Lesson plan and rationale - Essay Example

? Portfolio Evaluation Criteria: Lesson Plan and Rationale Lesson Plan and Rationale A successful program is made up of well-planned courses, and well-planned course are a result of well-structured, planned and successful execution of the required weekly lessons. An educator should take each lesson seriously and see it as an opportunity to use creativity in engaging with the learners. This is the stage where the course content, which reflects the curriculum objective, is emphasized, and it is the stage where the learner can participate in the program execution actively. According to Habanek (2005), the "syllabus should explain how the course has been designed by the professor to facilitate learning and what the professor will do to help all students achieve" their goals. Therefore, a course lesson should always be the first priority towards achieving curriculum goals and objectives. Below is a brief description of how ‘Toxicology” lesson for The Advanced Pharmacology Course is executed to ensure that it meets the course and overall curriculum objectives. Lesson objectives The ‘Toxicology’ lesson will be offered in week six of the course. The lesson is strategically placed near the end of the Advanced Pharmacology course because it contains very important information that the learners are required to expansively. Putting it near the end enables learners to gain a deeper understanding of the course in the first weeks and become familiar with the course rationale. By the time, the learners are in week six concepts such as toxicity and chemical makeup of the drugs will be easily comprehended. This will ease the educator’s efforts towards ensuring the learners achieve the lesson objectives, which include: To attain a comprehensive understanding of toxicity of various drugs and their chemical make-up that may lead to toxicity The learner identifies how combination of drugs that have different chemical elements can react with patients when they are wrongfully prescribed Congruence of objectives to the course’s objectives and specific behaviors or outcomes expected from learners because of participating in this lesson. A good course and syllabus should be responsive and flexible to accommodate students concerns and address external events (Slattery & Carlson, 2005). At the end of this lesson, there are outcomes that the learner is supposed to display to show their understanding of lesson objectives. The outcomes display a clear and deep understanding of the lesson learning resources and material. Some of these outcomes include being able to determine the amount of prescription medication will be toxic to the patient. The learner should also be able to identify and link patient reaction to specified medication causing the reaction. It is also important that the learner be able to explain comprehensively drug action at a molecular, as well as cellular level. These outcomes are in direct relation to the course objectives, which state that learners should be able to Attain a comprehensive explanation of major drug groups and be able to apply it in medical practice Be aware of the common contradictions and side effects that drug prototype, including knowledge in drug interactions, actions, and toxicity. Description of instructional approach to use For this lesson, the students will be required to make discoveries and individually understand the lesson objectives. The best learning theory to apply for this class will be constructivism. Constructivism is best suited because it incorporates principles such as discovery learning, active leaning, and knowledge building which are all part of student exploration within a specified structure by the educator (Devries and Zan, 2003). A constructivism approach enables students to be involved in making discoveries at a personal level, therefore, making it easy for them to understand the key concepts. This makes the lesson to be learner centered. My main work as an educator will be to facilitate the learning process by ensuring that the students discover and construct knowledge on toxicology by solving realistic problems (Jeanne, 2012). Description of the learning activity itself, and a brief explanation of, how the activity relates to the learning outcome indicated by the objective For this course, students will be given theoretical notes and texts to read regarding Toxicology, and in order to ensure they understand these concepts; they will be required to access a pharmacy. Students should ensure that they access a well-equipped pharmacy or drug store most preferable one linked to a hospital. They will then be required to take note of the different available drugs and note their chemical components. From this information of the drug’s chemical components, the students will be able to compare it with what they have learned in class and be able to distinguish the toxicity of the chemical make-up of the drugs. This learning activity directly corresponds to the lesson objectives, which requires students to understand comprehensively the level of toxicity of prescription drugs and their chemical makeup. Assessing the lessons learning outcome for the students To assess the learning outcomes for the lesson students will be required to present a reflective report on their learning experience. The report will include a brief explanation on the students experience with patients who had a reaction to medication due its toxicity or the medication was wrongfully prescribed. The report should conclude with the students assessing and explaining the type of medication, and their take on why the patient reacted to the medication. A well thought and complete report that answers all the requirements comprehensively will be graded and will contribute 30 percent of the course grade points. I believe that this is the best way to assess the students learning outcome since the class is carried out online and will not be present to assess the students face to face on their progress. Description of a pre/post-test, or other method, by which you could evaluate the effectiveness of the lesson According to Keating (2010), “evaluation is the comparison of actual impacts against strategic plans”. Actual impacts for the lesson are to develop an in-depth understanding of toxicology. A strategic plan to ensure that the lesson is effectively taught will be to review the preceptors report after the students’ have carried out their lab-work. Conclusion How might this information be used to improve the course? The program? In conclusion, the key information to put in mind is that a lesson is the core unit of a curriculum. Effective implementation of a lesson leads to attainment of the course objectives and consequentially leading to achievement of the program’s objectives. In that case as an educator, I need to put a lot of emphasis towards achieving lesson objectives and ensuring positive learner outcome so that the curriculum is comprehensively implemented. References Devries, B.; Zan, B. (2003). "When children make rules". Educational Leadership. 64–7 Habanek, D. V. (2005), An examination of the integrity of the syllabus. College teaching, 62-64 Jeanne, O. (2012). Human learning. Boston: Pearson. Keating, S. B. (2011). Curriculum development and evaluation in nursing. New York: Springer Publishing Company. Slattery, J. M., & Carlson, J. F. (2005). Preparing an effective syllabus: Current best practices. College teaching, 159-164. . Read More