Assignment One:Sequence of Lessons

Overview

The task is to design a sequence of lessons which will help students to develop a better understanding of a particular topic.

The outcome of this work will be a2,500 word report(please note this is a recommended limit)in which you explain the rationale for the choices and decisions you made in the planning of your sequence of lessons. You will also be expected to analyse the impact of the lessons you delivered on pupil progress.

Rationale

To enable you to focus on subject specific pedagogy, and how best to teach particular topics to groups of students. This assignment should also enable you to reflect on the impact of your teaching on pupil progress.

Process

Step One: Decide on a focus

The first step is todecide upon the focus for your sequence of lessons. This might be a topic that your department requires you to teach or it could be a topic that you have chosen yourself. It would certainly be a good idea to make this decision in collaboration with your mentor as they will have the expertise to guide you.

Step Two:Carry out academic research

The next step is to do some readingon the topic and/or skills covered in your sequence of lessons. What is important here is that you explore pedagogical writing on your chosen subject. This should help you to establish the misconceptions students may have at the beginning of the sequence of lessons you deliver and you may gain some insight into how to combat them. For example in history it is becoming clear that it is important for students to gain a very solid factual understanding of a topic, before they are able to apply any causal analysis skills. Authors Donovan, Bransford and Pellegrino argue that the ability to ‘generate reasonable arguments and explanations...are all more closely intertwined with factual knowledge than was once believed’ (Donovan, 1999, p.12). This would be essential knowledge for anyone planning a causation based sequence of lessons.

Equally it will be important to do some more general reading on the pedagogy of your subject. Again, this will give you great insight (grounded in academic research) into how best to plan and deliver your lessons. For example, when teaching MFL it is important to recognise that lack of vocabulary can (and does) hamper effective communication. Explicit teaching of vocabulary is therefore essential, an idea supported by Hulstijn who argues that ‘it is the quality and frequency of the information processing activities…that determine retention of new information.’ (Hilstijn, 2001, p.275)

Step Three: Plan your sequence of lessons

Once you have done your reading, you should start to plan your sequence of lessons. Use what you have found out to inform your work. It would also be a good idea to

discuss your vision for the sequence of lessons and your lesson plans with your mentor.

Step Four: Deliver your sequence of lessons

Deliver the sequence of lessons. Whilst doing this ensure that you pay very close attention to the impact that your teaching has on the progress of pupils. You may want to keep an observation journal where you record the impact of the activities you have planned on pupil progress, take photocopies of the work students produce, take photocopies of your feedback and how students have responded to this. You may also want to take copies of any assessments associated with the sequence of lessons.

Step Five: Write up your findings

After you have delivered your sequence of lessons you should write up a report based on your work. This report should explain what you planned to do and why. When explaining the rationale behind your sequence of lessons e.g. the order of lessons or the activities you planned, it is important to use the research you carried out. The academic writing you looked at should be used to explain why you made the planning decisions you did. For example, you might explain that in the first lesson of the sequence you planned an activity to establish the misconceptions students had about the topic you planned to cover because students ‘come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works’ so that if ‘their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught’ (Donovan, 1999, p.10).You should also evaluate the impact that your teaching had on pupil progress. To support this you could use any of the data or evidence you have gathered throughout the delivery of the sequence of lessons. It is also important that you try to link this progress (or possibly lack of progress – this might happen!) to the reading you have carried out. For example, you might point out that you feel that part of the reason students made progress in your lessons was because you made a very conscious effort to use positive reinforcement, which Capel et al. argue motivates pupils to learn and enhances their self-esteem (Capel et al, 2013).It would also be a good idea to finish your write up with some reflection on what you may do differently, if you were to teach the same (or similar) sequence of lessons again and explain why you would do this.

Suggested Structure

Introduction – Set out the class and sequence of lesson you chose and why.

Outline the sequence of lessons taught – This should be fairly brief, but as explained above, should be justified using references to the reading you have done. It should be very clear to the reader, why you made the planning decisions you did and what pedagogical basis your decision had. You may want to put some examples of activities, resources or lesson plans in an appendix and refer to them in your writing.

Discuss the impact that you believe your sequence of lessons had on pupils progress –The evidence and data gathered throughout the delivery of the sequence of lesson should be used here. For example, you may wish to highlight the misconceptions students had at the beginning of the sequence of lessons and then what they were able to do/explain/produce at the end of the sequence. You

should also refer to your reading to try to explain why you believe students did/did not make progress.

Summarise your key learning and make recommendations – Here you should reflect on what you have learned from the preparation for, planning and delivery of the sequence of lessons. Also reflect on what you may do differently, if you were to teach the same (or similar) sequence of lessons again and explain why you would do this.

Bibliography

Appendix

What we are looking for when we mark your assignment

When we mark the final copy of your work we will be looking to see that you have:

  • Demonstrated a good understanding of the pedagogy behind the teaching of your subject and teaching in general having referred to relevant literature.
  • Provided detailed rationale for the planning decisions you made when designing your sequence of lessons.
  • Presented a detailed analysis of the progress (or lack thereof) made by students during the sequence of lessons which draws on a range of evidence (observation, pupil’s work, relevant literature etc.)
  • Reflected on what you would do differently if you were to teach the same (or similar) sequence of lessons again and explain why you would do this
  • Ensured that you have communicated your ideas clearly through your writing and referenced any published material clearly.