Ideas for a LEGO lesson

brickmatic

So I am applying for an instructor job and as part of the interview they want me to do a teaching audition, basically a 5 -10 minute lesson of my choosing. It can be about anything, something fun and interactive. I figure a lesson about LEGO would be great topic since it is something I am interested in. They're looking for the Socratic approach and engagement; something with steps would be good. Since this forum is filled with wonderful people with great ideas, do any of you have any advice or suggestions on what route I could take with this?

krklint

I might have some ideas. Are you in the U.S.? Willing to talk through ideas on the phone, or possibly skype, too. I teach rhetoric and also technical/business writing... and I often bring Lego into the classroom. I use Lego for all sorts of reasons :)

This link was just shared with me, by a colleague two days ago. Not sure if this would help, but it is an interesting use of lego in technical design: http://www.cs.vu.nl/~schreiber/papers/Wielinga97a.pdf

Also, I'd be interested in hearing what school/univeristy you are applying at... and in what field of study. always excited to hear of another instructor using Lego to work the minds of students :)

Coolsplash

@krklint, amazing article. Keep it up.

Si_UKNZ

Tons of info here:
http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/958/lego-in-a-corporate-setting/p1

Si_UKNZ

This is a link to Lego serious play philosophy PDf, very interesting for this kind of thing:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/5032997/LEGO Serious Play OS/LEGO®_SERIOUS_PLAY_OpenSource.pdf

krklint

After following the serious play link, above, I googled "socratic approach lego." To be honest, I was a bit blown away by the number of links available. You might want to give it a search. I know I'm bringing a few new ideas into my tech writing classroom this evening, after doing this.

brickmatic

@krklint The article is very interesting. Thanks for sharing! The job I'm applying for is a tutoring job, not a university/school placement. I wouldn't actually get to use LEGO for teaching if I get the job. The audition is simply a way to gauge how I would do in the classroom, so the content is secondary to my abilities in presenting the material. My background is not in formal education and I figured crowd sourcing some pointers would be a good idea. I also figured since LEGO is something I enjoy and something that can be fun and interactive, it makes a good choice for a topic. I think the biggest challenge is the time constraint. Five minutes is not a long time and I'm not sure what is the best thing to teach the group about (or with) LEGO. I was thinking maybe some sort of building techniques or challenges. Again, the most important thing is that I can convey my teaching ability well :) I'll be checking out that Google search.

@Si_Dorking_Surrey_UK I didn't realize they had the Serious Play documentation available to the general public. It is an interesting read, although it seems the direction that it takes is not quite what I'm looking for. However, I might pass it along to some people I know who might find it very useful :)

jb15

Maybe this will help, maybe not. It's about presenting in general: http://tinyurl.com/29nuvxh

For example, you could talk about how LEGO helps foster creativity and innovation, and how those two things are very important these days.

krklint

and if you follow @jb15's idea, you could maybe talk about how building with Lego helps create a comfortable space between you and the tutee. Since it is a tutor position, and you don't hand out grades, explaining how Lego is used to build comprehension could work.

Today in my Tech Writing class, I brought in Lego and asked the students to build something in groups. The goal is to next class write up instructions on how to build their creation, and thus talk about technical writing concepts at the same time.

The cool part of this, though, is that this was the second class period. The students don't know each other, yet the Lego connection allowed them to start talking to each other. Serious play indeed :) I used to be an English tutor, and tutoring is about building trust and also recognizing issues that the tutee might not realize they are fighting with... so the use of Lego to build common ground is kind of awesome :)