Week 4 - 15/10/13 - Nuts and Bolts.

It was really great to join forces with the other class, and while the combined group was large, we were afforded plenty of opportunities to have an active share through group activities.


This week can really be summed up by the phrase "Learning Outcomes".

In discussion, many of us thought that any decent lesson plan would have "objectives", but this tends to be a tutor driven term rather than "Learning Outcomes" which places greater emphasis on the benefits to the student. It might seem to be a bit like semantics, but starting to tweak our collective mindsets towards the student needs can't be a bad thing.

To bring both classes into synchronisation, we were introduced to some further "Equality and Diversity" guidelines. It's certainly more than the attitudes of tutor and student in class, but as the following model ( acronym - MASTER ) from Dr Christine Rose shows, Equality and Diversity should influence every element of the learning process.

So, back to Lesson plans and Learner Outcomes. For me, this was a much needed class exercise, the mini teach session was looming and I was still not confident about the preparation that should underpin my mini lesson. I have been hearing all sorts of educational jargon and my lack of understanding was making me feel out of touch with others within the group. So, here we were getting down to the " Nuts and Bolts" of it all, I especially found the acronym - SMART - very useful, it is so easy to list what students are going to DO rather than what they are going to LEARN - another instance of subtly adjusting how, as tutors, we should be approaching our classes.

Putting down these outcomes effectively into a " Lesson Plan " can also be tricky, so receiving further assistance using " Bloom's Taxonomy " and the extensive list of verbs made this exercise a little easier... Well I think so... Perhaps my own Lesson Plan and mini teach will indicate otherwise. Bring on week 5.