For this assignment we were tasked with creating a Unit of Learning within the course prototype. This unit should include: a structural outline of learning activities, learning activities, assessment, communication and pedagogically relevant objects to facilitate learning.

I started this assignment by determining what kinds of activities I thought would be useful. I decided that an example / template structure would work well for the unit I chose – about data wrangling. In this design, students would be introduced to concepts through resources, would have access to example templates, and then the opportunity to adapt the templates for a new data set. The adaptation of the templates would demonstrate that a) the content was understood, and that b) the student could build upon provided material. While I think this is a useful structure for the design of my course, and the content – I could definitely have done better to create and explain these templates. However, I found that it was difficult to do so without completely developing the course material. Ultimately, I should have started earlier so that I had more time to “fiddle” as I went.

As I worked on this assignment, I recognized that my choice of a companion website to be a part of Moodle was a good choice. I continue to find Moodle less flexible than I would like and building a website to be endlessly flexible! There is a challenge to keep the course structure flowing well if students are expected to be using multiple platforms: Moodle, the website, and GitHub. The GitHub classroom integration in Moodle solves some problems (the assessments I chose can be integrated directly in Moodle), but there is still a challenge for students of having to make sure they are looking at “all the right stuff” at “all the right times”.

Finally, this assignment brought to light that I should reconsider the instructor role / design of the course to enhance the experience. I initially thought that a self-guided course was the best option, but as I reviewed my structure I realized there were opportunities for more course communication, and more peer-to-peer interaction than I currently included.