Documentation:FlISWModuleFirstMiniLessonNov2015

Time to complete this module

15 minutes

Learning Objectives

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

Describe the 4 elements of an interactive lesson.
Familiarize yourself with two simple models that can be used to incorporate those elements in a short lesson.
Plan a five-minute mini-lesson on a topic of your choice, to be delivered on Day 1 of your ISW, using the BOPPPS model outlined in this module.

a) What is a Mini-lesson?

During the workshop, you will teach 3 ‘Mini-Lessons’ (short lessons on a topic of your choice, in order for you to explore and develop your teaching skills) to a group of 5 other participants and receive peer feedback from them on your teaching. You will teach a mini-lesson per day, a 5-minute lesson on Day 1 and two 10-minute ones on Day 2 & 3. Please consider the following:

Topic: The topic of the lesson is totally up to you. It could be on a technical topic or any other topic. However please make the lesson accessible to a diverse audience which might come from a variety of disciplines.
Design: We greatly encourage you to explore new teaching techniques that you might not have typically used in your classes. More information on how to design a learner-centred, interactive lesson can be found below.
Format: The delivery format is also up to you. PowerPoint, flipcharts & markers, and document cameras are available. Please contact one of the facilitators in advance if you will need additional equipment or resources for your lesson. We will do our best to provide it!

b) Four Elements of an Effective Lesson

In order to be effective in enhancing students’ learning, any lesson should incorporate the following 4 fundamental elements. More resources regarding each of the four elements is provided under Day 1 Learning Activities (accessible from Monday, November 9).

Motivation

Motivation is basically what the student would say in answer to ‘What is in this lesson for me?/Why should I care?/Why would I look forward to hearing about this?’ Anything that can help establish a link between the content of the lesson and the students’ personal experiences, interests and passions, could be a source of motivation.

Starting the lesson with an inspirational or thought-provoking story, or providing real-life context and applications throughout the lesson are examples of Motivation.

Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives (LOs) are a series of concise statements, usually mentioned at the beginning of the lesson, that indicate what the learners are expected to have achieved by the end of the lesson. A good LO should be specific, measurable, and learner-centred. A typical LO is formatted like this:

By the end of this lesson, the learners will be able to …

Active Learning

Active Learning (AL) means the learners are actively involved in their own learning process. This involvement is usually ensured by having the learners participate in different in-class activities (hence the term ‘Participatory Learning’ is often used interchangeably with AL).

AL techniques encompass group activities such as Brainstorming and Discussions, to individual activities like Problem Solving

Assessment

Assessment is any technique intended to identify where the learners are at, in terms of achieving LOs. Based on assessment, you might want to change the focus of the lesson, provide more information, or skip a specific part of your lesson. Assessment is an ongoing process that can be carried out at different points during the course of learning. It can include:

Pre-Assessment: done before the start of lesson to identify what learners already know about the topic;
Formative Assessment: done during the lesson to identify whether you should revisit your lesson plan;
Post-Assessment: done after finishing the lesson to identify whether overall LOs are achieved.

c) Using the Four Elements in Designing your Mini-lessons

Motivation, Learning Objectives, Active (Participatory) Learning and Assessment are essential parts of any learner-centred lesson. Depending on the nature of your topic, learning objectives, as well as particular preferences of you and your learners, you may want to incorporate them in various ways. However, as a guideline for your mini-lessons, here we suggest two simplified models that you can use to structure your lesson. They are called BOPPPS Model and CARD Model, and each incorporates those 4 fundamental elements in a slightly different manner. We recommend that you use either of these models in planning your first mini-lesson. You are encouraged to experiment new structures in your 2nd and 3rd mini-lesson, either by modifying these models or by trying new teaching and assessment techniques within the same models.

BOPPPS Model

A lesson designed based on this model consists of 6 elements:

Bridge: A Bridge (or a Hook) is an opening to the lesson that is intended to catch the attention of the learners for the rest of the lesson and help them relate to the content. Examples: a thought-provoking question, a relevant anecdote, an inspirational quote, visuals, … [Motivation]
Objectives: LOs, stated concisely and clearly at the beginning of the lesson. [Learning Objectives]
Pre-Assessment: A question or an activity intended to evaluate the learners’ prior knowledge on the topic. [Assessment]
Participatory Learning: The main body of the lesson, intended to help the learners achieve the LOs through one or more learner-centred activities. [Active Learning]
Post-Assessment: A question or an activity intended to evaluate how far the LOs have been achieved. [Assessment]
Summary: A short review of what has been achieved in the lesson. [checking back on Learning Objectives]

BOPPPS Model is particularly useful for topics that have measurable LOs and organized structures.

CARD Model

A lesson designed based on this model consists of 4 elements:

Context: A short description that would provide a general direction and context for what is to follow [Motivation/Learning Objectives]
Activity: Activity/activities that would have the learners go through a concrete experience which, supported by the Context, is the basis for realizing the LOs in the next parts of the lesson [Active Learning/Motivation]
Reflection: A reflective follow-up activity to the previous stage, where the learners think back on their experience from the Activity stage and try to relate it to the Context and think of possible conclusions. Reflection can be done individually or through discussions [Active Learning/Assessment]
Documentation: A final activity where the learners document the results of their Reflection, and/or respond to a related question posed by the instructor [Active Learning/Assessment]

The lesson can be concluded by an optional summary, or debrief done by the instructor.

CARD Model is particularly suited for lessons which are more process-based rather than outcome-based, or where the LOs deal with moral/emotional (affective) notions.

d) Designing your First Mini-lesson

As mentioned above, in general you are encouraged to experiment with different participatory teaching techniques and approaches throughout ISW. However, for the first mini-lesson, we usually encourage the participants to pick the BOPPPS model, given its straightforward structure. So let's get started right away! You can download 'BOPPPS Model Explained' PDF to know more details and examples on how to use the BOPPPS model. After choosing your topic, we suggest you use the 'BOPPPS Lesson Planning Template' to write down your lesson plan (download links provided at the top of this page).

Suggestion: plan the lesson in this order – Learning Objective, Post-test, Learner Activities, Instructor Activities, Bridge-In, Pre-test, Conclusion