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History | Last updated by Scott Lewis, 13 months ago

Class Proposal How-to

  1. Class Proposal How-to
    1. Introduction
    2. Getting to Know You
    3. Proposal
    4. Process
    5. Pay
    6. Thank You!
      1. Notes
  2. Comments
        1. Comment by Scott Lewis on Wed Aug 18 02:26:56 2010
        2. Comment by Scott Lewis on Thu Sep 2 01:10:27 2010
        3. Comment by Scott Lewis on Mon Sep 13 03:05:06 2010

Introduction

Thank you for your interest in teaching a class at FreeGeek Chicago. We have only just begun offering classes, and we are both heartened and surprised by the level of interest from prospective instructors and students.

Getting to Know You

We strongly recommend you participate in the Earn-A-Box program or put in some hours volunteering at Free Geek. Although your needs and skills may far surpass what we're trying to accomplish in the build program, it's good to know the system and its people. It is good to have some time for folks to get to know you, for you to see what's working and what's dysfunctional at FreeGeek, and for all of us to get a sense of how our participants' needs align with your skills.

Proposal

You must write a formal proposal (two page max) for the staff and community to evaluate. Some questions to consider:

  • What is the subject of the course?
    • Suggested title? Brief Description?
    • What are the major topics to be covered?
    • What technical depth do you plan? For example, a class on burning CDs might focus on how to keep your music sounding great or it could delve into the details of the ISO 9660 standard.

  • Who is the target audience? E.g., kernel hackers, command-line bashers, point-n-clickers, total n00bs novices?
    • What will students be able to do upon completion of the course?

  • What is the proposed length of the course?: one-shot, limited duration (how many meetings?), open-ended?

  • What days/times will you be able to teach? If the class will have multiple sessions, would you meet weekly or biweekly?
  • What equipment, supplies, and course materials (if any) would be required?
  • Would your class be no-cost to participants? [1]

  • Have you taught the class (or other classes) before? Details (where, when, how many times, how many students)?

  • Obviously, you have some relevant expertise. What is it?

Process

  • We'll also need the usual contact information for you (address, telephone numbers, references). Of course, we won't expose that publicly. [2]
  • Your proposal must be approved by the Community Council.

  • Most class materials should be shared. Shared class materials (including the initial proposal, notes, and resources) will be shared 100% in public. We want to embrace the open source ethos in our education as well as our software.

  • All class sessions will be evaluated by participants, and all classes subjected to continual evaluation by staff and community council based on feedback. This goes both ways: we'll want feedback from you, too.

Pay

Zero. Sorry, you're in it for the glory.

Thank You!

Thank you again for your interest in our program. If you choose to apply, we will get back to you (But be warned: our deliberative processes are not optimized for speed.). We hope that you'll propose and that we'll say "Yes!"

Notes

  • [1] The Mothership charges non-volunteers $10 (their website doesn't say whether it's per session, or per course).
  • [2] At our present tiny size, we may not need references. But someday we will.

Comments

Comment by Scott Lewis on Wed Aug 18 02:26:56 2010

It's not a checklist. I think the original request was for a checklist. And I really like checklists (In fact, I just finished reading Atul Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto, and strongly recommend it.). When the information is in discrete chunks, a checklist is ideal (as on a Build sheet). But the issues of a class are interrelated and intertwined, so much so that a checklist would force answers to be stilted or redundant. I think it makes more sense to present our questions and requirements this way, and let teachers respond as they like.

Most of it is heavily cribbed from Dave and Aaron. Most of the bad stuff is mine. I footnoted new issues, holdovers from last meeting, and my grumbling. (Except I couldn't be bothered to learn how to do proper footnotes. Gah!)

Comment by Scott Lewis on Thu Sep 2 01:10:27 2010

The Mothership's wiki has a good outline of some issues to consider,  http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/More_Classes_%28PPS%29

Comment by Scott Lewis on Mon Sep 13 03:05:06 2010

Yay, we decided some things. So I killed a few footnotes.

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History | Last updated by Scott Lewis, 13 months ago
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