Workshop description

This workshop covers the basics of educational psychology and instructional design, and looks at how to use these ideas in both intensive workshops and regular classes. The workshop is a mix of lectures and hand-on lessons where you practice giving a short lesson using approaches learned and implement some of the teaching techniques which we will discuss. This is training for teaching, not technical training; you do not need any particular technical background, and we will not be teaching that. This workshop is based on the constantly revised and updated curriculum.

Who: The course is aimed at everyone who is interested in becoming a better teacher. In particular, this training is aimed at those who want to become Software and Data Carpentry instructors, run workshops and contribute to the Carpentry training materials.

You don't have to be currently an instructor or a teacher to attend this workshop. But you do need to be willing and committed to becoming one and to improving your teaching techniques.

Where: Room 420, General Purpose South (Bldg 78), The University of Queensland. Get directions with OpenStreetMap or Google Maps.

Requirements: Participants should bring a laptop that is Internet connected and has a functioning browser. If you have it, a specialized device for recording audio and video (mobile phones and laptops are OK) - throughout the two days, we are going to record one another teaching in pairs or threes. It does not have to be high-quality, but it should be good enough that you can understand what someone is saying.

Also, make sure you read the Preparation section below. You will also receive some further information before the workshop so please check your email.

All participants are also required to abide by Software Carpentry's Code of Conduct.

Contact: Please mail training-help@software-carpentry.org for more information.

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Schedule

Etherpad: http://pad.software-carpentry.org/2016-01-18-Brisbane-Instructor-Training.
We will use this Etherpad for chatting, taking notes, and sharing URLs and bits of code.

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Syllabus

• Introduction
• Terms
• Mental Models
• Lesson Study
• Mapping Expertise
• Managing Memory
• Lesson Design
• Teaching Practices
• Motivation
• Demotivation
• The Carpentries

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Preparation

In preparation for the training we would like to ask you to:

1. Watch one of the following videos from Software Carpentry workshops https://vimeo.com/139316669 or https://vimeo.com/139181120 and put a 3-4 sentences feedback to http://pad.software-carpentry.org/2016-01-18-Brisbane-Instructor-Training.
2. Complete a small task:
   • If you want to teach Software Carpentry, please submit a small pull request to this repository Your pull request should contain one file (and one file only) called "your_name.txt" (e.g., marie_curie.txt or alan_turing.txt). This file should contain a sentence or two that describes the type of work you do. You will submit the name of this file as part of your application.
     Help on creating pull requests can be found at https://help.github.com/articles/using-pull-requests. If you need assistance, please mail training-help@software-carpentry.org.
   • Please read Porter et al's "Success in Introductory Programming: What Works?", which is a good recent summary of results specific to teaching programming, and Mark Guzdial's "Top 10 Myths About Teaching Computer Science", which is a nice overview of things that are not true, but are widely believed.
   • Please also pick up a copy of "How Learning Works", which is currently the best summary of research in education. It is full of useful insights, and a lot of how we teach is based on the findings it reports.
   • Finally, please go to Software Carpentry's lessons page and Data Carpentry's lessons page to see what is currently taught by each.

If you are interested in doing more reading:

1. Huston's "Teaching What You Don't Know" is a lot of fun - many will recognize themselves in these stories.
2. "Building a Better Teacher", is a well-written look at why educational reforms in the past 50 years have mostly failed, and about what we should be doing instead.
3. Susan A. Ambrose's "How Learning Works" is the best summary going of research in education. It is full of useful insights, and a lot of how we teach is based on the findings it reports.