Curriculum Design & Facilitation
How studying education & completing a senior thesis project at Hampshire College prepared me for UX design & research.
Role: Researcher, Interviewer, Writer, Presenter, Teacher
Duration: 15 months
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Advisors: Professor Jana Silver, School for Interdisciplinary Arts
& Professor Chike McLoyd, School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies
at Hampshire College, Amherst MA
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Tools: Laptop, Recording Software, Google Suite, Library Card
Process: Ideation, Lit Review, IRB Approval, Interviews, Classroom
Observations, Individualized Teaching, Peer Reviews, Presentation
Design Challenge
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To explore how educators meet the individual needs of English Language Learners in multilevel classroom settings.
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To understand the design of appropriate lessons for a diverse group of language learners through a study of how theorists and practitioners evaluate and adapt materials, assessments, and instruction.
Same Design Process, Different Contexts
My thesis, titled “Curriculum Design for Multilevel Language Learners” was focused on learning best practices from experienced teachers and working with students to create the most useful process that allowed them to reach their specific desired learning outcomes. It was focused on five main components that are similar to those found in UX design process.
Understanding the User (Learner) Needs
The first step in my research process was to complete a literature review that examined learner motivation, combining findings from psychology and language acquisition theory. My aim was to explore research on teaching methods, student-teacher interactions, and classroom environments that encouraged long-term memory building and overall student success.
Key Components
Curriculum
Examined best practices for developing learning materials, creating meaningful activities, and accurate assessments.
interviews
Conducted, transcribed, and analyzed a series of eight interviews with local teachers and administrators who worked with English Language Learners.
accessibility
Gained practical knowledge of how the physical classroom environment and lesson instruction must be differentiated to account for unique student needs.
Community
Developed a series of workshops for family members of international students to connect and learn together.
User Testing // Formative & Summative Evaluation Design
My work was largely informed by a method called “Backwards Design” meaning it first considered the student’s learning goals, and then worked “backwards” to achieve those outcomes, and plan relevant assessments. Similarly, in the UX field, the researcher has to identify desired results and then determine acceptable evidence that the result is easily accessible and achievable by each individual
Lessons Learned
Through this project I gained a better understanding of the theory behind different educational pedagogies. I rooted my research in practical knowledge; synthesizing findings from interviews with local teachers. I applied and adapted my conclusions to my own practice and teaching philosophy.
Feedback Along the Way
Relevant endorsements from education professors.
Marietta’s involvement included attending class meetings, contributing to whole class discussions and small group activities, working with individual students during office hours according to student need, and assisting in documenting class discussions and posting the notes to the class website for future reference.
Marietta was always attentive in class and saw her role in part as getting discussion started. She was eager to support students in their project work, holding office hours and meeting with students individually as needed. Marietta modeled question posing and her participation in the class kept discussions lively. She worked hard to make connections among ideas and applied them to her work in the group projects. In her support of student projects, Marietta held office hours before both the group and independent projects were due. All reports were that Marietta was available and helpful, particularly in helping students articulate their goals for the curricula and in thinking about how to organize them around essential questions.
Timothy Zimmerman: Designing for Learning in Formal and Informal Contexts
Spring 2015
Marietta’s receptivity towards other’s ideas proved beneficial in her group. It is clear that she is genuinely interested in different perspectives and ways of working together. I was impressed with Marietta’s facilitation skills with the youth from both PVPA and Williamsburg. She was well prepared, explained the activities with great clarity, and had a wonderful contagious energy. The kids were enthused and had a wonderful time playing the theatre games. Overall, Marietta was an asset to this class and a true pleasure to work with. I believe she learned much about what it means to use theatre as a means of activism with youth, including how to traverse the uncertainties of this type of work with positivity.
Natalie Sowell: Radical Youth Theatre and the Citizen Artist
Spring 2012
Marietta was a positive and respected member of class, and a delight to work with.
She and her project teaching partner completed a very successful three-day unit on Extreme Weather, focusing on Hurricane Sandy, the super storm that impacted our region this fall and the weather events that contributed to it being considered a Super Storm. Marietta and her teaching partner nailed it. Travis Minnick, the 5th grade teacher they worked with wrote that they were, “Positive, welcoming, and professional. [Their project] felt fun and academic – not always easy to do.”
Marietta’s final paper was thoughtful and particularly well organized. Her objectives were clear, her reflections on the teaching experience were thorough, and her articulation of understanding of the connections her students were learning was particularly clear.
Priscilla Hellweg: Teaching Science Through the Arts
Fall 2012