Arts Teaching & Learning Network Faculty of Arts

Planning a Micro-teaching Activity

This worksheet is designed to help you plan a 5-6 minute micro-teaching activity and 4-5 minute feedback strategy. You may, if you want, adapt these guidelines to run longer activity/feedback sessions. To get the most out of a micro-teaching activity you need to present an activity that a) uses an aspect of your teaching that you are seeking feedback on, and b) has a clear, measurable outcome. 1) Choosing an aspect of your teaching Here is a list of some aspects of teaching that you may wish to seek feedback on: verbal communication, presentation skills, time management, rapport with students, use of technology, inspiration, display of passion/enthusiasm, engaging students, etc. There are a number of things to consider when identifying an aspect of your teaching to demonstrate for your peers. You should consider: whether you can/will respond to feedback you receive (i.e. is it possible to alter your practice in response to feedback?) whether you have received other sources of feedback on the aspect (i.e. are you seeking necessary additional feedback or would micro-teaching feedback be superfluous?) whether your peers can respond to the aspect you are demonstrating (i.e. do your peers have experience with, or an awareness of, similar activities/outcomes?) Write down the aspect of your teaching you want to seek feedback on using micro-teaching and why: ASPECT: __________________________________________________________________________ REASON FOR SEEKING FEEDBACK: ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ 2) Choosing an outcome for your activity Think carefully about the aspect of your teaching you recorded above and outcomes that may result from that aspect of teaching (for example: ASPECT a/v use, OUTCOME: provide accurate summary of complex idea; ASPECT verbal communication, OUTCOME explain complex concept in a variety of ways; ASPECT time management, OUTCOME completion of activity in set amount of time). List a number of outcomes that are linked to the aspect you recorded above: __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

While a one-hour class may have a number of outcomes (and the above aspect may have many possible outcomes), for an effective micro-teaching activity you should choose one measurable outcome. Circle one outcome that you will set out to achieve in a 5-minute activity. Ensure that it is possible to ascertain whether outcomes are achieved at the end of the activity.

Prepared by Ben Miller for the Faculty of Arts Teaching and Learning Committee, The University of Sydney, March 2010

Arts Teaching & Learning Network Faculty of Arts

3) Designing an activity The activity you design should be focused on using the aspect you are seeking feedback on to achieve your desired outcome. Ask yourself how you will focus your participants and assess their level of achievement. Here is an example of a micro-teaching plan: Aspect being tested: Effective use of a/v material (lecture scenario) Outcome: Engage students in textual analysis 1) 1 min Intro Explain purpose of activity to practise textual analysis such as that required in 1 essay. Mention key aspects of 18 century sovereignty: agriculture, government, religion, military, culture (music, art), history, destiny. 2) 3 min Activity Display powerpoint slide of painting: Captain Cook Taking Possession of Australia. Allow one minute for students to write down how sovereignty is represented in the picture. Ask two volunteers to share their answers. May need to prompt using aspects of sovereignty. 3) 1 min Summary Explain why the student responses are good examples of analysis and/or how they can be improved. Ask students to finish the activity by revising their written responses. 4) Seeking Feedback Following your micro-teaching activity, you should either run an informal 4-5 minute discussion about the activity or you may ask your participants to fill out a minute paper. In either case it is recommended that you begin by asking what participants felt the outcome was and then ask what aspects of the teaching were helpful or not helpful. Here is an example of a minute paper: Micro-teaching feedback a) What was the most important skill or fact you learned during the activity? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b) When did you feel most involved in the activity? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ c) How might the teaching activity encourage you to participate with more enthusiasm? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________
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Prepared by Ben Miller for the Faculty of Arts Teaching and Learning Committee, The University of Sydney, March 2010