Week 6 Discussion Questions

Overview

Questions

• Key question.

Objectives

• Propose one way to support learner interaction early in a workshop even when pressed for time.
• Apply a concept map to illustrate the importance of explicit connections in knowledge and learning.
• Distinguish challenges related to skill level faced by learners from those faced by Instructors.
• Predict challenges posed by expert awareness gaps in the context of teaching Instructors how to teach.
• Propose a strategy to support Instructor trainees in implementing guidance on pacing in spite of competing priorities related to content and time.

Reading:

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Welcome
Instructor Training: Building Skill With Practice
Instructor Training: Expertise and Instruction
Instructor Training: Memory and Cognitive Load
Trainer Notes
Etherpad Template - skim

Instructor Training Curriculum

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.

Welcome

2. This module introduces the Instructor Training event. Depending on how Trainers use the curriculum, this section can be more or less interactive and can take more or less time than it is formally allocated. This is especially important when trainings get off to a slow start for logistical reasons. Try to identify one opportunity for interaction with learners during this episode. How might you use this to establish a positive learning environment without running out the clock?

Building Skill With Practice

3. (Try not to skip this one!) Try creating a small concept map that includes “teaching” and “learning” as concepts. How did you describe the relationship between teaching and learning? What other concepts and relationships did you include? If you would like to try an online tool for this, visit https://excalidraw.com.

4. We introduce skill acquisition in this module, but really dig into expertise in the next. What is the purpose of introducing skill acquisition here? What should be emphasized here, vs in the next section?

Expertise and Instruction

5. Do you think you might have any expert awareness gaps on the subject of teaching or learning? How might such gaps become apparent when teaching others how to teach?

Memory and Cognitive Load

6. This episode explains why we should teach slowly and allow time for practice. However, many of our curricula contain more content than can sometimes be covered in our ‘2-day’ format. How can we help our trainees remember to keep it slow and resist the urge to ‘get through’ everything by talking faster?

Key Points

• The Carpentries Instructor Training curriculum offers many opportunities to model, as well as to teach, good practices.
• Skill acquisition models explain challenges faced by learners and Instructors, Instructor trainees and Trainers.
• Expert teachers may have filled in awareness gaps in subjects they teach, but may still have gaps on the subject of teaching.
• Going slowly is a challenge that takes constant effort and compromise.
• There are many approaches and supporting documents available to teach Instructor Training. Many of these are referenced in the Instructor Notes.