As it has not been possible to deliver the 8-minute micro teaching sessions in person, we have had to adapt them for online presentations. This is something I was initially concerned about because my session was based around a physical object that required movement and interaction.

I adapted the session by taking photos of the object from various angles and also presenting it on camera so that participants could get an idea of scale. The feedback I received was positive – one of the main points being that having an open discussion to provide feedback from the questions asked, meant that the participants felt like they had a longer amount of time to give their feedback. It was also suggested that for a larger group, it would be a good idea to split them into smaller groups and give each group one of the questions to discuss – this is something that I had planned to do in the physical session anyway.

One of the things this session brought to mind was also the benefits of trialling the micro teaching session amongst my peers. Although the session was primarily designed with students in mind, I believe that carrying it out on a group that were also teachers helped me to gain insight and feedback from both a student & teacher perspective. This is something mentioned in Gloria Dall’Alba’s paper Improving teaching: Enhancing ways of being university teachers. Higher Education Research & Development:

“Against the background of this wealth of experience, I see the course as a form of collaboration among colleagues in which we all learn, in contrast to a conventional student- teacher model. Active involvement of participants through collaboration is necessary to “let them learn.” This means that a pedagogical relationship, whose purpose is to facilitate learning, is established between teacher and course participants, as well as among participants themselves. As noted above (see Epistemology in the Service of Ontology), knowledge can be gained in several ways and from a range of sources, including other participants.“

As this was my first micro teaching session, I tried to stay conscious of the fact that I would be delivering the session to my peers (whom I assumed would have a more knowledgeable approach to the subject) so I needed to make sure it was transferable to an audience who might not have had the same knowledge base.

Overall, I’m happy with the way the session went and I feel I achieved the intended learning outcomes:

• Identify the materials on an artists piece of work
• Analyse & question materials used
• Examine different artistic interpretations of the same object
• Observational skills – how many elements are noticed?

Bibliography:

Dall’Alba, G. 2005. Improving teaching: Enhancing ways of being university teachers. Higher Education Research & Development, 24 (4), pp. 361–372