For my Micro teach the aim of the activity was to develop and observe communication, observation, and teamwork skills, as well as to consider how information is passed on, what is lost, and what is observed as important from each person’s perspective.
As designers we must be able to understand the needs of our audience and be open to create empathetic and innovative solutions.
The activity is conducted in pairs or 3’s, where each group selects an object from a bag and considers its haptic qualities. They then write down 5 key words about the object without naming it and pass the keywords onto the next group. Together, the groups attempt to draw the unknown object, followed by a discussion of what was difficult about the task and what they would have wanted to know. Finally, the object is revealed, and the activity is repeated.
When designing this microteach i considered that:
- Active participation and collaboration among students are crucial for creating a dynamic and engaging learning environment.
- Collaboration helps to develop important social and communication skills that are essential for good design. This is supported by UAL’s Creative Attribute Framework. The showcasing abilities key attributes from CAF can be broken down into Communication, Connectivity and Storytelling. I considered how these 3 areas overlapped and used it to informed my session.
- Critical thinking + reflection are also essential components of effective learning – they encourage students to think critically about their own learning and identify areas for improvement. By engaging in these activities, students become more reflective learners.
Improving teaching: Enhancing ways of being university teachers
I admit I am writing this reflection after the case study session where I looked at Dall’Alba’s writing which got me thinking more about my micro teach and what I was aiming to do. I enjoyed Dall’Alba’s approach of a more holistic and reflective approach to teaching, that focuses on the development of the whole person and recognizes the importance of context in shaping teaching and learning. My microteach session relates to her practices by:
- Exploring + emphasizing the importance of communication and observation, key skills for effective teaching and learning.
- encouraging teamwork and collaboration, – important components of a supportive and collaborative learning and working environment.
- focusing on context/ purpose and encorages consideration of what information is important to pass on aligns with Dall’Alba’s emphasis on understanding the context that teaching and learning occur. Task sees context change once students catch on to the game we are playing and the purpose of their drawings
- Providing opportunities for reflection and feedback, which are important for continuing development of teaching practices
- Including hands-on ‘doing’ activities – aligns with Dall’Alba’s emphasis on a holistic way of working – allows for students to put learning in own hands and to be aware of their own development through the task, see how their skills interconnect
In reflection of the session my peers said:
‘It was a different sensory activity that was great for brainstorming to ideas’
‘Made me think about my own limits in terms of how i might describe something’
‘It was idea forming – Made me think about what properties are most important’
‘Enjoyed the expansive nature and focus on the haptic. As a result it was difficult but in the best possible way. Allowed me to rethink how we think about materials’
‘Challenging and fun way to think about materiality and form and how to describe them. Felt like tough mental work out but a great wat to get us thinking about teaching and researching’
‘The pace was great and the changing stimuli (observation, drawing, writing) were really engaging. I enjoyed how you directed our focus with commentary throughout. I like the sense of mystery at the start and the reveal at the end surrounding the objects’
I think these reflections show that the level of my session was correct; it allowed for my peers to consider the topics that I wanted them to engage with (object based learning excersises, communication pracitces, collaborative working, engagement in teaching, active participation, information in context) and led to interesting following discussions.
There was one pair who were more reluctant to unpick the task which i thought was interesting. At each stage of the microteach they were the first to put their pens down, often with the majority of the time remaining for them to continue to consider the task. This meant that I travelled over to them more and felt I had to give further prompts to get them to think more creatively and critically. This is not disimular to sessions that I teach on the BA. On reflection, I think that providing this group with additional prompts led to them feeling more encouraged to engage with the task but also somewhat awkward. On the BA I tend to make some additional sheets with the tasks/ prompts printed out, this helps students who may have ESL, ISAs, or different learning styles. I think this addition would have helped this group.