Week 5

Last updated on 2024-09-30 | Edit this page

Overview

Questions

  • See discussion questions.

Objectives

  • Describe the target audience of Instructor Training.
  • Plan strategies for supporting Instructor Trainees from a diversity of backgrounds and previous experiences.
  • Identify strategies to handle Code of Conduct incidents during an Instructor Training event.
  • Explain the value of “never teaching alone”.
  • Identify key features of well-written learning objectives.
  • Describe how well-written learning objectives facilitate learning.

Reading

From The Carpentries Instructor Training curriculum:

From How Learning Works:

  • Appendix G: What Are Learning Objectives and How Can We Use Them? (p. 244 - 246)
  • Appendix H: What Are Active Learning Strategies and How Can We Use Them? (p. 247 - 249)

Discussion Questions

  1. What stood out to you from this week’s reading? Think of things that made sense in light of your own experience, things you’re not convinced of, or questions that you have.

  2. Write a learner profile for an Instructor trainee and share with the group (see the “Additional Exercises” page for detailed instructions on learner profiles). How different are your profiles? What kinds of support might each of your imaginary trainees need?

  3. The exercise on evaluating learning objectives still needs work. The goal is to get learners a) looking at learning objectives critically and b) thinking in levels like Bloom’s Taxonomy without actually introducing the jargon and complexities of the Bloom’s model. In practice, however, learners are very prone to thinking in terms of steps rather than levels of cognitive challenge. Can you think of a change to this exercise, or a different exercise entirely, that might be more effective?

  4. How do you feel about the prospect of handling a Code of Conduct incident at an event? What questions do you have?

  5. One of the learning objectives stated in the Instructor Training curriculum is: “Critically analyze a learning objective for your workshop.” What level of Bloom’s taxonomy does this objective fall under? Examining the chart on p. 245, try re-writing this learning objective at a lower level and a higher level. Do you think this objective is at an appropriate level for Instructor trainees? Why or why not?

Key Points

  • To teach effectively, you have to know who you are teaching.
  • Learning objectives reflect the knowledge and skills that learners should gain by the end of the course. All Carpentries lessons should have learning objectives listed at the top of each episode.
  • “Sticky notes” can have multiple roles in a Carpentries Workshop. They can work as ‘flags’ for help, as a formative assessment to check if a learning objective has been met, and as feedback for your teaching.