on incorporating the online tools, especially since this was the first time I was using discussion forums and wikis in my lesson.
- I had to be very deliberate in the selection of technology tools as I wanted to ensure that my first-year students would be engaged in activities that enhanced critical engagement and their ability to evaluate their experiences.
- The reflection model selected needed to be one that students could easily relate to since they were being taught reflective writing for the first time.
My lesson presentation
See the link to my lesson plan presentation below:
References
Ichii,
R. & Ono, A. (2018). Business students’ reflection on reflective writing
assessments. In D. Wache and D. Houston (Eds.) Research and development in
higher education: (Re) Valuing higher education, 41, (pp. 102-110).
Karunanayaka,
S. P., Naidu, S., Rajendra, J. C. N & Ratnayake, H. U. W. (2017). Designing
reflective practice in the context of OER-based e-learning. Journal of
Learning for Development, 4(2), 143-160
Lesson Planning. Image. Retrieved from https://concordia.csp.edu/teachered/student-teachers-forms-materials
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ReplyDeleteHi Jasmin
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your lesson. The lesson has a specific purpose that is clearly outlined. The topic of the lesson could be narrowed to exactly what you will be focusing on. In this case, you outlined that your focus is audience awareness in reflective writing in an academic context. A suggested topic could be “Reflective writing for an intended Audience”.
Most of your objectives are SMART. Objective number 4 requires students to post comments in a Discussion Forum and in a WIKI. This objective relates to both the closing activity and the homework/extention activity. SMART objectives will require students to complete one specific, measureable, achievable, relevant and timely task (Hedin & DeSpain, 2018). It is recommended that you split this objective so that it speaks to the students posting comments separately from their discussion homework.
The lesson is well organized and has a logical flow. Time allotted for each section is missing from the lesson. Lefstein and Snell (2013) noted that the pace of the lesson is critical to ensure time is not wasted and student’s interest is maintained. Adding the time allotted for each section would help guide the pace of the lesson.
The lesson is a face to face class but it is not clear if the online discussion activity will take place synchronously or asynchronously. The lesson plan could have benefitted from a plenary that is explicitly identified. The videos and resources that were shared with students are interesting and varied.
Excellent work on the references. All references adhere to the APA style. There is also an adequate number of references for the lesson.
References
Hedin, L., & DeSpain, S. (2018). SMART or Not? Writing Specific, Measurable IEP Goals. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 51(2), 100–110. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059918802587
Lefstein, A., Snell, J. (2013). Beyond a unitary conception of pedagogic pace: Quantitative measurement and ethnographic experience. British Educational Research Journal, 39(1), 73–106.