Preparation is the Key

3/23/2015 – When I read a module, more often than not, I skip the objectives part. Not anymore!

Our activity for the day involved formulation of objectives and the rest of the teaching plan. We were asked to make our own instructional design for our field work this coming Friday. Our group is to teach joint protection techniques and low back pain prevention to the CAMP maintenance team.

In order to make a good design, first, we have to set what we want from our learners. For each domain of learning, we have to provide a clear and measurable objective. It is important that we are able to evaluate the progress of our learner since it is a determinant if our teaching is effective or not. Also, it is important to gather enough information to fill in the content of the teaching plan. What good is it if what we have are only goals and objectives? We have to make sure that these objectives are met by doing our part as teachers in providing enough information. I also learned that we have to be creative on how we present our teaching. There are lots of resources that we could use which would help us deliver our message. Truly, making an instructional design can be tiring and complicated, but it is in the challenge of ensuring it to be a good one that a teacher finds satisfaction in.  

As future Physical Therapists, we have to keep in mind that effective teaching is not an easy thing to do. It is not something that is done without a plan. One must go through a thought process, rigid enough to ensure its quality. We have to make structured instructional designs for our clients since we cannot teach them if we are unprepared.