Last month, I got to teach React, specifically “How to make Asynchronous Javascript Request in React.” I learned a lot of exciting and great lessons from this experience.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the reflections.

Based on Student’s Feedback

What went well

Live Coding Session

I used live coding sessions to demonstrate applying the concepts in real-world scenarios. I prepared a simple demo and gradually implemented best practices while explaining my thought process.

Students Love live coding as they can see where their learning will be useful and validate their understanding. The best part? They can see me debug problems live. I’m inspired to do live coding from this great VOD by Theo.

Explanation

I prepared the lecture by understanding students’ background knowledge to ensure our language was aligned. I always tried to simplify the concepts by using analogies. I guess it helped boost their understanding significantly and made it easier to recall later.

I designed my lecture to encourage higher-order thinking to ensure students understand every concept’s big picture and can relate to how each idea fits. Although it requires much more energy and focus on the students’ end, it will make learning implementation details easier. I learned this way of learning from Justing Sung.

Areas of Improvements

Encourage Participation

I used pop quizzes and encouraged volunteers to explain concepts to increase participation. However, I guess I should’ve done it more and checked their understanding occasionally.

At every lecture, there’s an initiative by the Dicoding Team that instructors can incentivize Gift Cards to students of choice. I should’ve leveraged this initiative more to motivate them more.

More Interesting Delivery

I tend to slow down my speech so it’s easier to follow. As an effect, my tone sometimes becomes monotone, making some students sleepy. I should also vary my explanation medium using visuals like a Drawing Board (JamBoard and Excalidraw).

Challenges and Solutions

Coordinating with Mentors

For every lecture, there are class mentors assigned to help the instructor. Initially, I needed help with how to communicate and assign roles.

Thankfully, Google Space allows us to communicate easily. I want to get to know each mentor better, so we use Google Meet to chat freely and see others; coordinating also gets easier. To solve my confusion. I just asked for advice from mentors since they are experienced in helping instructors. To my surprise, they are really helpful and excited about this program. It made me a lot more motivated.

Understanding of Materials

I realized that understanding a topic to teach others differs from understanding yourself. I don’t fundamentally understand the materials if it doesn’t make sense to others. So, I revisited and relearned the materials from different sources to get more perspective on the topic.

Delivering the Materials

The first thing I do during the lecture is set expectations on what they can do at the end. I believe this can ignite students’ curiosity on a topic and form trust if I can meet the expectations.

On top of that, I restructured the pre-made slides to align with my teaching style and ensured key takeaways were emphasized at the end of the lecture to create closure.

Summary

Learning vs. Teaching: Teaching others showed me how much I didn’t know! It highlighted the gaps in my understanding.

The Challenge of Teaching: Two hours of explaining a topic can be draining, even physically! It’s not just about the content but also keeping students engaged.

Meeting Student Needs: Keeping explanations clear and at the right level is key. Don’t overload them with advanced concepts!

Collaboration is Key: Working clearly with mentors made the whole experience smoother.

In conclusion, this experience as a lecturer in MSIB 6 was a rewarding challenge. I learned valuable lessons about teaching methods, communication, and content delivery. I love the initiative from the team to have students mandatorily give feedback to the instructor.

I am grateful for the opportunity to share my knowledge and look forward to future chances to help others grow. I especially appreciate the support of class mentors for this ILT, Aldo Wijaya and Muhammad Rayhan Rohadi.