EBS 316: Topic 4: Lesson Preparation and Presentation

UNIT 4: LESSON PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION

Unit Outline

Session 1: Ways of planning lessons in teaching computing

Session 2: Concept of lesson plan

Session 3: Lesson plan and its components

 

 

Hello Student! You are welcome to this unit. I believe you are much poised for this unit and ready action. This unit will talk about lesson preparation and presentations. It is very important for teachers to know how a lesson is prepared and presented to students for ultimate understanding of the content. Session one deals with characteristics of productive lesson planning. This refers about the ways of planning lessons in teaching computing. The second session talks the features that makes a lesson plan effective. Thus, before, during and after. Session 3 discusses about the lesson plan and components and session 4 deals with the rationale for writing lesson plan.

 

Unit Objectives

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain ways of preparing lesson before teaching
2. Describe what to do during and after teaching lesson
3. State at least three characteristics of productive lesson planning
4. Describe the value of effective planning
5. Define lesson plan
6. Discuss and utilize various components of effective lesson plans

 

SESSION 1:  WAYS OF PLANNING LESSON IN TEACHING COMPUTING

Welcome to the first session of unit 4. We will delve into ways of planning lesson before, during and after teaching. This is to ensure the smooth delivery of lesson in the learning and teaching process.

 

Objectives

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

1. Explain steps of preparing lesson before teaching
2. Describe what to do during and after teaching lesson

 

Before Class: Steps for preparing a lesson plan

1. Identify the learning objectives

Before you plan your lesson, you will first need to identify the learning objectives for the lesson. A learning objective describes what the learner will know or be able to do after the learning experience rather than what the learner will be exposed to during the instruction (i.e. topics). Typically, it is written in a language that is easily understood by students and clearly related to the program learning outcomes.

2. Plan the specific learning activities

When planning learning activities, you should consider the types of activities students will need to engage in, in order to develop the skills and knowledge required to demonstrate effective learning in the course. Learning activities should be directly related to the learning objectives of the course, and provide experiences that will enable students to engage in, practice, and gain feedback on specific progress towards those objectives.

As you plan your learning activities, estimate how much time you will spend on each. Build in time for extended explanation or discussion, but also be prepared to move on quickly to different applications or problems, and to identify strategies that check for understanding. Some questions to think about as you design the learning activities you will use are:

• What will I do to explain the topic?
• What will I do to illustrate the topic in a different way?
• How can I engage students in the topic?
• What are some relevant real-life examples, analogies, or situations that can help students understand the topic?
• What will students need to do to help them understand the topic better?

Many activities can be used to engage learners. The activity types (i.e. what the student is doing) and their examples provided below are by no means an exhaustive list, but will help you in thinking through how best to design and deliver high impact learning experiences for your students in a typical lesson.

It is important that each learning activity in the lesson must be (1) aligned to the lesson’s learning objectives, (2) meaningfully engage students in active, constructive, authentic, and collaborative ways, and (3) useful where the student is able to take what they have learnt from engaging with the activity and use it in another context, or for another purpose.

3. Plan to assess student understanding

Assessments (e.g., tests, papers, problem sets, performances) provide opportunities for students to demonstrate and practice the knowledge and skills articulated in the learning objectives, and for instructors to offer targeted feedback that can guide further learning.

Planning for assessment allows you to find out whether your students are learning. It involves making decisions about:

• the number and type of assessment tasks that will best enable students to demonstrate learning objectives for the lesson
  • Examples of different assessments
  • Formative and/or summative
• the criteria and standards that will be used to make assessment judgements
  • Rubrics
• student roles in the assessment process
  • Self-assessment
  • Peer assessment
• the weighting of individual assessment tasks and the method by which individual task judgements will be combined into a final grade for the course
  • information about how various tasks is to be weighted and combined into an overall grade must be provided to students
• the provision of feedback
  • giving feedback to students on how to improve their learning, as well as giving feedback to instructors how to refine their teaching

4. Plan to sequence the lesson in an engaging and meaningful manner

Robert Gagne proposed a nine-step process called the events of instruction, which is useful for planning the sequence of your lesson. Using Gagne’s 9 events in conjunction with Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy of Educational Objectives aids in designing engaging and meaningful instruction.

