MUED1008: Fundamentals of Teaching

Research reflection (30%), Lesson planning and assessment (40%), Online teaching resource (30%).

Only having one education subject this semester really allowed me to channel all my energy into MUED1008. This is a compulsory unit for music education students that is typically taken in second year but is actually now moved to first year after they changed the enrolment program earlier this year. Since the course is theory-heavy, I found the subject quite enjoyable and helpful in filling some of the gaps that KIME and KAME left last year.

The assessments for this unit were well-designed and manageable. I found the written reflection the easiest to do and performed the best in it because I knew I thrived more in writing-based tasks and dedicated a good amount of time to it. The lesson plans were definitely a challenge for me because I was really indecisive about everything and the idea of being marked for how I design content was daunting but I was happy with the mark I received at the end of the day. We were also meant to do a group teaching assessment but given COVID-19, Rachel had to change the assessment to accommodate for social distancing. I found the online teaching resource fun to make and gave a great avenue for me to exercise my creativity. In terms of assessment feedback, Rachel was perhaps one of the fairest markers we've had so far and while I was initially shocked with how I went for the lesson plans in particular, her comments justified the marks she gave me and I could definitely see where I could improve in the future.

Overall, this unit did exactly what its premise outlined and it was to provide us with the fundamentals to teach and to understand how to teach. The readings were a little extensive but they did spark some interesting questions and discussions for us during the classes. It was huge shame that we had to do the majority of this unit online because I know that Rachel had multiple group activities that would have been only possible to do in person. I really enjoyed having Rachel as a lecturer for this course as well; she was responsive to emails, had invaluable insight for all the topics we covered and a great sense of humour. What I liked most was how the assessments were created with applicability in mind and I am excited to use some of them in my first prac next year.

3.5/5

Yes; they are uploaded by the evening of the day the seminar is on.

Rachel White

None

4/5

Teaching: Challenges and Dilemmas 5th Edition (Susan Groundwater-Smith and Robyn Ewing). There will also be other set readings provided in PDF form relevant to the week.

2020 Semester 1

85 HD