Need: While EDU students all do Field Experiences anywhere from 10 – 30 hours, sometimes their experiences don’t directly correlate to the competencies of the course they are taking.
Strategy: In an effort to more closely align this, I created a “Virtual Class Visitation” assignment where my students had to visit at least four virtual classroom experiences for a minimum of 40 minutes. They were directed to two credible, research-backed, best-practices websites, Edutopia and The Teaching Channel. They had to fill out a matrix (see attached) which ID’ed the particular segment, the source (link), an explanation of the lesson, and 3 take-aways (specifically related to our course competencies).
Results: Assignments were 100% submitted with complete accuracy regarding the specified competencies. Subsequent class discussion reflected their satisfaction, and a survey rated the overall experience at a 4.4 out of 5. One of the things they liked the most was they could do this on their time. This was a worthy endeavor that, short of an actual class visit, helped to focus their needs.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| edu-alternate-class-visitation-document.docx | 17.02 KB |
Comments
Hi Pete -
Last year I completed a Structured English Immersion course for my STEM teaching certification. We were shown "blips" of classroom best practices and it certainly helped me recognize..., well, best practices. I like the longer stretch of time. It creates a better sense of the culture of the classroom and challenges a teacher might experience that might not be included in a "blip." The take-aways seem to be the most valuable aspect of your strategy. Why watch if all a student does is confirm that the best practice is demonstrated or not. Take aways make the student think about how and when a strategy should be applied and perhaps how it might need to be tweaked under different circumstances.
I appreciate this approach - it gives a student time to stop/pause/think - and perhaps look again more closely!
cheers.
Pete,
This is a great learning tool. The document helps organize the student and what they learned. It is also a good tool for them to hold onto and refer back to when they are in the classroom. It gives them the opportunity to explore more resources for future teaching.
Thank you for sharing.
Smiles
Olga
I am really glad you were able to tie this into the course competencies. Since you saw a positive impact by doing this, what would you change (if anything). I need to spend some time with the two sources you mentioned. Thanks!
Hi Pete,
Excellent job! This is a very innovative method for student learning. Your results speak for themselves!
Pete, I like the connection piece for the students....sometime they wonder why they are doing what they are doing :-) I think this is a great idea. I also am going to check out those resources more because I just got an email from a colleague who sent us a resource from the teaching channel for our developmental courses.
T