Day 1
01 Workshop Opener 02 Previously, on 03 Break 04 Model Lesson 05 ML Reflection 06 Group Dynamics 07 Lunch 08 Curriculum Investigation 09 Conclusions and Connections 10 Break 11 Unit Planning 12 Wrap Up 13 Debrief

Session 4: Model Lesson

50 minutes

lesson exploration

Purpose

This model lesson in intended to model effective management of group work and supporting positive group dynamics while participants engage in the Problem Solving Process for Design.

Objectives

  • Participants are exposed to the essential content knowledge necessary to plan and implement Lesson 3 of Unit 4
  • Participants engage in the “think, pair, share”, “peer feedback” and “journaling” teaching and learning strategies
  • Participants engage in a structured problem solving process to address a problem
  • Participants engage in breaking in large problem down into smaller components in order to begin taking small steps towards a larger goal
  • The facilitator models project management strategies (grouping, independent vs group brainstorming, group roles, peer feedback)

Supplies & Prep

Room Setup:

  • Participants are grouped into teams of 3 to five participants

Facilitator Supplies:

Teacher Materials:

  • Your local copy of the CS Discoveries Q2 - Notes Template (19 - 20)
  • Printed copy of User Centered Design - Activity Guide (linked in group notes template - can be done electronically if you do not have the ability to print)
  • Computer (if using an electronic activity guide)
  • Markers

Agenda

Before the Lesson (0 minutes)

Warm Up (5 minutes)

Activity (33 minutes)

Wrap Up (12 minutes)

Facilitation Guide

Before the Lesson (0 minutes)

Group: Learners should be in teams of 3 to 5

Facilitator Note: Prior to the lesson the “teacher” should separate the learners into groups. The way learners are grouped is up to you as the facilitator (random groups, participants that don’t normally sit together, etc.) It is however important that you show that you have considered grouping before the lesson and implemented a plan to get learners into their groups before the lesson begins. In the model lesson reflection, the facilitator will call out the importance of having a plan for grouping prior to implementing a lesson.

Facilitator Tip

If you do not have the ability to print the activity guides, there is a link to an electronic version in the shared notes doc template. If participants are using the electronic version, ask them to lower their screens during group discussions. Alternatively, you might also have participants respond to the activity guide prompts in their journal instead of using the electronic version.

Distribute: Place the appropriate number of activity guides face down on each pod. Also distribute markers, post-it notes, and chart paper to each group.

Hand out the activity guide (or journal) to each learner, as well as markers, sticky notes, and poster paper for each group.

Facilitator Note: A major topic within this workshop is group dynamics. Just like in any classroom, it is not possible to predict how groups will interact with each other. Take any opportunity you can to model a teacher supporting effective group dynamics. The key is to not solve the problem for the group, but instead guide them towards effective teamwork. In the “Group Dynamics” session before lunch, participants will have the space to share ideas and strategies related to group dynamics. The topics for that session include the following:

  • Solutions incorporate ideas from multiple contributions
  • Students are able to mediate group conflict
  • All students contribute to the success of the group
  • Students with less prior knowledge are not excluded
  • Group member strengths are highlighted and utilized

In order to set the stage for this session, try to make sure each participant has success with or experiences modeling of at least one of these one of these items.

Warm Up (5 minutes)

(5 minutes) Designing for Others

Prompt: In the last two lessons we've seen that products are designed with a purpose and that different designs are more useful or pleasing to different people. Since different people have different needs, interests, etc. what might be some of the challenges if you're trying to design a product for someone else?

Discussion Goal

This should be a very quick introduction to the lesson. You are looking to call out that designing for other people requires you to consider their needs instead of your own, which can often be challenging.

Think - Pair - Share: Allow learners a minute to think silently before having them share with their tables and then the group as a whole.

  • (1 minute) Think: individual reflection
  • (1 minutes) Pair: discuss with a partner
  • (3 minutes) Share: share and discuss with the whole group

Facilitator Note: During the group share out, the facilitator should display the Design Process graphic. Point back to this graphic and re-emphasize the importance of empathy when designing for others. Use this as a quick hook for the lesson and then move to the main activity.

Remarks

Designing for other people can be challenging for a lot of reasons, but one of the most important is that it challenges us to consider what another person values, likes, or is concerned about. In other words we need to have empathy for someone else. Today we're going to do a mini-design activity to help us practice the entire process ourselves.

Activity (33 minutes)

(2 minutes) Introduce the Activity

Overview: As a class read through the "Overview" section of the activity guide to make sure groups understand the goal of the activity.

(14 minutes) Define

Facilitator Note: Project the “Problem Solving Process for Design”. Call out that you are now moving into the “define” phase for the problem solving process.

