Selected lesson planning components:
- Bloom’s Taxonomy
I am engaged in instructing management courses, including strategic management and supervisory skills. These courses require a higher level of critical thinking and understanding the interconnectedness of different concepts and approaches, and ultimately creating plans. However, most students in these courses have very limited professional experience and these courses often deal with materials that are mid and upper level management considerations. The revised Bloom’s taxonomy helps me explain the progression that students need to undertake in their learning to fulfill the course learning outcome requirements. The creative ability to plan is a requirement for a successful completion of the course. Additionally, this lesson planning strategy will help me build incremental progression in instructional design.
2. Motivational Techniques
An important component of successful learning is making meaning out of the learning material and experience. This requires active student participation and engagement. This engagement is a result of proper motivation and desire to generate meaning through the learning experience. Instructors need to apply motivational strategies to evoke this desire. Motivation in students can be established by meeting the student’s intrinsic and extrinsic motivational expectations through use of goal setting, self-directed learning, enthusiasm, and humor. Some of the techniques used in increasing motivation and engagement includes explaining relevancy of the content, which can be done by bringing industry practitioners in as guest speakers and exposure to a real-life professional setting.
3. Assessment
Assessments are important learning tools. Not only do they provide a guiding matrix to instructors and employers, they also provide a component of self-assessment for the students. An effective use of assessment tools can bring learner motivation, participation, and performance to a higher level as it gives an indication of readiness and helps chart a plan for the student’s future progression. Assessment tools incorporating multiple sources and formats are most effective in providing an accurate picture. Self-assessment, pre-assessment, post-assessment, and peer assessment in varied performance criteria should be considered in building an assessment based strategy.
4. Instructional Process/Strategies
An effective learning experience is greatly facilitated by implementing a well thought out instructional process and instructional strategies. The plan should take into account cognitive, motivational, logistical, and other learning considerations. A structure of instructional process is important in building a student’s interaction with the lesson material. The VARK (visual, auditory, writing, and kinesthetic) styles of student interaction with the material greatly helps the effectiveness of teaching and learning. There are many instructional process designs and strategies, including ice-breakers, pre-assessments, bridging in, inclusionary practices, closure, and post assessments.
5. Planning
Different lesson plans have to unify with a grand plan. They have to be coherent, interlinked, sequential, and constantly improving qualitatively. Course details can only be developed if there is a unified plan with clear objectives, delineated units, and clearly defined learning outcomes developed in the form of a course outline and a curriculum. The various planning strategies include providing course objectives, developing units, and collaborating various course components. Collaboration and cooperation amongst the industry professional, educational expert, and regulatory bodies ensures quality planning.
Reflections of an Adult Learner 