ABSTRACT
How do you get busy university lecturers to attend a module such as MARCHET on top of their demanding workload, and to implement the TPCK they acquire in their teaching practice? Careful timing and planning are needed to make this possible. A module needs to be planned long in advance and the start and end dates need to be clear to all the potential participants. The group meetings have to be communicated far in advance, and so do the deadlines set for the assignments. One key success factor for a module is proper timing. The module should overlap as much as possible with the period in which lecturers prepare their courses and teaching materials. That way, the module will support the lecturers in carrying out at least part of the work that they were already planning to do. Combining the module work with their own course preparations can lead to a more fundamental improvement in the course they teach – a course (re)design. The participants will probably want to know how much time they will need for the module. There is no simple answer to this question. A MARCHET or similar module only involves a few meetings (online or otherwise), but it would be very misleading to only mention the ‘contact time’ and not the assignments, where the timing is flexible. It is also important to mention that the time needed to complete the assignments differs per participant. Since each of them is working on his or her own course (re)design, the necessary time will depend on the magnitude of the course (or course element) to which the (re)design applies, and on the complexity of the problem chosen by the participant. It becomes even more complex when you realize that the perceived time investment also depends on how the participant interprets the module activities. The question then is: Is the time invested in the course (re)design part of the module, or can it also be seen as part of the participating lecturer’s regular teaching tasks? The moderator plays an important role in communicating the time investment issues carefully and in relation to the lecturer’s context so that the deadlines can be met. This allows a moderator to provide a lot of positive feedback and to show appreciation when assignments are finished on time.