1. Gain attention: Obtain students’ attention so that they will watch and listen while the instructor presents the learning content.
   1. Present a story or a problem to be solved
   2. Utilize ice breaker activities, current news and events, case studies, YouTube videos, and so on. The objective is to quickly grab student attention and interest in the topic
   3. Utilize technologies such as clickers, and surveys to ask leading questions prior to lecture, survey opinion, or gain a response to a controversial question
2. Inform learner of objectives: Allow students to organize their thoughts regarding what they are about to see, hear, and/or do.
   1. Include learning objectives in lecture slides, the syllabus, and in instructions for activities, projects and papers
   2. Describe required performance
   3. Describe criteria for standard performance
3. Stimulate recall of prior knowledge:
   1. Help students make sense of new information by relating it to something they already know or something they have already experienced.
   2. Recall events from previous lecture, integrate results of activities into the current topic, and/or relate previous information to the current topic
   3. Ask students about their understanding of previous concepts
4. Present new content: Utilize a variety of methods including lecture, readings, activities, projects, multimedia, and others.
   1. Sequence and chunk the information to avoid cognitive overload
   2. Blend the information to aid in information recall
   3. Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy can be used to help sequence the lesson by helping you chunk them into levels of difficulty.
5. Provide guidance: Advise students of strategies to aid them in learning content and of resources available. With learning guidance, the rate of learning increases because students are less likely to lose time or become frustrated by basing performance on incorrect facts or poorly understood concepts.
   1. Provide instructional support as needed – as scaffolds (cues, hints, prompts) which can be removed after the student learns the task or content
   2. Model varied learning strategies – mnemonics, concept mapping, role playing, visualizing
   3. Use examples and non-examples
6. Practice: Allow students to apply knowledge and skills learned.
   1. Allow students to apply knowledge in group or individual activities
   2. Ask deep-learning questions, make reference to what students already know or have students collaborate with their peers
   3. Ask students to recite, revisit, or reiterate information they have learned
   4. Facilitate student elaborations – ask students to elaborate or explain details and provide more complexity to their responses
7. Provide feedback: Provide immediate feedback of students’ performance to assess and facilitate learning.
   1. Consider using group / class level feedback (highlighting common errors, give examples or models of target performance, show students what you do not want)
   2. Consider implementing peer feedback
   3. Require students to specify how they used feedback in subsequent works
8. Assess performance: To evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional events, test to see if the expected learning outcomes have been achieved. Performance should be based on previously stated objectives.
   1. Utilise a variety of assessment methods including exams/quizzes, written assignments, projects, and so on.
9. Enhance retention and transfer: Allow students to apply information to personal contexts. This increases retention by personalising information.
   1. Provide opportunities for students to relate course work to their personal experiences
   2. Provide additional practice

5. Create a realistic timeline

A list of ten learning objectives is not realistic, so narrow down your list to the two or three key concepts, ideas, or skills you want students to learn in the lesson. Your list of prioritized learning objectives will help you make decisions on the spot and adjust your lesson plan as needed. Here are some strategies for creating a realistic timeline:

• Estimate how much time each of the activities will take, then plan some extra time for each
• When you prepare your lesson plan, next to each activity indicate how much time you expect it will take
• Plan a few minutes at the end of class to answer any remaining questions and to sum up key points
• Plan an extra activity or discussion question in case you have time left
• Be flexible – be ready to adjust your lesson plan to students’ needs and focus on what seems to be more productive rather than sticking to your original plan

6. Plan for a lesson closure

Lesson closure provides an opportunity to solidify student learning. Lesson closure is useful for both instructors and students.

You can use closure to:

• Check for student understanding and inform subsequent instruction (adjust your teaching accordingly)
• Emphasize key information
• Tie up loose ends
• Correct students’ misunderstandings
• Preview upcoming topics

Your students will find your closure helpful for:

• Summarizing, reviewing, and demonstrating their understanding of major points
• Consolidating and internalizing key information
• Linking lesson ideas to a conceptual framework and/or previously-learned knowledge
• Transferring ideas to new situations

There are several ways in which you can put a closure to the lesson:

• State the main points yourself (“Today we talked about…”)
• Ask a student to help you summarize them
• Ask all students to write down on a piece of paper what they think were the main points of the lesson

During class: Presenting your lesson plan

Letting your students know what they will be learning and doing in class will help keep them more engaged and on track. Providing a meaningful organisation of the class time can help students not only remember better, but also follow your presentation and understand the rationale behind the planned learning activities. You can share your lesson plan by writing a brief agenda on the whiteboard or telling students explicitly what they will be learning and doing in class

 

After Class: Reflecting on your lesson plan

Take a few minutes after each class to reflect on what worked well and why, and what you could have done differently. Identifying successful and less successful organization of class time and activities would make it easier to adjust to the contingencies of the classroom. If needed, revise the lesson plan.

