Summer Pilot
Slide from presentation on Honey Bee Biology showing the Queen caste of honey bee. In the first image, she is looking for cells to lay an egg. In the second, she is walking over capped honey. In the third, she is marked.
An Accelerated Beekeeping Course
Schoolhouse.World is a free tutoring platform in which anyone can receive live help online, started by Sal Khan, CEO of Khan Academy. I had used the platform previously to volunteer as an SAT tutor, but they were running a Summer Camp for this summer. Previous tutors could send in camps to be approved.
To test the curriculum and pedagogy of the Introduction to Beekeeping course, I used this Summer Camp opportunity to run a pilot. This was an accelerated version of the course. Every topic was discussed, but for only 90 minutes each. Students were not able to complete projects, and discussion was much less than optimal, with the series happening online.
The pilot went very well, as demonstrated by the feedback below. I was able to make short Kahoot quizzes to ensure that students understood the topics presented. In only one topic did students demonstrate any confusion. Overall, students were very engaged and kept coming back for more. However, in the future, I would like for students to spend much more time doing projects and participating in discussion. Unfortunately, this was impossible using the Schoolhouse platform.
Feedback from Schoolhouse.World Students
"The Beekeeping course taught over Schoolhouse.world delved into the fundamentals of the subject, alongside effectively teaching students the process of establishing their own beekeeping journey. Daniel explained the scientific and logistic components of beekeeping in a creative and thorough manner, encouraging questions from students and providing them with detailed answers. The slideshow presentations that he utilized to introduce concepts were helpful and informative; Daniel allowed students to access all of the supplementary materials that he created, to provide them with additional opportunities to enrich their study of beekeeping. The class prioritized the perspective of every learner, and many intricate discussions were had detailing each individual’s experience and perception of beekeeping. Daniel allowed students to gain significant insight into an intriguing component of environmental studies, all from their computer."
"Daniel's beekeeping series is not only very interesting, but super easy to understand as well. I appreciate the effort he puts into making the google slides to help us learners. Personally, I think his explanations are a great complement to the slideshows and videos that we watch. Thanks!"
"Hi Daniel! I just audited your summer camp session, and I think it was super interesting and informative! Beekeeping is not a topic I would think to ever see on schoolhouse, but you made this session super engaging! I liked how you were friendly and conversational with learners. Your slideshow was super well-put together and visually appealing."