AY 375 - Fall 2018: Twelfth Day Lesson Plan

This activity is centered around the following Astronomy Education Review article.

(10 Minutes) Introduction and administration of planetarium priorities survey

Begin with a brief introduction to the history and current landscape of planetariums. The survey is meant to stir the pot of the competing factors that go into public education of science. I want students to recognize the finite time and energy available to execute on these goals by ranking them against one another. Link to the survey here.

(15 Minutes) Lesson on instructional design lenses

The contents of this study form the content of this section. My hope is to introduce a vocabulary for the different types of priorities that instructors can be focused on. I am not aiming to rank these in any way, but rather to lay out the different possible (and certainly overlapping) paths that designers of public education programs have to balance.

(5 Minutes) Writing Prompt

Have students write out individually responses to the following questions, both to spur discussion and to give the instructor enough time to assemble the results of the administered google survey.

• What do you believe are the most important lenses to prioritize when speaking with a public audience?
• How is education outside of the classroom different than education within it?

(20 Minutes) Reveal results of our own survey, compare them to the frequency of coded responses in the study and open the floor to a discussion.

We will discuss how students feel in the class about public outreach of science outside of a class, and give people an opportunity to share their answers with the class. We'll see how this goes.

(5 minutes) Individually, take a few minutes to answer the following prompts on a piece of paper. You can use this free writing exercise to help you write your statement later.

• What are your goals for student learning in your discipline?
• What type of teaching methods do you use and why?

(10 minutes) What is a teaching statement and teaching portfolio?

• Key Takeaways:
  • The GSI Teaching & Resource Center offers a Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. You will have already completed many of the required items through 375!
  • A teaching portfolio is often required as part of many applications in academia. Things that usually go in a teaching portfolio include:
    • Teaching Experience
    • Statement of Teaching Philosophy
    • Syllabus and Course Design
    • Feedback on Teaching (use of mid-semester and final evaluations)
    • Professional Development
    • Teaching Methods
    • Awards, etc.
  • A statement of teaching philosophy is a ~1-page single-spaced essay where you share your beliefs about student learning, teaching methods, and concrete examples that you use in the classroom. Things that are typically included are:
    • Goals for student learning in your discipline
    • Beliefs about how learning takes place
    • Activities you use to promote learning
    • 15-minute window into a class activity
    • How you know if your students are learning
    • Relationships with/among students
    • Classroom environment you strive to fosters
    • How your teaching has changed over time and why

1. Draft a statement of teaching philosophy. Bring a copy to class next week.