Reflective Practice - Activity Plan  

Activity Overview

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Critically reflect on feedback and course experiences to self-evaluate work and learning
• Identify potential future applications of learning to practice

Timeframe and Mode

This asynchronous activity will take place over 5 days of the course.

Overview of Activity

The focus for this week is on developing our reflective practice as online facilitators. Through a "metaphorical mirror" exercise, your team members will both share your own reflections on your teaching practice (and possible upcoming changes that you will make to it as a result of taking this course) and support/facilitate the rest of the group through doing their own reflections. You may invite the FLO Facilitators to participate in this final activity.

Part 1

Prior to the start of this activity, prepare your own metaphors to share with participants as an example (use any form of media you choose). Follow the directions in the metaphorical mirror article (linked below) - see p. 506 of the article.

During the first part of the week, direct participants to the metaphorical mirror readng (listed below) and share the metaphors your team members have developed. Give clear instructions to participants about developing and sharing their own metaphors with the rest of the class - using any media they would like - and commenting on each others' metaphors.

Ask the participants to think about if/how their metaphors may have changed as a result of taking this course. You may also wish to advise them to review their own (and perhaps others') posts in the Weekly Journal Share Forum over the last several weeks in order to prepare for this activity.

Engage participants in a discussion of some of the underlying themes in FLO:  self-assessment, active participation and “presence”, workload management etc.  Pose some open or guiding questions or use brief scenarios to prompt discussion. Share any personal / professional experiences or additional resources to deepen learning.

Part 2

Over the last part of the week, encourage final reflections from participants in terms of thinking about their teaching practice and how this course may have or will impact their practice in the future. Refer to or choose from the questions on p. 507 of the article to guide this discussion.

Overall, provide a schedule of events with due dates for all parts of the activity. Ask for help from your FLO facilitator if you're having any problems envisioning how this could work.

Facilitation Tasks

Your facilitation should help participants engage in the topic and stay “on time”:

• post a clear, concise “launch” message in the week’s forum (direct participants to your detailed instructions and schedule)
• monitor activities in relation to due dates - connect with participants who are lagging
• respond to questions/confusions as quickly as possible
• allow “space” for discussion but post prompts or clarifying questions to help the group engage each other in reflective practice
• encourage participants to share experiences and identify readings or other resources if relevant
• encourage participants to provide feedback by the end of the activity

Team Planning

You have access to a semi-private planning forum (visible to your team members and the FLO facilitators) located in the Facilitation Teams Workspace. Use this forum to ensure that all members of your team and your FLO facilitator are kept informed. The FLO facilitator can assist you in accessing features/functions of the Moodle course site and providing assistance in your scheduling and planning.

Relevant Readings/Resources

The following readings/resources are particularly relevant to this activity:

• Week 5 Overview: Optional Readings - see
  • Wagenheim, G., Clark, R., and Crispo, A. (2009). Metaphorical Mirror: Reflecting on our Personal Pursuits to Discover and Challenge our Teaching Practice Assumptions. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Volume 20 Number 3. pp. 503-509.
• FLO Workshop Handbook: Tracking Your Progress (Self-Assessing Your Participation; FLO Rubrics)

    Team Tasks

• Connect with team members to plan the activity in your team planning forum - decide on roles and responsibilities of team members. Draw on the support of your FLO facilitator for any pedagogical or technical assistance you may need.
• Review this Activity Plan and work together as a team to craft instructions and share facilitation tasks to support learners. Note the activity's intended learning outcomes.
• Create your own "metaphors" as per the activity and have them ready to share with the rest of the class by the time you launch your activity.
• Organize your team members to provide support, as you decide is necessary, throughout the week.
• After your activity has finished, encourage participants to provide feedback on your facilitation by the weekend.
• Complete your FLIF individually by Sunday evening.

Tools / Structures

Create an Instructions and Schedule resource to guide participants through the steps of your activity and provide due dates for each step. You can do this in a Moodle page, a multimedia resource that you create (screencast? video?), or within the forum you have in your week. (Note: You will need to ask your FLO Facilitator to post any resources to your activity area.) Remember that you only have 4-5 days; be clear about how, when and where individuals should do their work.

Week's Activity Forum: Use the Reflective Practice Forum in Week 5. Post a very brief statement about the activity in the forum's description (i.e. the top part). Your FLO facilitator will have to update this for you once you provide them with the text.

Post your “launch” message as a new discussion topic to "set the scene" and invite participants to start the activity. (Remember that participants are automatically subscribed to the forum so each should receive an email after you post.)

Amended by SylviaR, Mar. 12, 2017