Module 1 Reflection

This module has had me think of my role as an instructional designer in the following ways:

When I consider this prompt, the first aspect of the Module 1 that comes to my mind is what it said about my role as a curriculum designer in the first place. The simple statement that "the decisions [I] make impact the curriculum [my] students experience" is the perfect reminder that I should be delivering material to my students in the most effective manner possible; and although I feel that implementing project-based instruction in an English Language Arts classroom is going to be particularly challenging, I can see from the information that has been provided to me that the approach works. Despite whatever challenges I may face in the construction of my project-based unit, it will be beneficial for my students in the long run to have that kind of learning experience.

Before I get to the aspects of the module that I was particularly struck with, I feel the need to address my concern I briefly mentioned in the previous paragraph: the challenge of implementing project-based instruction in an English Language Arts classroom. I know my concern comes from simple inexperience, but I do feel I am going to be challenged in trying to create a project that is rooted in a literary work and simultaneously has "real world" applications. There was one sample project from the module that came very close to what I would like to accomplish. The students in that project learned how the time period in which a novel was written affected the novel's contents. They also created their own fictional characters for that time period. I want, however, to go further than that, to make the students REALLY connect the novel with their own lives. I would also still like to implement some aspects of critical theory into the unit, as well, because I know theory will be very useful in helping students see the different ways that they can look at Of Mice and Men (which is definitely the literary work I'm going to do my unit on). I know my worry here is just me wanting to be as successful as possible, and I have the tendency to worry a lot about projects before I begin them anyway. I'm just not going to pretend like the worry doesn't exist. Ok! Now that's going to be the end of my worrisome rambling!

I'd like to mention a couple of aspects of the module that I really agreed with while reading. The first is the section about how good instructional design includes in-depth coverage of important subject matter instead of superficial coverage of a wider range of topics in a subject area. This is an idea I completely agree with, and I would much rather design units that help students completely understand a few aspects of a subject than units that left the students with very little understanding of the subject in entirety. I also believe that if I deliver a unit successfully enough, my students will have the necessary skills to pursue other aspects of the subject on their own. It's the cliche (but true) feeding a man vs. teaching him how to fish mentality. The other aspect of the module that I really agreed with was the section that included the comment about how the tasks that the students complete need to be purposeful. I would hate to create a project that included tasks without a real purpose; I would feel like I was wasting my students and my own time.

So to sum up what I've discussed in these few paragraphs, this module has made me think about the challenges I'm going to face as an instructional designer, as well as what I want to accomplish as an instructional designer thus far. I want my project-based unit to be successful and really engage my students, and this first module has really helped me understand what standards I am going to hold myself to as I design my unit.