Facilitator Tip

You will notice that the brainstorming starts with learners working independently and then moves to the table group working together. This sets the foundation for inclusion within the group. All team members have space to brainstorm ideas to bring to the team. As you circulate during the lesson, be on the lookout for teams including multiple perspectives into their group solutions. If it seems like one person is dominating group decision making, ask guiding questions. (Point to a post-it and ask who came up with the idea. Then ask that person to describe the idea to the group.)

  • (2 minutes) Brainstorm Users: Ask learners to independently list on their activity guides as many different potential users of smart clothing as they can think of. After about a minute, ask them to create a post-it for the two or three user types they think are most interesting.

  • (4 minutes) Categorize Users: Invite learners to discuss with their table at least one bigger category of users they see within their group. Bubble up their ideas to a full class discussion. You should aim to create broad categories for every user on chart paper.

  • (1 minute) Choose Specific User: Ask groups to pick one of the categories you've created to design for. Do your best to ensure a good mix of users in the classroom but it's not a problem if some groups choose the same user.

  • (2 minutes) Brainstorm Needs: Learners will independently brainstorm on their activity guide to identify a list of potential concerns, interests, and needs of the user they picked. Encourage learners to think carefully about what might be important to those people.

  • (4 minutes) Categorize Needs: Learners should compare their list with their group and create post-its for each need, interest, or concern of their user and then group them. Learners can use the markers and poster paper to do this step.

  • (1 minute) Choose a Specific Need: Ask groups to pick the specific need for their user that they want to address. They should try to pick a need they think could be addressed by smart clothing so in some cases they may need to be a little creative in thinking about these needs.

Facilitator Note: Project the “Problem Solving Process for Design” graphic. Call out that you are now moving from the “define” phase to the “prepare” phase.

(7 minutes) Prepare

  • (2 minutes) Brainstorm Solutions: Ask learners to independently brainstorm potential ways smart clothing could be used to address the problem they've decided to solve.

Facilitator Tip

Be on the lookout for group conflict here. Have a plan in mind for how you will redirect groups if one person seems to be unwilling to let go of their idea and is causing group conflict as a result. Your response should be one that both models a way a teacher could intervene to support effective group dynamics while still respecting participants as professionals. Ex: You might ask the participant who is causing the conflict to suggest a strength of a different idea and follow up by asking a different group member if that strength could be incorporated into the idea in question.

  • (5 minutes) Discuss the Pros and Cons: Once learners have brainstormed solutions invite groups to discuss the pros and cons of the proposed solutions. Reinforce that they should be having this conversation from the standpoint of their user. Either the specific needs they chose or the broader needs they've brainstormed should guide how they value each idea.

Facilitator Note: Project the “Problem Solving Process for Design” graphic. Call out that you are now moving from the “prepare” phase to the “try” phase.

(10 minutes) Try

Facilitator Tip

Giving learners a specific role to play in activity is a way to ensure all members of the group have a way to contribute to the success of the team. The role itself is not as important as the tone this sets within the team structure that all members have an active role to play. The specific roles can shift and change to meet the needs of specific projects or activities. Watch to see if learners are fulfilling the responsibility of their role. Ask learners which role they are taking and how that role contributes to the success of the group.

Facilitator Note: Allow learners to self select roles for this portion of the activity. This is done to ensure all learners have a way to contribute to the success of the group. Roles include: scribe, artist, presenter, time keeper, etc. Let students know that after ten minutes they will have the opportunity to present their design to another group. They will have two minutes to share the following:

  • Who your user is and what specific need you identified
  • The features of the product designed
  • How the features addressed the need you chose
  • One feature your team chose NOT to include
  • At least one feature of your product you might not want for yourself but have to meet the needs of their user.

Learner Instructions:

  • Describe Your Product: Learners should write a description of what their product is and how it addresses their user's need on their activity guide.

  • Draw Your Product: Learners should draw and label a picture of their product. Specifically any "smart" features should be labeled with short descriptions. Learners can also use poster paper and markers for this portion of the lesson.

Wrap Up (12 minutes)

(10 minutes) Product Presentation

Facilitator Tip

This wrap up was intentionally included to model the use of the peer feedback teaching and learning strategy.This strategy, like most highlighted in this lesson, can and should look different depending on the activity in which it is used. It is also important to note that this activity does not take the place of the “reflect” portion of the problem solving process. The reflect step is not included in this lesson, however, students will engage in this step in future lessons within Unit 4.

Present Your Product: Groups are paired together to present their products. Each group is given two minutes to present their product to their partner team. The partner team is given three minutes to provide verbal peer feedback using the following prompts:

  • I like…
  • I wish…
  • What if…

Each person on the feedback team should give a minimum of one piece of feedback to the presenting team. The groups then switch roles and repeat the process for an additional 5 minutes.

(2 minutes) Journal

Prompt: Based on today's activity what challenges do you foresee in designing software for others?