In January, we're looking at the instructional design of our courses. By "instructional design" I mean the ways in which we choose to convey the content - sometimes that will be lectures, sometimes labs. It can also include elements of finer-grained design, such as specific techniques for teaching specific content - variables, loops etc.

Things to think about:

• why do I choose to teach using the methods I do?
• for what purposes do I use certain methods (lectures, labs, exercises etc.)
• could I use different methods? If so, what?

... and something to look at

• http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/exhibits/1000328/
  Partly, there are a lot of methods there. So there are some obvious questions, such as "do the methods fit the content?" and "do the methods help students achieve the learning objectives?". But take a look at the *form* of the presentations, too - do the video clips make good artefacts?

This means there are things to bring with you on January 6th. Some concrete:

• an artefact that exemplifies the instructional design of your course (or an aspect of it)
• a document that describes how you articulate the content of your course with its delivery (that is, why your instructional design is appropriate to your content)

some less tangible:

• thoughts on the relationship between your chosen artefact and your description
• an opinion on the Apple Learning Interchange Teaching Practice site