By Marwa Kotb.

A lesson plan is the instructor’s tool guide of what students need to learn and how it will be done effectively, a lesson plan consist of many related components. In this post I will consider five components Bloom’s Taxonomy, characteristics of adult learners, motivational techniques, assessment and media consideration. In the next few lines of this section I will share one informative resource for each of these components and briefly explain why I selected each resource and how this resources will improve my instruction in computer programming field.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

It is common to focus on content when planning a course but I realized it’s equally important to develop learning outcomes, they are the goals I need learners to achieve by the end of my courses. Using guidelines of IACBE (2014) handbook could improve my skills in writing Intended Learning Outcomes Statements, although the handbook was intended for business programs but it’s absolutely helpful for any other program, it contains a brief overview on Bloom’s taxonomy cognitive domain, as well as general structure, characteristics, and guidelines of good ILOs illustrated with examples, and checklist I can use to review my ILOs written statements.

Characteristics of Adult Learners

With the fact that learners come to my classroom with different ways of seeing the world, understanding learning styles could help me to create more inclusive classrooms for everyone, UCD website explain briefly the three most common learning styles, Howard Garner’s Multiple Intelligence theory and their implications for delivery. Applying some practical tips provided such as breaking lesson content into chunks 20 minutes or less, using different teaching methods, observing learners’ reactions and adjusting my teaching accordingly, preparing different examples that reflect different cultures or experiences, and using teaching strategies that accommodate individual differences will help improve my teaching in diverse classroom.

Motivation Techniques

Motivating my learners in an online class is a challenge, Dennen, and Bonk (2007), suggested ten key elements to help to motivate online learners, along with each element they provided great activities. Starting course with fun activities such as two truths and one lie, asking learners to post reflections that relate their jobs to what they have learned, using reading reactions technique for feedback, giving learners the choice of discussion topics, using “just in time syllabus”, impel learners’ curiosity, using survey tools, inviting electronic guests, generating tension in a safe manner, using online symposia for interaction are very helpful techniques for me.

Assessment

Designing and selecting online assessment methods is a new issue I need help with, FACULTYFOCUS ( 2009, May) published a special report that has 12 significant articles to help develop online assessment strategies, strategies discussed include how to write better multiple choice tests, how to select assessment type matching with a learning objective, how checklist and rating scale can be used to assess learning objectives, how to use media in the process of assessment, how self-check exercises can help, and how to use the discussion forums for minute papers and self-assessments, applying these strategies will enhance how I can assess my online learners.

Media

When teaching computer hardware I acknowledge online labs had never been as successful as traditional classrooms because of the lack of learners’ physical interaction with the circuits. Stanford is studying how to use Hapkit device to stimulate any physical environment and how best to integrate this haptic technology into online instruction (2015, January 29), they provide a free MOOC to learn more about Haptik, they recently experimenting a contemporary Hapkit similar to Arduino easy to be programmed. Being able to use haptic devices could make interaction more realistic and useful for my online learners in courses such as digital logic design.

References

Dennen, V. & Bonk, C. (2007).We’ll Leave the Light on for You: Keeping Learners Motivated in Online Courses, Flexible Learning in an Information Society [IGI-global](pp. 64-76). DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-325-8.ch006

FACULTYFOCUS. (2009, May 9).Special Report: Assessing Online Learning: Strategies, Challenges and Opportunities. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/free-reports/assessing-online-learning-strategies-challenges-and-opportunities/

IACBE. (2014). Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives and Writing Intended Learning Outcomes Statements. Retrieved from http://iacbe.org

Stanford Engineering. (2015, January 29). Stanford Designed Hapkit Brings Physical Touch to Virtual Classroom. Retrieved from http://engineering.stanford.edu/news/stanford-designed-hapkit-brings-physical-touch-virtual-classroom-0

UCD Adult Education Centre (n.d.). Characteristics of Adult Learners. Retrieved from http://www.ucd.ie/adulted/tutors/tutorresourcematerials/adultlearningstyles/