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Teaching Others

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The WHY:

I am one of the self-taught designers. I have taken a LOT of classes and have studied a lot as well, but when I was getting into the field there were no UX Masters Degrees or UX Bootcamps. I didn't know how to get the support I needed, so I struggled along on my own. Now, with the UX field having so many options, I would like to give back and help others get into the UX field and hope they find it as rewarding as I do. 

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY:

I believe education is not just in the classroom, but in society as well. The classroom is the place to learn, try, and fail, and try again with fewer consequences than outside the classroom. As an instructor, I am there to guide and coach students, not just give answers. 

 

As a team (students and the teacher), let's explore, experiment, and try different options. Let us reflect on the outcomes and learn from each other. 

WHAT TO TEACH:

At GrowthX Academy, I ran the UX Program. That means I developed the curriculum, taught the cohorts, and reviewed project work. How did I decide what to teach? I reflected on the other programs I had been a part of, plus my own experiences in my career, and created what I hoped was a well-rounded curriculum. It was important to me to include the soft skills, presentation practice, as well as theory and technical skills. 

Teaching, and mentoring at a boot camp isn't easy. As an instructor, there is always so much more information I want to share with my students. There is a limited time frame and you do your best. 

 

It's important to check for understanding at various points throughout the day or time you are with the students. I created a rubric to evaluate students' understanding of the 12-week program. 

The Rubric was broken into 3 sections:

  • 1 - Not Meeting Expectation

  • 2 - Meeting Expectations

  • 3 - Exceeding Expectations

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Each skill that was being taught and practiced was reviewed for each student. There were no grades, but there was a lot of feedback.

Feedback was managed in Google Docs with 1:1s with each student each week to review how they were doing. 

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Students did presentations every Friday to practice their public speaking skills and presenting design work. 

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Looking back, I should have had peer critiques as well, but at the time, I felt like there wasn't enough time in the day. While the program was officially 9 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday, students frequently stayed much later and worked on the weekends.

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