While I was working as an assistant language teacher for the JET Program, I was asked by a Kyoto Women’s University professor to put together a 60-minute guest lecture for his “US History and Race” course.
My challenge was to design an interactive activity for Japanese English-learners that was both engaging, informative, and at an appropriate level of English difficulty.
This has been, to date, one of the most exciting projects I’ve ever worked on!
Overview
Christopher Garth, English Program Coordinator at the Japan Center for Michigan Universities, connected me with Fuyuhiko Shimomura, an English professor at Kyoto Women’s University. He was seeking a guest lecturer for his course, “US History and Race”, in which a person of color would share their race-related experience with his Japanese students.
I was very excited to participate in this opportunity, but of course, it presented a few challenges. The presentation had to be at a level of English that the students could follow, but also accurately and earnestly depict my experience with race in America. I had to come up with a learning experience that would strike the perfect balance between simple and complex.
The Situation: How can I build a 60-minute, one-time lecture for Japanese students that paints an accurate picture of race and racism in the United States?
Duration of project: 2 months
Audience: Undergraduate Japanese students of English
Format: In-person workshop/Adobe Captivate module
My Role: I developed the learning experience, script, and materials independently, and coordinated with Professor Shimomura frequently to determine the needs of his students.
Skills Demonstrated: Instructional Design (Higher Ed), eLearning Development
Technologies Used: Adobe Captivate, Google Slides
The Process
I took a waterfall approach to this project, since there was two months to complete the project and it had a simple set of objectives.
Needs Analysis
Understanding that Shimomura’s students were Japanese students of English, I knew that I had to keep simplicity of language in mind while developing this project. Shimomura was also kind enough to provide me with the topics they had already discussed, which included (but were not limited to:
- The “post-racial” ideology
- “Civilization” of Native Americans
- Thanksgiving vs. Thanks-taking
- History of immigration from Europe
- Plantations and racial inequality
- Civil War and the termination of slavery
- One drop rule & White privilege
I determined that, in the short amount of time that I would have to discuss such a complex topic, a simulation would be effective for illustrating, rather than explaining, the experience of racial inequality in the US.
Structure
I wrote a set of learning objectives and structure for the original lecture and Google Slides presentation. I incorporated a choose-your-own-adventure style for the simulation, harnessing the interactions and curiosity from the students to illustrate my points.
I used inspiration from the video game “Depression Quest” to represent how privileges grant, or take away, certain options. It was up to the students to decide if they would focus on using their motivation to reach their goals, or depleting their levels of happiness.
Facilitation
I facilitated this learning experience for Shimomura’s class at Kyoto Women’s University on November 25, 2019. It incorporated the interactive portion, as well as a personal narrative. I answered questions and related their questions back to their in-class learnings. Take a look at this excerpt below!
eLearning Module
Later, I adapted this learning experience into an Adobe Captivate module as an exercise in eLearning development. I made sure to incorporate the functionality of the simulation.