 

Self-Assessment Questions

Exercise 4.1

1. Discuss the six steps for preparing your lesson plan before your class.
2. As a teacher, what is involved in during and after a lesson?

 

 

SESSION 2: CONCEPT OF A LESSON PLAN

 

Welcome to your second session of Unit 4. I hope you have prepared very well in order to enjoy this lesson. You have learnt something about innovative and effective teaching methods which is very important for the good delivery of content. This helps the teacher to know the right methods to use in the lesson delivery. Lesson planning is very important. Therefore, it is prudent for the teacher to understand the characteristics of productive lesson planning. Plans are developed to provide students with meaningful learning experiences. Plans connect to related learning opportunities. Teaching is based instructional strategies that focus on best practice and research. Teaching is supported by strategies that foster interest and progress. Therefore, teachers must know what is involved in good planning.

Good planning involves; keeps the teacher and students on track, achieves the objectives, helps teachers to avoid “unpleasant” surprises, provides the roadmap and visuals in a logical sequence, provides direction to a substitute, encourages reflection, refinement, and improvement as well as enhances student achievement. If a teacher also does not plan well, the following could occur; frustration for the teacher and the student, aimless wandering, unmet objectives, no connections to prior learnings, disorganization, lack of needed materials, a waste of time and poor management.

 

Objectives

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

1. Define lesson plan
2. Explain at least three characteristics of productive lesson planning
3. Describe the value of effective lesson planning

 

4.1 Concept of lesson plan

A lesson plan is a format of upcoming learning experience to achieve short term and long-term objectives. A lesson plan is a written guide for the trainer’s plan in order to achieve the intended learning outcome. It provides specific definition and direction for learning in terms of objectives, equipment, instructional media, material requirement and conduct of training. A lesson plan is the teacher’s detailed guide for running a particular lesson, and it includes the objective(s) (what the students are supposed to learn), how the objective(s) will be reached (the method, procedure) and a way of measuring how well the objective(s) was reached (test, worksheet, homework etc). It covers the learning trajectory and course of action for each lesson taught and acts as a comprehensive daily guide for what students need to learn. Lesson plans help teachers be more effective in the classroom by providing a detailed outline to follow each class period. The lesson plan itself will vary based on each teacher’s individual preference, what subject is being covered in the lesson as well as the needs of each student in the class. Lesson plans are really effective tools to use in the classroom, it makes the best use of class time and ensures as much lesson time as possible is used to teach new concepts, build on students’ prior knowledge and to promote meaningful discussions. It gives teachers a detailed outline to follow, so it helps them be even better teachers. It plays a role in the learning experience of students and how engaged they will be in their subjects. It is important to develop a lesson plan for every lesson you teach, as to approach students with a clear path in mind in order to get your entire class on the right track. Students should be made aware of what the lesson will be about so they are aware of what they should be learning.

4.2 Characteristics of a productive lesson plan

A Productive Lesson Plan:

1. Is based upon previous knowledge.
2. Ensure you have clear objective(s).
3. Caters to the age level of students.
4. Uses motivational techniques.
5. Includes necessary materials.
6. Activities and tasks should be designed to suit each stage and
7. Considers which methods will best suit learners needs and styles
8. Is student centered, flexible, complete, interesting & activity based.
9. Allocate timing for each activity appropriately.
10. Anticipate problems related to classroom management, language, topic and content, and think about possible solutions.
11. Includes evaluation process.

