Purpose:
This activity is designed to help students experience performance-based
assessment and collaborative learning. Students will also have an opportunity
to teach a mini lesson to their own peers.
Objectives:
- Engage in collaborative project-based learning
- Experience the preparation and delivery of instruction
- Develop habits for reflection on personal teaching experiences
Student Project:
Form groups of two to three individuals. Each group will be responsible to prepare
and teach a thirty-minute lesson based on one of the chapter topics from the textbook.
The instructor will assign groups to their topics. Each group will be responsible
for the following: (1) present an overview of the main themes introduced in the
chapter; (2) create an activity that would demonstrate your topic to the class;
(3) introduce relevant field observation experiences, and (4) create handout materials.
Once the instructor assigns your group to a topic, conduct your first
meeting. By the end of this meeting you should have a timeline and division
of team roles. E-mail this information to your instructor. Each group
will be given two weeks to prepare their lesson.
Additionally, each group member will be responsible to write a four-
to five-page reflection paper on: (1) what concepts you learned from
this project that were personally meaningful; (2) what you learned about
working in groups; (3) how these learning experiences will affect your
future teaching; and (4) peer evaluation of how much effort each individual
put into the project on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the lowest effort
and 5 being the highest. Your reflection paper is due a week after you
conduct the lesson.
Your teaching performance, prepared materials, and reflection paper
will be assessed according to the following rubrics.
Rubrics: Teaching Performance
| | A lot | None |
| Clarity of Presentation
Represented By: Organization of material | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Evidence of Understanding of Material
Represented By: Clarity of explanations of terms introduced in
presentation | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Professionalism Related to Teaching
Represented By: Appropriate use of visual aids, engagement of
audience, and assessment strategies | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Relevancy of Activity Introduced
Represented By: the activities introduced during class hour | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Reflection Paper | | A lot | None |
| Clarity for articulating concepts
learned | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Clarity for articulating learning
from groups | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Description of impact on future
teaching | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Assessment:
What were the strengths and weaknesses of your paper according to the
rubrics provided above?
Variation:
- After the lesson presentations, discuss and analyze the instructional
approaches chosen by each group. Also discuss how you might use the
approaches presented in your own future teaching.
- Instead of thirty-minute lessons at any point in the semester, present
near the end of the semester for ten to fifteen minutes, on topics
or concepts that are mentioned or alluded to only briefly (e.g., home
schooling, Montessori schools, accelerated schools).
