Introduction to Microteaching

 

 

The CSUF Carnegie CASTL Program Microteaching Workshop is a valuable opportunity to learn from colleagues outside of one's discipline teaching/learning techniques that can be adapted to one's own courses; to apply collegial constructive criticisms to improve one's own teaching/learning strategies; and, through assuming the student role, to sharpen one's insight into students' teaching/learning needs and expectations.

Microteaching was developed in the early and mid 1960's by Dwight Allen and his colleagues at the Stanford Teacher Education Program.  The Stanford model emphasized a teach, review and reflect, re-teach approach, using actual school students as authentic audiences.  The model has been adapted for college and university teaching where it has been used most often for graduate teaching assistants. It often offers a concentrated, focused form of peer feedback and discussion.  A very similar model called Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) was developed during the early 1970s by British Columbia’s Education Ministry as a training support program for all college and institute faculty in British Columbia and has now spread throughout Canada, the US and internationally.  While there are significant differences between the two models, they both share some commonalities and were designed to enhance teaching and promote open collegial discussion about teaching performance.

 

A micro lesson is an opportunity to present a sample “snapshot” of what/how you teach and to get some feedback from colleagues about how it was received.  It is a chance to try teaching strategies that you may not use regularly. This is a good, safe time to experiment with something new to you or to get feedback on a technique you’ve been trying but are not sure about its effectiveness.

 

The core of this experience is the presentation of two 10 minute micro lessons by each participant.  When one participant presents the lesson as the instructor, the other participants become the students for that lesson.  A timer is used to keep to the STRICTLY ENFORCED 10 minute time limit.  Please don’t be offended if you are cut off; it will be necessary to keep to the time limit so that everyone might participate fully.  Because this time limit is strictly enforced, it might be very helpful for you actually to practice and time yourself before you arrive.  Please DO NOT try and cram an entire body of knowledge into 10 minutes; this is designed to provide a quick snapshot into your teaching methodology.  The goal is to provide a sample of a teaching method or style in order to get a fresh perspective on it from your learners.  Your 10 minute lesson can be excerpted from the beginning, middle or end of one course lesson and you will be able to explain this in setting up your lesson and as part of your Microteaching Preparation Form (included in this packet).  Please fill out this form for each of your micro lessons and DO COME PREPARED with your lesson (e.g., 6 handouts if necessary).

 

You have several decisions to make concerning the preparation of your micro lessons:

1)       Your topic:  Choose a teaching topic that you are comfortable with in order to focus on a particular teaching method or element.

2)       Your lesson objectives:  Think about and be able to articulate what you want your students to learn from your lesson (e.g., facts, concepts, skills, and/or values) and how your teaching methodology might work to fulfill your objectives (see Developing Performance Objectives for Microteaching handout).

3)       What you want feedback on.  You can specify to the group what you would like them to focus on.  For example, you may wish to have overall, general feedback or perhaps you might wish for the group to simply attend to a specific issue, such as how you use questions or reinforcement with students. 

 

When you are in the role of students, you should combine the role of student and observer, striving to creat as natural a classroom setting as possible.  Do not feel like you must role play specific student behaviors, but do feel free to ask questions and comment as a learner in the classroom environment.  Try to focus on what is happening during the micro lesson.

 

 

 

 

Ground Rules

1.       Respect confidentiality concerning what we learn about each other.

2.       Respect agreed-upon time limits.  This may be hard, but please understand that it is necessary.

3.       maintain collegiality.  We’re all in this together.

4.       Stay psychologically and physically present and on task.

5.       Respect others’ attempts to experiment and to take risks.

6.       Listen and speak in turn, so everyone can hear all comments.

7.      Enjoy and learn from the process!