I just returned from the OnCourse National Conference. The
OnCourse crowd is truly a wonderful bunch of folks. I always feel inspired
by the workshops focusing on how to get students to engage their minds in order
to draw-out understanding and to learn about themselves. And, since I am
a life-long learner, I always pick up something for myself as a learner too.
One of the things I have been considering
as of late is the first day of my flipped class. I can feel inside me how
I want it to be different but have not created the syllabus or lesson. One of my OnCourse workshops presented a
"promising syllabus." The syllabus becomes the first lesson on
how the class will be conducted and begins the process of shifting students
into a more active learning approach. I really like the idea of telling
students the kinds of experiences they will have in the class to learn
biology.
The promising syllabus is based on the work of Ken Bain in his
book What the Best College Teachers Do.
In summary, your syllabus provides an invitation to the course and lays
out the promises and opportunities that the course offers the student. So, for my biology course I started to think
about the content, experiences and promises I want to communicate to my students
on that first day. Here is how I am beginning
to break it down.
·
Content
Goals for the first week
o
What
is flipped learning
o
What
kind of learner are you
o
Syllabus
and Schedule
o
YouTube
o
Learning
Catalytics
o
Relate
to Biology – Looking for an essay on biology and learning science
·
Experience
o
Model
using videos for direct instruction
o
Confidence,
inspiration, fun, empowerment
o
Group
work
·
Promises
– First Draft
o
Learn
biology in a way that allows you to explore and test your ideas, perceptions
and understanding.
o
To
give you regular feedback from me and your peers so you can better gage your
understanding and learning.
o
Learn
biology to gain an awareness of how science works, and how science answers
questions about the natural world
o
Learn
about biological principles through video, games, group work and case studies.
It is still a work in progress but it matches the more student
centered course I am developing and I like that.
I still have videos to make and I am about half-way through
writing my new lab manual. You think
they might consider giving me another semester? Well, I can dream.
Stay tuned…..
