I recently did the Object Based learning micro teach had hugely overthought what I should do for this & ended up really striping it back. These are my reflections around that task.
Before my PgCert learning I was using objects regularly in my teaching as I support students in 3D Print process & find it easiest to show examples for students to differentiate the outcomes of models from different technologies. However for this micro teach session I was stripped away of my original process of using a powerpoint and physically showing the machines to explain to students how they work then pass round samples to solidify their learning after this. I didn’t realise I could still use a powerpoint and so approached the task differently to usual.
For my session I handed out three objects right at the start. I both received feedback and observed that they enjoyed this approach as they were instantly engaged. I explained that each object was created using a different type of 3D printing technology and asked them to think about what differences there were between each of the objects. From there I lead a guided conversation between the group and myself about each of the objects.
They noticed a few of the surface differences however struggled to think as deeper about the things that to me as someone who deals with these objects and processes every day appears obvious. And to students that I teach usually who have a little more context for the production process it is much easier to produce the answers I was hoping for. I continued attempting to coax these answers out of them with more and more questions. My attempts to ask leading questions guiding the group in the direction I wanted didn’t work very well. I received feedback that although my questions were good, some of the group found them frustrating when they simply didn’t know an answer. This is something I definitely plan to work on in my teaching practice as I’m aware I ask a lot of questions of my students in an attempt to put the bonus of their learning on them rather than spoon-feeding them answers. I do think this is important but will consider other ways of doing this going forward.
Something I noticed from engaging in other’s micro teaches was that as a learner I like to be situated before the task begins. I found that having something that tied me to why I was doing the particular task or activity gave me more context and context allowed me to apply the learning in my own practice or to make it more relatable. One of the teachers did this well by starting with an interesting fact about the subject that we were learning, this particular fact both impressed upon me how important the task we learned about was and how that particular process gets applied in industry ad how as a consumer I can now see situations in the world in which something like this task would have been applied to create the outcome I am experiencing in society. Another teacher situated us well by using mixed media in the form of presentation slides alongside the objects. This is something I could utilise to help engage students when they’re struggling to answer the questions I am asking, I could give them a little information using images or video in a powerpoint to direct them rather than asking so many questions. I will test this out in my sessions in the future.