EPSY302: Student survey

In order to assist you better, we have created a 5 minute survey to identify your needs. Whether you are an online or an on- campus student, please take the time to answer it.

EPSY302 Co-operative Learning

Thanks everyone for your hard work this week, and for your thoughtful comments and questions about making co-operative learning work. In the lecture and tutorial we have now looked at a wide range of co-operative learning structures, including; Think Pair Share; Rally Table Brainstorm; Timed Talking; Broken pieces; Expert jigsaw activities; Assembly; Human Treasure hunt; Bodily functions; Hot potato and Donut discussions. These will be useful across subjects and across agegroups. I encourage you to incorporate these activities into your lessons on TE. I especially encourage you to utilise co-operative learning activities during the learning process – don’t just relegate it to openings and revision. When you’re ready to find our more, check out texts by writers like Brown and Thomson, Kagan, Johnson and Johnson, and Ginnis for more imaginative and versatile activity structures.

EPSY302 Lesson Planning

It was great to see all the 2010 EPSY302 students on Monday. I was really impressed by the buzzy atmosphere and by the ideas and discussion which came from the group. We really appreciated your early arrival too. Today we started with a topic which draws together many threads. Lesson planning involves marshalling a range of knowledges and strategies to suit the particular class needs - it's certainly a complex job, as you would expect in a profession. I hope that you enjoy the challenge of applying these concepts in the first course assignment; I'm confident that you will find the experience valuable, especially as preparation before your first TE. Assignment One will form the focus of our studio time for the first couple of weeks. The course as a whole will flesh out your knowledge and skills for planning the HOW of the lesson: how the students will learn, what learning experiences you will design and organize for their participation.
Evaluating the lecture, one aspect which clearly is a valuable use of our time is debriefing and talking about ideas after your reflective activities, and so I'll work to make sure that we continue to dedicate sufficient time to this.
I look forward to your comments and questions on Monday's lecture, and to getting to know you over the coming weeks.