1. Includes all the essential elements of a lesson plan.

 

4.3 Writing lesson plans

• Know your students. Understand who you are going to educate. Anticipate various learning styles (visual, auditory, tactile or a combination). Tailor your lesson plan to incorporate all learning styles through independent and group exercises. If you are familiar with the students’ group dynamics you may choose to plan ahead of time to increase engagement and interaction. Keep in mind that you may alter any activity to be done independently, in pairs, or in small groups. Depending on the amount of time and size of the class you can be selective or mix it up and use all of these techniques.
• Set learning objectives. A learning objective is a statement that provides a detailed description of what students will be able to do upon completing a course. The statement should be simple and to the point. It is the teacher’s role to help students understand how to use the information they will learn during the lesson in a practical way.
• Write the objective for the lesson. Outline the main topics or ideas you wish to cover during the lesson. The overview will function as the foundation upon which the lesson will be built.
• Plan your timeline. The curriculum you wish to cover may be too much for the time allotted. If this is the case, simply break your lesson plan into sections. This allows you to speed up or slow down depending on the amount of time remaining. Learning is dynamic. As you engage with students, encourage them to question and share ideas during the course of the class but be mindful of the time and the lesson plan. The lesson plan is your guide to ensure the learning goals you’ve set for your students are met in the time allowed.

 

4.4 Rationale for writing lesson plan

A teacher should be professional and his professionalism and authenticity all appear from using an effective lesson plan as a guide. In this way, teacher present himself/herself as a good role model for your students. In order to gain the respect of your students and making them achieve the learning lesson targets, you have to go to the class with lesson plans. Here, are some reasons why it is important to write lesson plans.

 

1. 1. Inspiration

A thorough lesson plan inspired the teacher to improve the lesson plan further. You can make it better for the purpose of achieving the lesson plan in a better way.

2. Evaluation

A lesson plan helps the teacher to evaluate his teaching and to compare it with set objectives. This evaluation will help you in achieving the set targets in a better way.

3. Self-confidence

These lesson plans develop self-confidence in the teacher and make them to work towards definite goal.

4. Previous Knowledge of the Students

A teacher can take a proper care by considering the level and previous knowledge of the students in your class.

5. Organized Matter

A teacher will be able to finish a particular lesson in a limited time frame. This will help him or her to make the students learn a better and precise manner.

6. Ask Questions

A teacher will be able to ask proper and important questions to the students in the classroom. This will engage the students in communication and help them in retaining the lesson.

7. Guidance

A lesson plan works as a guide for the teacher in the classroom. It tells you what to teach so that they can cover the entire lesson within a limited time frame.

8. Interest

A lesson plan creates the interest of the students in the lesson and makes them learn with curiosity in subject matter.

9. Stimulation

A lesson plan stimulates the teacher to think in an organized way. This helps you to match the ideal standard of teaching more quickly than ever.

 

 

10. Understand the Objectives

Through a lesson plan, a teacher is able to understand the objectives of the lesson properly and make his students to understand them too, with ease

 

 

Self-Assessment Questions

Exercise 4.2

1. What is a lesson plan?
2. State any four characteristics of a productive lesson plan.
3. Describe the four key points when developing a lesson plan.
4. List any four reasons why it is important to develop lesson plans.

 

 

SESSION 3: LESSON PLAN AND ITS COMPONENTS

Hi there! I hope you are having a nice time learning this unit. This is session 3 of unit 4 where lesson plan and its components will be discussed. Lesson plan is an integral part of teaching and it cannot be forfeited for anything. It guides the teacher during delivery of content.

 

Objectives

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

1. Discuss and utilize various components of effective lesson plans

 

3.1 Components of lesson plan

 

A lesson plan includes

• Pre-assessment
• Content
• Instructional objectives

• List of materials and equipment

• Introduction

• Pre-requisite

• Instructional procedures and presentation

• Application

• Practice

• Assessment/evaluation

• Closure

• Reflection (Self-Assessment)

 

 

 

 

Pre-assessment

• What are the characteristics of the learners in the class?

• What do the students already know and understand?

• How do my students learn best?

• What modifications in instruction might I need to make?

Content

• This is a statement that relates to the subject-matter content. The content may be a concept or a skill. Phrase this as follows: i want my students to: (be able to [name the skill) or (i want my students to understand a description of the concept).

Instructional objectives

• Indicate what is to be learned – this must be a complete objective. Write this objective in terms of what an individual student will do, not what a group will do.

