I thoroughly enjoyed each one of the micro teaching activities!
It was great to see how something very simple could lead to such varied discussions and design outcomes.

These are the slides I used to introduce my activity:

Designing the activity

When I started planning my micro teaching activity I initially wanted to do something around light and shadows as it relates to projection mapping but also looks at distortion, surface texture and object shapes. I changed my direction because another participant asked for everyone to bring a small object and a light source, at which point it felt like ‘copying’ someone else’s idea. After having experienced many of the activities this seems silly and I doubt any two would have been the same even if they had shared some physical elements. However I think the activity I chose as a result was a lot more open, took me out of my comfort zone and therefore showed me new ways for student engagement.

I was inspired by Kirsten Hardie’s Case study ‘A Matter of Taste’ (Hardie, 2015, p. 6) in which she encourages students to interpret objects in order to discuss personal preferences and perception.
My chosen object was a deck of cards because it’s ubiquitous but also comes in a wide variety of designs. Initially I did a lot of research into the construction of the deck of cards, the design history of the cards themselves and their international heritage. What I found most fascinating was the significance of the card suits though which also seemed an appropriate scope for a 20-minute activity.

Again I took inspiration from Hardie’s article and specifically a point from her advice regarding the development of OBL (Hardie, 2015, p.20):

“use objects to develop lively critical discussion, focused critical analysis, reflective thinking and powerful debates. Encourage students to interrogate objects publicly; aim to develop learners’ deep learning through the use of objects”

Almost everyone knows what the suits look like but probably doesn’t have a lot of contextual knowledge. This became the basis of my activity – the perceived symbolism of the four card suits. 
I decided to split the time into two parts – first interrogating the existing design and second developing those ideas into a creative output. This activity would be relevant to my teaching context but also leave room for exploration. 

Making it inclusive

The deck of cards is something simple that most people might have around the house but throughout the activity I would leave an image of the four card suits up on screen for anyone who didn’t have a deck of cards to hand.
Another important aspect for me was that this was an interrogation of existing design that would benefit from all the different backgrounds the participants brought to the table, so I made sure to stress that we were not looking for truth but for ideas, interpretation and perceived meaning.
In the end I would put up a blank whiteboard on which everyone could doodle or write ideas for re-imagined card suit themes. 

I also chose one short but informative article to share with the group after the activity in case anyone wanted to know more about the origins of playing cards.

Releasing the activity unto the group

I designed this exercise in my very factual, stringent German manner – very orderly and with clear timings. Once released unto the group this would surely go off track.
I meant to split the group into smaller breakout groups of 3 participants to make discussions easier in the online space but the BB collaborate setup didn’t allow us to do that. In the end I don’t think it hindered the discussion but instead opened up wider conversations with more varied voices.

Once I set out the activity I stepped back and let the conversation take it’s turn. I only switched my microphone back on for timekeeping and asking them to move from Part A to Part B of the activity.
It was wonderful how the conversation unfolded based on something so simple. They started talking about some of the cards themselves (King, Queen, Jack), then went into discussions about noble houses, feudalism, moving on to fiction – Alice in Wonderland – and sharing personal insights and stories related to the cards.

This is a screenshot of the final whiteboard, collecting ideas for contemporary card suits:

Feedback

This is the collective feedback for my activity, kindly collated by Rachel:

– Open ended discussion allows for a manner of subjects and perspectives to be explored 
– Use of different histories, time, social histories, geographical
– Inclusive for those who didn’t have cards
– Critical discussion about objects that are everyday
– Provided an opportunity to learn more about the cards via learning resources – facts came at the end of the session so we were able to explore freely and openly
– Really enjoyable
– Novel way of using cards to explore different subjects
– Clear explanation of activity
– It was fun! Good to hold something physical
– Timing was good, able to embrace silence as well as moments of discussion
– Learnt a lot about each other just by talking about the cards, Jason mentioned playing with his partner and Pete spoke about his daughter

Reflection on my microteaching activity

20 minutes go very fast but I was amazed by how much ground got covered in the discussion. The group did not quite get around to creating a visual expression of the suits but it also wasn’t necessary. Based on their feedback it was a joyful experience and they learned a lot about each other. I think that all the learning outcomes I had set for this activity were touched on and I learned a lot about how OBL can support student agency and enable them to take the learnings relevant to their context.

With my hard-wired German timekeeping brain I sometimes push in a certain direction but just giving space for exploration and seeing how it is received was a great experience. I also think that something like this could be a good ice breaker activity as it provides a framework for conversation while leaving room for individual expression as mentioned by Hardie with regards to integrating OBL into pedagogic practice (Hardie, 2015, p. 20).

References

Hardie, K, Wow: The power of objects in object-based learning and teaching, Higher Education Academy, Available from: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/wow-power-objects-object-based-learning-and-teaching

Reflection on my peers’ micro teaching activities

It was a privilege to be part of the variety of activities – I learned a lot about teaching methodology but also general approaches to art and creativity. All of the exercises were fun and joyful just through the simple interactions between motivated individuals and having a common ‘goal’. I think that small group tasks that are low risk (i.e. not contributing to a grade) can really contribute to the enjoyment of a course and create a sense of kinship and belonging.

Thoughts on a few of them in particular: 

Jay’s activity in particular made me feel ‘the love’ in the room. We were asked, as a group, to come up with a short story following a guided structure. It basically invited us to ‘play’ with each other. There was a lot of collaboration, discussion and sharing while leaving room for independent thinking. We created something together that seemed silly yet purposeful and at the same time learned about storytelling and construction of narrative.

Rachel presented us with a rap song + lyrics and asked us to come up with at least 15 questions about it. The genre was very unfamiliar to most of the group which was intentional. We often come to a piece of art or media (audible or visual) with very little knowledge. This song provided a great opportunity to engage with the process of how we approach anything we don’t know or initially understand. It made us interrogate notions of inclusivity and subconscious resistance. I also liked that Rachel ‘left the room’ by switching off her mic and sound as a pedagogic tool to give us agency over our approaches.

Stephanie’s object was a digital rotating pig-like object on a glass plinth. We could navigate around, zoom and change the perspective to investigate it. We were questioning how we interpret and analyse virtual objects and if it was a representation of a physical object. Even describing the plinth as ‘glass’ takes it into the physical world. This exercise showed how navigating the digital realm is up for interpretation and we can only use words from the ‘physical’ world to describe what we see.