Artifact #8: Lesson Plan for Int Sci 230
I was a guest lecturer for the IMPaCT training course, Exploring Discipline-Based Leadership and Mentoring, on the topic of on Social, Emotional and Academic Development. This was something I was familiar with after my experience working with students in my lab or teaching, as well as our research about the IMPaCT program. While I could have just covered the readings the students were assigned, my goal was to create an active lesson to put these topics into action in a 75 minute class. It is very easy to discuss how one can advise students, but it is another to actually put that into action. Many of the students will be challenged with this task in the upcoming semester, so I created a two-part lesson to encourage collaboration and active engagement in the topic.
First, I had students to collaborate and come up with challenges they or their peers may have encountered in college and discuss as a class. This was a way to highlight the diversity of problems their students may come to them with. I then followed up the discussion with a role playing exercise. This was meant to have students explore a variety of issues and challenge them to think on the spot. I was inspired to do this based on a diversity and inclusion seminar that I participated as part of my Delta internship that used improv. Many times we felt confident that we could handle difficult situations based on our training, but it was another when you were thrown into a situation and had to react on the spot. While role playing exercises sometimes make people feel uncomfortable speaking in front of others, it truly is great practice to get you to think on your feet.
First, I had students to collaborate and come up with challenges they or their peers may have encountered in college and discuss as a class. This was a way to highlight the diversity of problems their students may come to them with. I then followed up the discussion with a role playing exercise. This was meant to have students explore a variety of issues and challenge them to think on the spot. I was inspired to do this based on a diversity and inclusion seminar that I participated as part of my Delta internship that used improv. Many times we felt confident that we could handle difficult situations based on our training, but it was another when you were thrown into a situation and had to react on the spot. While role playing exercises sometimes make people feel uncomfortable speaking in front of others, it truly is great practice to get you to think on your feet.
Reflection
Overall, I think our lecture went over fairly well. Students liked the ice breaker, and seemed to contribute to the snowball activity (based on challenges of them and their peers). While I think some of the students had considered many of the challenges we discussed in the snowball activity before, for others I think it opened their eyes to some challenges they weren't aware of.
The role playing activity went over well for those who participated. I think if we were the normal instructors, the overall students may have been more enthusiastic about participating in the activities. There's always an adjustment period for students to feel comfortable with you to participate in activities because they better understand the expectations you have of them. Some students however were enthusiastic enough to participate in the role playing activities, but others seemed nervous about doing it in front of the whole group. This became hard when some of the students were in the far back and could disengage if they wanted. If I were to change the activity, it might have been better to break them up into groups and give them role playing scenarios to work on in the groups. This would break down some of the barriers that students could have felt talking in front of the whole class. I think the discussion section went well because we tried to stick to a traditional discussion format, so there was little-no deviation from their expectations.
Since Jerry (their course instructor) may run his course very differently to today's course, this could have led to a misalignment of expectations. Personally, I am a creature of habit so I could understand stress or disengagement if your expectations don't align with the present. It is much easier to run your own course because you are able to set the tone for your course. When you are a guest lecturer, this runs a challenge because don't have that capability, and to effectively teach you need to align your ideas closely to the professors.
The role playing activity went over well for those who participated. I think if we were the normal instructors, the overall students may have been more enthusiastic about participating in the activities. There's always an adjustment period for students to feel comfortable with you to participate in activities because they better understand the expectations you have of them. Some students however were enthusiastic enough to participate in the role playing activities, but others seemed nervous about doing it in front of the whole group. This became hard when some of the students were in the far back and could disengage if they wanted. If I were to change the activity, it might have been better to break them up into groups and give them role playing scenarios to work on in the groups. This would break down some of the barriers that students could have felt talking in front of the whole class. I think the discussion section went well because we tried to stick to a traditional discussion format, so there was little-no deviation from their expectations.
Since Jerry (their course instructor) may run his course very differently to today's course, this could have led to a misalignment of expectations. Personally, I am a creature of habit so I could understand stress or disengagement if your expectations don't align with the present. It is much easier to run your own course because you are able to set the tone for your course. When you are a guest lecturer, this runs a challenge because don't have that capability, and to effectively teach you need to align your ideas closely to the professors.