Documentation:FlISWModuleFirstMiniLesson

Time to complete this module

15 minutes

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to

Plan a five-minute mini-lesson on a topic of your choice, to be delivered on Day 1 of your ISW, containing all six components of the BOPPPS model outlined in this module.

Watch

One of your Pharmacy ISW facilitators provides a few tips on planning your first mini-lesson.

Read

BOPPPS Explained

Many models exist for planning lessons. The model used in Instructional Skills Workshops is sometimes referred to by the term "lesson basics" or by the acronym "BOPPPS". "BOPPPS" focuses on the following six components:

Bridge-in

Begins the learning cycle, gains learner attention, builds motivation, and explains why the lesson is important. Sometimes known as the "motivational statement" or "hook", the bridge-in helps the learners focus on what is about to happen in the lesson. Bridge-ins are usually short. Providing reasons for learning this topic; explaining why this topic is important and how it may be useful in other situations; describing how it is a transferable skill.

Some simple strategies include:

Telling a story connected with the lesson topic
Referring to something in the learners' realm of experience
posing a provocative question linked to a current topic or the learners' personal lives
Offering a startling statement or unusual fact
Linking current topic to material already studied or to future learning

Learning Objective or Outcome

Clarifies and specifies the learning intention: clarifies what the learner should know, think, value or do by the end of the lesson, under what conditions and how well. While a course may have a few broad general goals and a limited number of learning outcomes, individual lessons usually focus on one or more specific learning objectives to reach those goals or outcomes.

Generally, an objective is written as one sentence that includes:

Who (always the learner or student)
Will do what (performance)
Under what conditions
How well (to what standard or criteria)

Pre-assessment

Answers the question, "What does the learner already know about the subject of the lesson?"

Pre-assessment can:

Reveal learners' interests
Identify learners who can be resources within the class
Allow learners to express their needs for review or clarification
Focus attention and signal the purpose of the lesson
Help the instructor adjust the lesson for depth and pace to better fit a particular group of learners
Enable the instructor to respond to individual strengths and weaknesses

Participatory Learning

This is the body of the lesson, during which learners are involved as actively in the learning process as possible. There is an intentional sequence of activities or learning events that will help the learner achieve the specified objective or desired outcome. The lesson may include the use of media.

Some ways to encourage active participation include:

Small group discussion around a specific question or problem arising from the course material
Pauses in lectures for individual student reflection through writing or discussion, question development or short application tasks like solving an equation or a small problem
Critical discussions of the main point of the lesson by the learners-perhaps through a think-pair-share strategy
Prediction or forecasting (usually at the beginning of a concept or unit)
Individual tasks/presentations
Students working on a problem, then evaluating each other's work
Role plays, case studies, scenarios, simulations
Posing a "thought" question, one that is not answered until later in the activity

Post-assessment

Formally or informally demonstrates if the learner has indeed learned and is linked directly with the learning objective or outcome. The post-assessment answers two questions: What did the learners learn? Were the desired objectives accomplished?

Basic knowledge and thinking (knowledge recall and comprehension) can be assessed by:

multiple choice
true/false
short written answer
short verbal answer (if testing through oral or interview format)

Higher level thinking (application, analysis, evaluation and creating) can be assessed by:

problem solving tasks
essays, critiques
creating a novel theory or interpretation
analysis of a scenario

Skill (doing) can be assessed by:

rating scales
products or examples of production using the skill(s)
performance or demonstration

Attitudes (values) can be assessed by:

attitude scales
performance
essays
journals and other personal reflection pieces

Summary/Closure

Provides an opportunity for learners to reflect briefly and integrate the learning during the closing of the learning cycle.

The summary may include:

content review (either instructor or learners briefly recap main points)
group process (time for learners to discuss their group process)
feedback
recognition (acknowledgment of effort and achievement)
application (how to use this later; create a personal action plan)
individual voice (quick round-table for each person to have a "last word")