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Reflection

  • Date: 2024-11-18
  • Author: Richel

Today I did not teach, I was just a technical assistant. I was, however, quite visible in the background on purpose: I always feel this first day is too much talk and too little action.

The confidence questions did not match the course content, not everything had an exercise. I would score low on these myself.

The learners, however, are awesome. I look forward to work with them.

Here I take some points of the Retrospect, to see if I will do well:

What stopped us from learning (What held us back)

A: Good discussions in breakout rooms, great support, diverse experience of audience, frequent breaks

I will do

A:Discussion A:Discussions in breakout rooms

  • A:Discussions
  • A:The explanations and discussions
  • A:Discussions on real-life situations

I hope I will do

A: Really well developed documentation with instructions and examples, hints etc

I hope I will do

A:Answering quickly on the team sessions to questions

I hope I will do

  • A: Having clear example on what to do help us to finish and understand the exercises better

I hope I do.

I hope I do.

  • A: Having access to examples of done documents.

My material is ready and tested.

  • A:Interactive discussions, input from everyone.

I hope I do.

What could we do to improve learning (What can we invent)

A: In some cases lack of concrete examples, the project itself wasn't that integrated into some of the exercises, sometimes not clear how to apply to research, often topics are more applicable to rly large projects, lecture closely matched course document

  • A:
  • A:Short times in the breakout rooms

I hope I do better.

  • A: Sometimes goals werent super clear (ie how to write requirements from scratch)

I hope I do better.

  • A: Clearer documentation in some points

I hope I do better.

A: Not getting used to the abbreviations quick enough and then not knowing what was being discussed

I hope this does not apply to my content.

  • A: course content in the website changing when it was already needed

Yes, indeed, the course content should have been in place before teaching. I do thing it is great that we update the course content immediately!

A: Unclear instructions on the assignments A: No clear instruction on what to do. Having example will help. A: Unclear directions

  • A: Not accurate information (links, instructions) in the course documents.

I think I have clear instructions/directions/information, with worked-out answers and videos.

  • A: For some discussions there was very limited time in breakout rooms
  • A: Limited time

I talk less, to make sure there is enough time in the breakout rooms.

What could we do to improve learning (What can we invent)

A: Write a clearer documentation in some points and perhaps a "dictionary" for main terms

I think my content is super clear already :-)

A:More examples

I feel my content has the right amount of examples :-)

A:Write tasks more clearly (for example "Task 1: Do this or that")

I hope I do.

A: More hidden hints with correct answers

I felt my material does not need this. But this learners is right: it should be there! I've added this. Thanks learner!

A: Have a terminology section where abbreviations or more technical terms are defined in a clear and easy to find manner

I think I don't use unexplained abbreviations.

A: Separate presentation and course document, more info on how to apply to 1-person research (esp. risk section), Prepare a gold-standard requirements file so all participants can be on same page

I think I cleanly separate presentation and exercises. I think I apply everything I show to research. I show videos as a gold standard.

A: Since we are a small group, we could work independently and share with everyone, instead of breakout rooms

I see the joy of silence too. I've added one hour of silence, to study. Duos are best for learning, so I will do that the second hour.

A: Hints with instructions and directions for technical parts and possible issues

I feel my instructions are clear. There will be many individual things going on. We'll be in a team, humans differ and I cannot even write down all future technical problems.

  • A: Make a concrete example not specifically related to the exercise, especially given a limited time to do it.

I hope I do better.

A: Phrase the exercises concisely already in the course website

I think I do: I even have videos :-)

A: Give an example before move into the assignment

I do think this applies.

More reflecting

I feel I do most already, but I will continue preparing my material with this in mind. Let's see what the learners think.

For a first day, I expected the schedule of the week to be discussed.