Overview
Your class project is to design a 40–60-minute teaching lesson incorporating the main elements of this class:
• Emphasis on critical thinking• Use of active learning strategies• Incorporating andragogy (adult learning theory)
You will not actually present this lesson but will simply design your teaching demonstration.
Instructions
Main Project Components
1. Main topic is a narrowed focus on a general topic germane to counseling which incorporates critical thinking (application, analysis, evaluation, creation per Bloom’s taxonomy –revised) 2. Literature review which identifies the research background for the critical analysis you proposed in your teaching lesson—what problems does the research literature identify, etc. 3. Proposed Learning Objectives (LOs) which must include each of the components of well-done LOs explained in the class PPT4. Identification and explanation of the Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) that you will integrate into your proposed lesson5. Complete explanation of 2-3 active learning/teaching strategies (drawn from the class lessons on active learning/teaching strategies) that you will incorporate in your proposed lesson6. Explanation of the elements of adult learning theory that you will incorporate into your proposed lesson7. Completion of teaching template, which could be used should your teaching proposal be implemented
Detailed Instructions
By now you should have mastered the content for each of these elements. It might help to review class content before you complete this project.
Critical Thinking: as we have emphasized all term, the essence of graduate school should be critical thinking, rather than just adding more knowledge to your understanding. You have read invaluable content on stimulating thought and implementing the highest levels of thought from Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Anderson and Krathwohl revision of Bloom. In your class project, you will primarily challenge your students with the highest level of thought –application, analysis, evaluation, creation, etc. Your teaching demonstration is not primarily a lecture, in which you simply impart knowledge, but exercises designed to challenge and stimulate thinking. If you just present a lecture, you will not pass this final project.
Active Learning: the class content had excellent discussion on the concept of active learning. While lecture has a place in higher education, your students are best served in an environment in which they learn actively. You were introduced to numerous active learning strategies through the class contentand you will demonstrate several active learning techniques in this final project. For sure, you may need to present some basic information (lecture, video, etc.) but most of your time should be taken up with your active learning strategies. Doing so should make your proposed teaching demonstration exciting, challenging, and even fun.
Adult Learning Theory: you also read a lot about andragogyand you are tasked with incorporating adult learning principles into your proposed teaching demonstration.
Detailed Elements of the Final Project
Literature Review
The teaching topic you chose in week one was a narrowed focus in a larger body of research. You may have an interest in a particular therapy technique applied to a specific diagnosis. In your first section, provide a brief overview of the body of research, and then how you narrowed down your focus in order to emphasize higher-order thinking. You will have your students attempt to solve a particular problem in the research on a topic, apply concepts to a new application, come up with a unique treatment plan, etc. In this first section, you will lay out the foundation for what you propose to do, by drawing from the research literature on the topic. In essence, you will present a brief literature review and justification for narrowing your focus to your specific teaching topic. Make sure to cite your research correctly per APA. Length: the length of your literature review will vary according to the topic and the depth of the research. Make the literature review of sufficient length to explain the foundation for your active learning activities and HOTS emphasis. Most likely several pages will be necessary.
Learning Objectives (LOs)
A strong teaching demonstration begins with strong learning objectives. Based on the class content on LOs, write at least three learning objectives that primarily include higher order thinking. Follow the suggestions provided in class for writing clear, strong, and valid LOs.
Description of Active Learning Strategies
Thoroughly review the class content on active learning strategies, and in this section, indicate 2-3 different active learning strategies that you will include in your proposed teaching demonstration. Draw from the class sources (cited correctly) and explain why your chosen teaching strategies best fit your LOs. That is, in implementing your learning objectives, explain why the chosen teaching strategies best complete your LOs. Recall that one of the class documents suggested learning activities that fit with each level of thought (Bloom’s Taxonomy and Anderson and Krathwohl’s revision of Bloom)
HOTS to be Implemented
A focus on this class entitled “Teaching and Learning” has been on stimulating thought and integrating higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) in active learning strategies. In this section, briefly review the highest levels of thought that you want to implement in your teaching demonstration. Review what each means as applied in your teaching demonstration, drawing broadly from the class discussion on HOTS. Why does your topic lend itself to the highest levels of thought that you want to demonstrate—that is, what about your teaching topic suggests a need to evaluate, or critique, or create a new way, or apply in a different way, etc.? Again, cite your class sources per APA.
Elements of Andragogy that you will Incorporate
Review the class content on adult learning theory. In this section, determine which elements of andragogy need to be incorporated into your proposed teaching demonstration. Provide solid justification for your conclusion. Draw from the class content on adult learning theory, and cite correctly.
Putting it All Together –Template
In your final section, propose a 45-60 minute teaching demonstration using the following table.
Time Allotted
Teaching Strategy
Rationale and LO Linkage
In this column, indicate the amount of time designated for each learning activity; you could also indicate the cumulative time as well
In this column, you indicate the teaching strategy you will use for that segment
In this column, you indicate how the teaching strategy relates to your overall purpose in the teaching demonstration and which LO it addresses. You also will need to draw from class content and cite per APA, as you provide the rationale for choosing the LO. You could also show how what you propose for each segment incorporates andragogy.
For instance:
1-2 minutes
Brief introduction of the topic and review of the LOs
Introduction of yourself and class participants if appropriate
For this learning segment, you could draw from the class content on how to draw in your students, concepts on motivation, stimulating intellectual curiosity that you learned from the class sources.
For instance:
5-12 minutes
Review of the research content via mini-lecture with PPT, brief video that highlights essential content, etc. –if you use a video, such as from YouTube, make sure that it presents scholarly content commensurate with graduate level study
Indicate the LO to which this is linked. Draw from the class content that discussed laying the necessary research foundation for critique or problem-solving, for example. As for each of these segments, provide a rationale by drawing from class content and citing correctly
For instance:
5-10 minutes
General class discussion (could use the think/pair/share technique, or others) that focused on problems in the research you want to explore, problems that need to be solved, exploration of better ways to apply the research findings to a particular diagnosis, etc. Explain how you will structure this discussion, the purpose of the discussion, exactly what you want to accomplish. You might suggest the types of questions you will use to drive thinking more deeply.
Indicate linkage to LOs, as explained above, rationale, etc.
For instance: 10-15 minutes
Case study
Jigsaw
Question formulation technique
Scenario analysis
Think/pair/share
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
2-4 minutes
Conclusion:
321 summary, for instance
Etc.
Your table should be complete and detailed so that the reader knows exactly what you propose to do in each active learning segment to completely fulfill the LOs.
Formatting
Your final project should be presented as a formal APA paper, with headings to correspond with topics mentioned above. For sure, you will need a correctly formatted title page and reference page (Remember that all graduate classes at Liberty University have adopted the professional version of APA 7, not the student version.) As noted, you need to draw broadly from the class sources and cite correctly.
Have fun with this project! This will give you an opportunity to propose a teaching demonstrating incorporating core concepts you learned this term.
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.