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DAY 6, refining lectures for the microteaching session, was held on June 15th and 16th.

Participants thoroughly examined what was good and what points needed improvement for the two sample lectures based on the goals: to acquire the viewpoints of “good lectures” and to be able to give effective feedback to each other. This time, on DAY 6, they refined their respective 6-min lectures in groups of 5–6, sparing 25 minutes each.

The following was the procedure for one participant.

1. Mini-lecture (6 min)
・The lecturer-participant gave a mini-lecture.
2. Feedback (3 min)
・The lecturer-participant received direct feedback from the group manager (the instructor or an FFP alumnus/alumna).
・The student-participants filled out their feedback sheets.
3. Examination (14 min)
・Participants had a group discussion on what was good about the lecture and what points needed improvement. The clerk took the minutes.

4. The participant switched to the next one. (2 min)

We believe the following points are important to make the refinement process successful:
1) That the participant himself/herself realizes the value of conducting a lecture for the microteaching session enough.
2) That the atmosphere allows mutual feedback to be productive, not excessively praising or criticizing the lecturer-participant.
3) That the following task requires a refinement process.

The instructor and staff are working on the following to realize the above respective points:
1) Convey the value of conducting a lecture for the microteaching session (e.g., “The microteaching session is where you integrate and practice many of the things you have learned so far through the FFP,” and “There are few opportunities like this once you become an instructor.”).
2) Tell the participants that they can learn from mistakes and share with them the rules of 3Ks: be respectful (敬意 Keii) to others, speak without reserve (忌憚なく Kitan naku), and be constructive (建設的 Kensetsuteki). Explain what the feedback sheet is to the participants and how they should give feedback. Also, we assign those who have experience in giving lectures in the microteaching session or the instructor to each group to assure an environment where they can exchange good feedback.
3) Let the participants submit an assignment paper on self-evaluation, the reasons for that, how they are going to improve their classes specifically, and what they learned from others, based on the feedback and reflection. Also, design the next session into a microteaching session so that participants can conduct the refined lectures.

This session for refinement is conducted thanks to the cooperation of the UTokyo FFP alumni. I would like to express my gratitude to them. Observing various lectures with the responsibility to give the lecturers good feedback is another type of learning different from what you can learn from designing a lecture, so I would like more and more alumni to cooperate with us in the future.

I look forward to seeing how the lectures will be refined and conducted on DAY 7.

(Kurita)