This month, my efforts were focused on preparing the Syllabus Design, Syllabus Design Reviews, and Project Demonstration. The syllabus design seemed to come together as I spent most of my effort (and time) researching potential textbooks. I also spent a good deal of time working on Course Objectives which were much more difficult to write than I imagined. This was indicated by the reviewers of the syllabus that I submitted.
The activities which were included in the Course Schedule were chosen based on my readings in transformational learning and my own experiences in my seminary education, indicate that building in reflection activities is an important element in transformational learning.
The work on the syllabus design was followed by getting the feedback from a Dean at the campus where I work, and the Director of Faculty Development. Both of these individuals are people whom I highly respect and value their opinions. I appreciated their honesty and clarity in discussing the strengths they observed and the improvements suggested for my syllabus design.
Finally, I worked on the Project Demonstration which was an effort to bring everything together in a final demonstration ofthe material covered and learned during this semester. It was an interesting and engaging experience.
Danny,
ReplyDeleteI also found the course objectives difficult to pull together and write.
Angela
I think it's great when someone can include his or her own experiences into the design of the class. This often gives the class a real-life feel and, at the bare minimum, gives students a taste of real-world application.
ReplyDelete--Ben England
As other stated, I also found course objectives much harder to write than I imagined. I looked at what felt like hundreds of examples, but I guess I just didn't have a good idea of what I wanted students to learn. Like the Lawson text states, some program designers spend dozens of hours preparing a program and details, so if I want to actually implement one a program, I know I would spend a little more time preparing. Thank you for sharing your experience. The effort you put in to picking the texts was definitely evident!
ReplyDeleteAlonna Koch
Yes, it takes time to find the right texts and to identify the course objectives, because they are the important parts of a course and to do so, you need to fully understand what the course is about. My experience is to research the other similiar syllabi first and gain some ideas of how this course would look like.
ReplyDeleteBo
I think that you had two very good professionals to evaluate your syllabus design. This is something that I found to be critical when thinking about who I would ask. I also think that the individuals that you had evaluate the syllabus design had very good knowledge about designing syllabi themselves.
ReplyDeleteAndjulon
I really loved that you incorporated transformational learning into your project. This is something that is very big for me as well and I am living proof that education on all levels can help one become a better person in all areas of life. Not that all classes can have the direct ability to impact one's life, the process of learning itself can.
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