Tutorial Lesson Plans

Tutorial Lesson Plans are guides for educators to what students have to learn and how; using appropriate learning activities and strategies to obtain feedback of student learning (Milkova, 2015). With online tools it becomes easy to share these plans in a shared space, and even exchange feedback after the tutorials.

Rationale

Tutorial Lesson Plans give course coordinators and teaching staff a channel of better communication to ensure students have a coherent and consistent learning experience. Simultaneously reducing workloads and increasing efficient use of teaching time.

Learners/Context

Tutorial Lesson Plans are intended for course coordinators to translate formal course requirements to a set of planned learning activities in a face to face session or online module. They can provide consistency of experience for students who work with different tutors. And they can let a course coordinator and tutors work as a team and provide a focus and space for incremental iteration of the course.

Alignment

Tutorial Lesson Plans align learning outcomes to ensure consistent student experience across a course.

Instructions/Processes

Prior to Semester

Download the OTARA lesson plan template (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1weNK2x2Er_QlE5YW1GRjVwd2s/view?usp=sharing) into Google Docs. OTARA is a method used in developing online courses in New Zealand higher education institutions that can be adapted for this activity. Its primary focus is on alignment of Objectives; Themes; Activities; Resources and Assessments (OTARA)
Fill in the lesson plan template, paying particular attention to the Notes in the template

Objectives need to be clear and should use action verbs. Refer to Creating effective learning objectives (http://www.msubillings.edu/accreditation/ppt/Creating%20effective%20learning%20objectives%20and%20measures.pptx)
Assessment in the OTARA method is aligned to the learning outcomes which are measured by assessments (formative or summative)
Learning activities can be split into two columns:

Facilitator Activities	Learner Activities
send welcome message to class forum (lecturer	LA 1-1 Ask students to read welcome message and reply with an introduction message in tutorial (10 mins)

Number all activities in the following manner:

the 1 stands for the week or topic
the number after the hyphen denotes the activity and where it sits in the sequence

This can be a particularly helpful practice when working with a large team or a large number of activities

The activities are situated in an authentic context or theme. In this way, the OTARA process helps to facilitate constructive alignment in lesson plans (Biggs, 1996)
Resources are identified at the end of the process, ideally selecting only those that are required

For the lesson plans to be useful they need to be shared between all teaching staff in the course and available for program staff
Keep all lesson plans and resources for each week together (either in Google Drive or in an area in Blackboard)
Set up a forum, wiki, Blackboard course or Google group for tutors so that they are able to address questions to the course coordinator
The addition of a feedback area (either on the form itself) or via comments on a shared document or having a Blackboard forum enables communication with everyone delivering the course
The shared space can also be used to identify common themes that the students are struggling with
Any formal course evaluations can also be kept in the shared space.

Conditions/Critical Success Factors

Download OTARA template
Share Tutorial Lesson Plan to ensure consistency and communication between educators.

Resources/ Technology

OTARA template
Simple lesson plan
Using Google Docs to share document
Dr Barbara Wheeling - PowerPoint based on Patti Shank’s Writing Learning Objectives
Kate Hunt and Maurice Moore - OTARA
Yoshida M and B Jackson, undated, Why do we write Detailed Lesson Plans?
Milkova, S, 2014, Strategies for Effective Lesson Planning, Center for Research on Learning and Teaching
Biggs, J. (1996). Enhancing teaching through constructive alignment. Higher education, 32(3), 347-364.

Related Category:

Constructive alignment

Online Collaboration

Reflective practice

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Design Pattern

Tutorial Lesson Plans