don't provide the answers

As a part of the design technique for both my students and teachers (as a dept. chair)....I often provide the "answers" that they have so that I show that I am truly "teaching" them. However, an "ah,hah" moment was ....don't provide the answers. Re-ask them the question OR ask them other probing questions that will help THEM come to the answer. On my deparment meeting agenda - rather than me providing LOTS of information for my new teachers....I am going to ask them lots of questions and provide them with the resources in how to find the answers. Im hoping this will help my novice teachers.

From boring - to engaging

I took a unit that is normally boring to both teach and learn. It's the 9 functions of Marketing. This unit was traditionally taught through Powerpoint presentation and lectures but it was an overwhelming amount of information and very boring for the students to learn. Then I altered this lesson to allow each group to create a poster on one function and each group would hang the posters and do a presentation to the class. This was a little more exciting but as each group would present - the other groups wouldn't really "learn" about ALL functions. This time- I used the "off-loading" concept, as well as ACTS. I created a problem (which was real) - which was to design a brochure for the "intro to marketing" class. The intro to marketing class is full of freshman so I challenged my class to create a brochure explaining the 9 functions in a format that the freshman would understand and appreciate. I paired the groups up into 2 and they had to look up the information in the textbook - learn the definition and then re-phrase it in a simple format. They then had to develop an example for each function. This was much more engaging and the students actually "retained" the information on ALL functions. They also learned a software skill of creating a brochure by using a template in Blackboard. Another great concept in design:)

Sharing Design with others

This week I had the opportunity to share the concept of design and ACTS with my department. As a department chair, I get the opportunity to share alot about curriulum and guiding our efforts in accomplishing department goals. In this weeks meeting, I discussed the importance of "designing" our courses to cause a more effective learning environment. I discussed the components of ACTS and how it can be incorporated into lesson plans. I have 2 novice teachers in our department and they were very excited to hear about these concepts. They feel that this will help guide them in their lesson planning process. Pay it forward:)