In my micro teaching session I tried something new, testing a session around collaboration and teamwork incorporating elements we introduce to students during the first term of the MA Biodesign course around field observation.
The session focused on the fictional scenario of an ‘unidentified specimen’ the team had to work together to identify.
The plan:
-Introduction 2 mins
-The Scenario, object, and demo of the tool 5 mins
-Activity 8 mins
-The presentation and Reveal 5 mins
On the day I was the first to deliver my session, it was with a group of two at first then three. I began with an introduction to myself and the Biodesign program giving examples of past student projects, this went over by a minute.
Next I set the scenario of the ‘unidentified specimen’. I showed the group the mini microscope tool, did a quick demo and handed out the ‘unidentified specimen ID’ form. The activity was to work as a team to find out what they could about the specimen and present this.
I planned to ask more prompts inspired by Judy Willcocks emotional object reading resources (Central Saint Martins Museum & Study Collection, 2021), but I didn’t get a chance to ask many, as the group was engrossed in the activity thinking out loud and asked me questions. I encouraged the group to fill out the questions in the form, which they quickly completed.
The team presented what they found out and I revealed the specimen, which was a fabric sample, which generated further discussion.
The decisions I took were influenced by the tips on OBL in practice by Kirsten Hardie how an OBL activity can develop collaboration amongst new classmates (Hardie, 2015). And the workshop formats Judy Willcock’s uses to get students to deeply examine objects through three stages of describing, deducing and storytelling (Central Saint Martins, 2018). Lastly the session referenced prior work from my professional practise around narrative building and design artefacts that take familiar forms such as newspapers and in this case a laboratory specimen form (Jankauskas & Flint, 2018).
Overall I think my peers understood and were engaged in the session. A takeaway was to rearrange the form so the ‘Observer’s Background Data and statement’ was at the top as the aim was collaboration. Iterating on the aim of the session will be useful here when designing future content. They found the pacing and guidance was enough, going forward I do tend to over guide and not allow enough time for exploration so allowing some pauses and space for exploration in future sessions will be useful. The tutor present commented that the engaging nature of the session helped set the tone for collaboration throughout the day. Perhaps similar sessions can lead to important bonding moments with peers or could serve as moments to encourage debate and discussion around different subject matters.
I enjoyed the diversity of approaches and disciplines explored in the other sessions throughout the day. Some more informative with a clear goal in mind and some more reflective and contemplative, it shows there is no set approach or method to teaching. A lot of my peers tied their own practise and research interests into their sessions which I sometimes forget to do.
References :
Central Saint Martins (2018) Museum & Study Collection: Judy Willcocks Copenhagen Presentation. 27 June. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3O7MM5WuFo (Accessed: 6 March 2024).
Central Saint Martins Museum & Study Collection (2021) Emotional responses to objects. 22 September. Available at: https://ual.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=584e5aa6-e2a7-4d77-a92a-ac5c00bcd35a&start=0 (Accessed: 6 March 2024).
Hardie, K. (2015) Wow: The power of objects in object-based learning and teaching. Higher Education Academy. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/wow-power-objects-object-based-learning-and-teaching (Accessed: 6 March 2024).
Jankauskas, V. and Flint, J. (2018) Moonshot Café. Available at: https://vjfstudio.com/works/13/moonshot-cafe (Accessed: 7 March 2024).