• A description of what the student will be able to do at the end of the lesson

• Use behavioral verbs to describe the expected outcomes (ACTION)

 

Setting objectives

What will the learner be able to:

• Know (concept…cognitive)
• Do (skill… psychomotor)
• Feel (behavior, attitude, appreciation or ideas…affective)

Each defined objective is matched with:

• Teaching Method
• Learning Activities
• Type of Assessment

 

Objectives should be SMART:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Attainable

• Realistic

• Time bound

 

Materials and equipment

• Plan!  Prepare!  Have on hand!

• Envision your needs.

• List all materials, resources and equipment to be used by both the teacher and learner and how they will be used.

Role of learning materials

• Defines Instructional Objectives

• Sets Tasks to Attain Objectives

• Informs Learners of Tasks they have to Perform

• Provides Guidance and Practice

• Provides Feedback on Retention of acquired Skills

• Makes the teaching effective.

• Supplies concrete basis for conceptual thinking.

• Makes learning permanent

Teaching Materials / Resources

1. Course books
2. Supplementary materials:
3. Teacher’s book
4. Work book
5. Supporting material:
6. Audio Material
7. Visual materials
8. Audio-visual materials.
9. Multi media

 

Introduction

• Grab the attention of the students

• Provides the interest/motivation factor

• Set the tone for the lesson connected to the objective

• • A question
  • A story
  • A saying
  • An activity
  • A discussion starter

 

Previous knowledge

Prerequisites:

Indicate what the student must already know or be able to do in order to be successful with this lesson.

 

Instructional procedures and presentation

• Description of what you will do in teaching the lesson, and, as appropriate, includes a description of how you will introduce the lesson to the students, what actual instructional techniques you will use, and how you will bring closure to the lesson. Include what specific things students will actually do during the lesson. In most cases, you will provide some sort of summary for the students.

• Sets up a step-by-step plan

• Provides specific activities to assist students in developing the new knowledge

• Provides modeling of a new skill

 

Learning activities

• Problem-solving

• Peer teaching

• Role playing

• Debates

• Games

• Cooperative groups

• Inquiry learning

• Direct Instruction

• Projects

 

 

Role of activities

• source of motivation

• making learning interesting

• decrease the anxiety of learner

• concrete base for abstract learning

• develop confidence (individually, group work)

• develop creativity

• flexible and friendly environment

• capture the attention and involve the students in learning situation

 

Application

• Application activities will lead the students to appreciate the overall themes and ideas in lesson.

• In order to create further understanding, the student must go beyond rote memorization and demonstrate real-world application of the newly-learned information.

• This process requires “higher-level critical-thinking skills” which result in ideas generated by the student rather than ideas presented by the teacher or by the text.

 

Practice: applying what is learned

• Provide multiple learning activities

• Guided practice (teacher controlled)

• Use a variety of questioning strategies to determine the level of understanding
• Journaling, conferencing

• Independent practice

 

Closure

• Closure is the act of reviewing and clarifying the key points of a lesson, tying them together into a coherent whole.

• Lesson Wrap-up: Leave students with an imprint of what the lesson covered.

• Students summarize the major concepts
• Teacher recaps the main points
• Teacher sets the stage for the next phase of learning

 

Follow-up activities

Indicate how other activities/materials will be used to reinforce and extend this lesson. Include homework, assignments, and projects.

Assessment/evaluation

• Describe how you will determine the extent to which students have attained the instructional objective. Be sure this part is directly connected to the behavior called for in the instructional objective.

• Assess the learning

• Teacher made test
• In-class or homework assignment
• Project to apply the learning in real-life situation
• Recitations and summaries
• Performance assessments
• Use of rubrics
• Portfolios
• Journals
• Informal assessment

 

Reflection (Self-Assessment)

• Address the major components of the lesson plan, focusing on both the strengths, and areas of needed improvement. Determine here how you plan to collect information that will be useful for planning future lessons. A good idea is to analyze the difference between what you wanted (the objective) and what was attained (the results of the assessment).
• What went well in the lesson?

• What problems did I experience?

• Are there things I could have done differently?

• How can I build on this lesson to make future lessons successful?

 

 

Self-Assessment Questions

Exercise 4.3

1. Describe any five components of a lesson plan.