EDDL 5141 Week 6: Draft Course Design

Outcome #2: By the end of the spring term, the educational assistant (EA) will review key roles and responsibilities of educational assistants that differ from those of teachers in the Alberta K-12 education system.

• Provide case studies that highlight ethical dilemmas in educational settings. Use student blogs (UNSW, n.d.) to facilitate conversations about ethical considerations in different scenarios.
• Have students engage in active learning (Fink, 2003, p. 16) by forming small breakout groups and assign students parts of the Code of Conduct for educational assistants in Alberta to analyze and discuss specific aspects of the Code of Ethics.
• Students will need to complete a personal code of conduct as such the course will incorporate peer review sessions where participants exchange and provide constructive feedback on each other’s draft using Blogs and discussion forums (UNSW, n.d).

Role of the Educational Assistant

• Have participants create comparison Venn diagrams illustrating the distinctions between the roles of educational assistants and teachers.
• Host an interactive class on Class Collaborate (UNSW, n.d.) where experts in the field, including both educational assistants and teachers, discuss their roles and responsibilities. Allow participants to ask questions and engage in discussions. 

• Educational assistants will develop a personal code of conduct to apply their understanding of ethical practices required in their professional roles.

Role of the Educational Assistant

• Educational assistants will engage in an online quiz focused on the distinctions in roles and responsibilities between educational assistants (EAs) and teachers. This quiz will feature scenarios and comparisons, allowing participants to demonstrate their comprehension of the unique aspects that differentiate each role.

• Alignment: I started planning with a backward design model with asking myself these three questions “What do I want students to know? How will I know that they have learned it? What activities/tools will the students need to show their understanding?” (Center for teaching and learning, 2024). This process allowed me to start with the goal and not get lost in creating activities to ensure there are purposeful learning opportunities in the unit as well as strong assessment that matches the learning. 
• Learning Objectives: I wrote the learning objectives in student centered language, narrowed the objective down to focus on one skill, and incorporated action verbs which were measurable (Carnegie Mellon University, 2016).