Course: Design thinking for innovation

Peer-graded Assignment: Reflection

Using mind-mapping in lecture preparation

1) Challenge:

I am currently doing my PhD in Finance & Accounting in India. Before joining the PhD

program, I was an Assistant Professor in a business school for a year. As I was a young

faculty member, several impromptu sessions and lectures were assigned to me. Many of

these were outside my area of expertise. Also, I had a brief time to prepare for most of these

lectures. After doing a few of these ‘surprise lectures’ without a specific structure, I realized

that I need to plan my lectures better. Lack of a planning process made these lectures very

unstructured and led to loss of student engagement.

2) Selection:

I started looking for various teaching tools that may help me plan my lectures in a more

structured manner. I realized that I need to have a semi-structured approach. I need to start

with some key elements that are necessary to be considered during planning any lecture.

However, the actual content would change for each lecture. This led me to create a mind-

mapping template that I used during the preparation of every lecture.

3) Application:

Mind mapping is a visual thinking tool that helps you think, collect knowledge, remember

and create ideas. I have an empty mind-map template that I start with. This is what it looked

like:

When I started preparing for a lecture, I took a print out of this and started filling it up. This

was the first thing I started with as I prepared for my lecture. I also put it up on my desk

when I was reading materials and looking for data. The mind-map helped me focus on points

to consider as I prepared for the lecture. This helped structure my lecture better.

4) Insight:

The use of the mind-mapping template was empowering. It helped me plan my lecture better.

I could see the flow of the lecture. It helped me better visualize how the lecture will look like

for the students. It helped increase my confidence, helped me focus on the key points,

improved my delivery of content and enhanced my effectiveness. This also helped me plan

my logistics better in terms of resource procurement. I shared this template with my

colleagues to help them with their lecture planning as well.

5) Approach:

Mind mapping is a good starting point for me in planning and preparing for the lecture.

However, this needs to be applied along with other tools and techniques. Earlier I was fixated

on the use of mind-map template. Later, I realized having a fixed framework may not work

every time. I need to allow some flexibility in how I prepare for lectures on different topics

having different agenda. Despite these drawbacks, I still continue to use this as a starting

point when preparing for a lecture.


Course : Design thinking for innovation Peer - graded Assignment : Reflection Using mind - mapping in lecture preparation 1 ) Challenge : I am currently doing my PhD in Finance & Accounting in India . Before joining the PhD program , I was an Assistant Professor in a business school for a year . As I was a young faculty member , several impromptu sessions and lectures were assigned to me . Many of these were outside my area of expertise . Also , I had a brief time to prepare for most of these lectures . After doing a few of these ‘ surprise lectures ’ without a specific structure , I realized that I need to plan my lectures better . Lack of a planning process made these lectures very unstructured and led to loss of student engagement . 2 ) Selection : I started looking for various teaching tools that may help me plan my lectures in a more structured manner . I realized that I need to have a semi - structured approach . I need to start with some key elements that are necessary to be considered during planning any lecture . However , the actual content would change for each lecture . This led me to create a mind- mapping template that I used during the preparation of every lecture . 3 ) Application : Mind mapping is a visual thinking tool that helps you think , collect knowledge , remember and create ideas . I have an empty mind - map template that I start with . This is what it looked like : When I started preparing for a lecture , I took a print out of this and started filling it up . This was the first thing I started with as I prepared for my lecture . I also put it up on my desk when I was reading materials and looking for data . The mind - map helped me focus on points to consider as I prepared for the lecture . This helped structure my lecture better . 4 ) Insight : The use of the mind - mapping template was empowering . It helped me plan my lecture better . I could see the flow of the lecture . It helped me better visualize how the lecture will look like for the students . It helped increase my confidence , helped me focus on the key points , improved my delivery of content and enhanced my effectiveness . This also helped me plan my logistics better in terms of resource procurement . I shared this template with my colleagues to help them with their lecture planning as well . 5 ) Approach : Mind mapping is a good starting point for me in planning and preparing for the lecture . However , this needs to be applied along with other tools and techniques . Earlier I was fixated on the use of mind - map template . Later , I realized having a fixed framework may not work every time . I need to allow some flexibility in how I prepare for lectures on different topics having different agenda . Despite these drawbacks , I still continue to use this as a starting point when preparing for a lecture .