Talk:Garden-Based Learning Across the Curriculum

Hi Ashley- Thank you for your nice comments, and it's good to know I'm on the right track. I agree with your first suggestion, and I think I started (or was thinking I should)to add the learning outcomes with one of the units because I thought it should be repeated again. Thnaks!!

-- Ashley Setter 15:42, 26 November 2010 (EST)

Hi Donna! Nice start to your course! Here are a few comments:

Learning outcomes: Your learning outcomes are clearly identified. I like how you put target objectives on your main page under each unit. You made it very clear to the participants what they will be learning about and what their tasks are. May I suggest putting the objectives right on the unit page; I know they are on the main page, but I always like to see what I am expected to learn while I am doing the actual work. Just a suggestion!

Content-goal consistency: Your content and learning experiences can really help learners achieve the learning outcomes.

Instructional sequencing: The sequence of your units is well done. You begin with what Garden based learning is and why it is beneficial, and then move into science and math activities. You continue the course with ELA and social studies activities and end with adopting strategies of integrating GBL into the curriculum. I like that you covered all subject areas and not simply ELA (I feel that ELA is often the focus of many courses).

Engagement and interaction: I love that you include images, readings, PowerPoint presentations and videos; these are all quite engaging and appeal to many different learning styles. I think you did a nice job providing a variety of ways to learn the information. I would not change anything in this aspect!

Technical quality: Your text and images are clear and easy to read/understand. Additionally, the links work and are appropriate.

Extended resources: The resources you have are wonderful! I like how you added the list of references on each unit page; this makes the information easily accessible.

Overall, I really like what you have so far. I think your learners will gain a lot of information about Garden based learning and will be able to take a lot back to their classrooms. Nice work!

Ashley

-- Nicole Pierson 11:32, 28 November 2010 (EST)

Donna,

Ashley has done a great job summing up your mini course. First of all, your graphics are adorable!!! I think they do a great job setting the tone for your content. The content itself is rich and well sequenced. I like how you touch on the usefulness of garden-based learning from a multidisciplinary perspective and the use of a portfolio that the learners will be able to refer back to at the end of the course. Really nice work!

Nicole

-- Christopher Poulopoulos 22:05, 28 November 2010 (EST)

I hate to say ditto but Ashley's evaluation was right on par. Extremely engaging and sequenced very well. Each unit was well designed and structured. It was easy to follow along andhad great resources. Also, a good blend of media. Nice job.

Instructor comments on your draft units -- Jz833665 11:10, 29 November 2010 (EST)

Your drafts units look great. Nice work!

A few suggestions/comments:

1. You need to provide an overview of this minicourse in the front page. Maybe you can move the first paragraph in Unit 1 to the front page for this need.
2. Your unit 1 currently begins with conceptual and abstract highlights. Have you thought about alternative ways to begin with a case (or problems) to better engage the participants and highlight the conceptual findings/issues in the end of the unit?
3. Refine progressive chains within each unit to facilitate understanding: It is fine and helpful to cite and use external resources such as articles to read. You need to make clearer what progressive issues you're addressing in a unit (e.g. what, why, how, when...), specify one or two readings to address each issue; and create an overview / summary for lengthy readings to facilitate their understanding. Doing so will help elaborate and refine the progressive learning path within each unit and increase interactivity.