The Account of Professional Practice

Associate Fellow Applicant

Name Maryam Alshamsi
Institution Higher Colleges of Technology
Date 31/10/2018

Evidencing A1: Design and plan learning activities and/or programmes

of study

I am a teacher assistant within the Education Department in Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) for four
years. I have a master’s degree in science in Instructional Technology (MSIT) and bachelor’s degree in
Early Years Education. For the past year, I have been engaged in an intensive new faculty professional
development program that covered a series of topics related to teaching in higher education, specifically
focused on designing effective learning activities.

HCT is the largest higher education institution in the UAE with 17 campuses. It has many different bachelor
programs is designed to serve UAE national students who are English second language learners. Having
second language learners requires me to utilize different teaching methods to address the various levels of
English proficiency. To address this these differences, I take time frequently to define key terms. I will also
use video with the use of closed captioning combined with the technique of frequently stopping the video
to ensure students can define difficult terms or understand unfamiliar accents. Additionally, I also use
images that allow those with different learning styles to connect complex concepts to the appropriate term.
These methods are critical and are embedded in all classes I teach, to ensure those with lesser English
mastery have the same opportunity to achieve the learning outcomes (V1,V2).

In one lesson I designed for a course entitled “Learning to Teach in the Contemporary UAE,” the objective
was for students to identify issues in the UAE education system and create solutions. According to the
Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt University (n.d), group work helps students realize that problems often
have multiple solution strategies, some that might be more effective than others. With this concept in mind,
I designed the activity for collaboration and planned to group students into threes to identify core issues
through research. My plan was to work with each group to ensure students were identifying relevant issues.
Students then would need to present as a group the core issue/s and provide possible solutions. The activity
was very successful as all the students were engaged in discussing the issues and solutions. The activity
gave an opportunity for students to comment and give feedback to each other. Additionally, at this point in

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their degree, students had already visited schools and observed the classroom environment from a teacher’s
perspective. During the discussion, students were relating these visits to the current issues and recognized
the implications to future practice. I designed this activity to have them to begin conceptualizing solutions
to these issues while sharing ideas about different approaches to solving classroom problems. (K1,K2,V4)

Creating effective learning environments is an important aspect that helps in the learning process. One of
the learning activities I designed was about what would an effective learning environment looks like.
Initially, students would have to individually sketch on a piece of paper their own thoughts. Next, they
would need to discuss in groups their sketches and why they thought their design would be an effective
learning environment. I then would have students watch a short video reviewing effective classroom design.
After watching the video and discussing key points, I would have students create a classroom floor plan
considering the new information.

This activity design was very successful because students were able to modify original plans and see big
differences in their design. I had students post both floor plans on the board, which allowed me to compare
and identify variances in each individual learner and address the individual learning gaps in their
knowledge. Additionally, I liked this activity because it gave students real examples of how to create
learning environments and the opportunity to engage in an activity that they would have to do frequently
as a teacher. Students’ commented on how they enjoyed the lesson and were able to directly connect the
design activity with their future practice (V1,V2,V4)

Teaching Problem Solving. (n.d.). Retrieved from Vanderbilt University:

https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/problem-solving/

Evidencing A2: Teach and/or support learning

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Active learning creates sources of influence on academic integration (Braxton, Milem & Sullivan, 2000).
As a part of my practice, I believe in students being active in the learning experience versus sitting and
listening to a lecture. In one lesson I facilitated, the outcome was for students to create a suitable reward
system for young learners. As future teachers, my students need to be aware of how to create a
reinforcement strategy that would help them to manage and engage their future students. I paired students
to work together, provided them with different materials (toys, paper, glue, etc.), and I asked students to
develop a reward system that related to a specific reinforcement theory. To support this process, I walked
around to each pair and had them discuss their plan while asking them to justify their reasoning behind
the plan. After that, the students presented to the class how the system worked and to justify the reasons
as to why they choose their system design. I came up with this activity because it directly tied to their
future practice and students were very active in the design process. It also gave me the opportunity to
facilitate a discussion that allowed students to begin to see weaknesses and strengths of their reward
system design. When I do this activity again with my students, I would like to have students apply their
reward system in practicum with young learners and have them reflect on the application and
effectiveness of the design. I would then have students analyze and redesign their reward system, based
on real student feedback and reflection (K1,K2,V4).

For this class, although all students are Emirati women, one the areas of diversity was culture, where some
students had traditional views and while others more progressive views. To address the differences, I gave
students the freedom of creating their reward system based on their own values. For example, some students
chose more technological and western approaches such as social networking (Pinterest), while others linked
the rewards to Emirati culture using traditional items such as clothing and food in their design. The students
were engaged in the process and interested in the differences in the ideas as they shared their design
(V1,V2).

In another example within a teaching theories course, the main outcome was for students to conceptualize
how social interaction theory can be used in the classroom. I started by introducing the theory through a
video. After the video, I led a discussion about the video using Poll Everywhere, which allowed them to
respond anonymously while displaying results. This tool was great because it allowed students who were
shy and less confident in answering out loud, participate and see how their answers stood up to other
students. Everyone was able to responds, and it gave confidence to students who were normally shy to
speak up in the discussion (K2,V1,V2).

After the discussion and a short lecture, I then had students do role-play in groups of four to show how
social interaction can exist in an education setting. I planned this activity in the way that made students
engage with me and apply the knowledge instead of listening to a long lecture with little participation.
Students really enjoyed the lecture because it allowed them the freedom to be creative and found the role
play fun. Furthermore, not only were they able to act these theories out, but I was able to model how the
learning theory is applied in a classroom setting. As future teachers, knowing how to apply teaching theories
helps students to have a clearer view of how these theories fit into their practice and teaching philosophy
(K2,V4).
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Additionally, for this class, there was a lot of difference in the levels of English. To attempt to bridge these
different levels in the role-play, I gave students time and the option to write out the script versus memorizing
or adlibbing. This gave students with weaker English time to prepare and more confidence when acting
out the role play activity If I do this activity again, I will have students write a short reflection of how their
role-play is linked to the theory. I believe a reflection would allow them to examine more of how theories
can be applied in their future practice. (K2,V1,V2,K3).

Braxton, J. M., Milem, J. F., & Sullivan, A. S. (2000). The influence of active learning on the college
student departure process: Toward a revision of Tinto's theory. The Journal of Higher Education, 71(5),
569-590.

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