As an educational developer who typically works with educators for relatively short periods of time through workshops and consultations, I believe strongly in activating participants’ prior knowledge in order to quickly assess their background and comfort level with the material. This allows me to connect with my co-learners and determine how we can learn together, which ultimately makes the new learning more meaningful for the participants as they can connect it to their prior experiences.
As innovation requires reflection, I also look for opportunities to collect feedback on my teaching during the course or between sessions whenever possible (i.e. formative feedback for teaching development). For example, when facilitating Assessment and Evaluation of Learning, I conducted a formative feedback activity at the end of each day of the three-day workshop. I then brought the feedback to the group the next day and discussed changes I had made to the plan based on the feedback.