For Microteaching I presented last, meaning that I first got to sit through the lessons of everyone in my group. We contained a wide range of job roles from other technicians to behind the scenes software support and librarians, providing a range of lesson styles and subjects. Everyone was very supportive of each other and engaged in the activities, questions and providing feedback.
My lesson revolved around the use of 3D scanning as a method of archiving, and I started by introducing the context with which I 3D scan – as a bookable service for the students. This lesson differs to how I would usually interact with students around the subject; as a bookable service our role is just to facilitate the scan itself and the processing of the scan data into a model, rather than to advise students on the project or to contextualise scanning within the wider world.
The first half of my microteach focused on introducing some case studies where scanning is used as a method of archiving, I picked varied examples from around the world to make the lesson as interesting as possible. This lead to the activity, where I passed on the link to their archive and got participants to pick a 3d scan, interact with it on their computers and then feedback using some questions as prompts.
Most of the feedback was about how interesting the subject matter was – many participants expressed that from the title they didn’t expect 3D Scanning to have so many exciting real world uses. No one was afraid to express their opinion on the quality of the scans I provided via link to the activity, most saying that they felt it was not true to life – I’m glad that even though I had talked about scanning in a positive way throughout the taught section people were not afraid to be critical of the quality. I got told it was good how I clarified the different terms used for scanning at the start of the class, and interestingly was asked how I divulge this information to students – and had to explain that this is not actually a taught class, and we only get to discuss this with students if they express an interest. Since most of what we offer is a bookable service, our discussions with the students are very dependant on the student’s own willingness – some are very interested in the process and want to know more, some will visit for the minimum time needed to get what they need before heading back to their main classrooms / labs.
Reflecting on my microteach I am very glad that I was able to present the information in an informative way that was interesting to everyone attending. I do have confidence in my knowledge around the services I offer / operate in the workshop, and am glad that my passion was able to create something of value to others. It would be interesting to think about the role of a technician and technical services in general and how this contextual knowledge may be passed on to students more, as there are many technicians with specialist knowledge who are able to teach but are not called upon to do so by their roles.
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