Faculty of Education

English Language Teaching Program

Work Experiences Coordination

Guidelines for the design and implementation of learning experiences 

I. General outline 
The ELAB 3 course is the first opportunity for fourth-year students to design and implement
different learning experiences. Throughout the semester you are expected to make a minimum of 4
interventions out of which 2 will be observed by your tutor and two will be recorded by you as part of
your formative process, both instances need to be carefully planned and approved by your tutor and
guide teacher. By doing these activities, you will demonstrate that you have acquired the necessary
knowledge and developed the essential competencies to design meaningful learning experiences. In
order to do so, you must use the information you collected to describe the context of the school and the
class (Trepe 3), contemplating the needs, characteristics, and interests of the students as well as the
national curriculum. Finally, this activity requires you to consider both pedagogical and disciplinary
knowledge to inform your teaching practice.

II. Technical Aspects 

 
The design and implementation of the observed classes include the following elements:

1) Design of the activity

When designing the first intervention, you should focus on the pre-stage and classroom management
and for the second one focus on the pre and while stages plus classroom management. In order to do
this, you must use what you have learned in Methodology 1 and 2 as well as all the other courses that
could inform your decision-making process (applied linguistics, psychology, Trepe, etc.).

2) The theoretical justification of the design

The design of your activities should be the result of the work you do to inform your decision-making
process. Accordingly, along with the activities, you should submit a theoretical justification that supports
your decisions. To do so, you must include a minimum of 6 resources that contemplate the pedagogical
and the methodological dimensions.We strongly advise you to explore other sources other than the
ones assigned in class contemplating the needs of your context.

3) Reflection on the decision-making process of the design

Once you have implemented your activities, you should reflect on the decisions you made while
designing the activities and strategies used; and whether they were pertinent for your context. Evaluate
your work and propose future actions to strengthen or improve your teaching practice. This reflection
should refer to both classroom management and language teaching.
The word count for both the theoretical justification and the reflection is 1000 words.

III. Learning objectives 

 
1) Design learning experiences that are meaningfully contextualized to students’ needs,
characteristics and interests.
2) Design learning experiences that are framed under the requirements of the National
Curriculum.
3) Develop a professional identity as a future teacher by designing diverse classroom experiences
for the English class, applying updated pedagogical approaches for a diverse group of
students.

IV. Dates 
 
● Submission date of the interventions will vary depending on the dates agreed with your tutor
and guide teacher. However, the design of the activities and strategies to be used in the
intervention plus the theoretical justification must be submitted before the class observation
whereas the reflection must be submitted up to three days after the class observed.

V. Assessment 
 
● Task weight: 60% (30% each)
● Hand in a printed and a digital copy of the task. The hard copy of the first part of the task
should be submitted in the pre-intervention meeting with your tutors. You can send the
reflection via email up to three days after the intervention. ​Late submissions will not be
received.
● If the student does not schedule the pre-intervention meeting at least a week before the
intervention, the tutor will not approve the design of the activities and the observation will not
take place; therefore the student will be assessed with the minimum mark 1.0.
● If the student fails to meet the tutor on the agreed date, the tutor will reschedule the meeting
only if it takes place 5 days before the intervention; otherwise, the observation will not take
place and the student will be assessed with the minimum mark 1.0.
● This task contemplates assessing 70% of content and 30% of language. Please, refer to the
instruments to be used.

VI. Considerations 
 
● Plagiarism is a serious offense which will be dealt with severely. The first offense will be given
a 1.0. If a second offense occurs, course suspension and program expulsion may take place
(Reglamento académico Título VI, Art.21)
● Mind: academic writing, punctuation, APA (cover)
Design of learning experiences: the pre-stage

Criteria Indicators  4 3 2 1 Evidence 

1. Design of the  ● The design of the pre-stage responds to the
activity
needs, characteristics, and interests of the
students.
● The design of the pre-stage is aligned with the
development of the unit of the level.
● The design of the pre-stage is aligned with
content, skills, and attitudes established in bases
curriculares for the level.
● The design of the pre-stage includes the use of
suitable strategies that will allow students to
prepare for the while stage.
● The design of the pre-stage includes strategies
to be used to manage the class which are
appropriate for the students’ context and needs.
● The design of the pre-stage includes appropriate
strategies to be used in case conflictive
situations arise considering the characteristics of
the students.
● The design of the pre-stage includes suitable
strategies pertaining to the use of the language
(introducing the use of English, adapting
language, use of visual support, etc.).
● The design of the pre-stage considers making
reference to elements that might promote the
holistic development of students.
● The design of the pre-stage considers the use of
resources that might enrich the learning
experience according to the characteristics of
the students.
2. Pedagogical 
● The theoretical justification includes a brief
and 
methodological 
description of the context that allows to identify
justification  the characteristics that had to be considered in
the design of the stage.
● The theoretical justification provides strong
support for the use of strategies pertaining to the
stage.
● The theoretical justification provides solid
support for the use of strategies pertaining to the
management of the class.
● The theoretical justification provides strong
support for the use of strategies pertaining to
conflictive situations in the classroom.
● The theoretical justification provides solid
support for the use of the language in EFL
contexts.
● The theoretical justification provides strong
support for the use of resources that enrich
learning experiences.
3. Reflection 
● The reflection critically analyzes the decisions
pertaining to the design of the activity and their
pertinence to the context.
● The reflection critically analyzes to decisions
pertaining to classroom management and their
pertinence to the context.
● The reflection critically evaluates how the overall
design of the intervention promotes the holistic
development of students.
● The reflection critically discusses overall process
(classroom management & language teaching)
and proposes actions that might improve or
strengthen the teaching practices.
Final score 
/76 points

4 &  2,0  4,0  5,5  7,0 

5th 

The text shows frequently
a coherent organization of
ideas with occasional
weaknesses in
topic/supporting sentence
relationship. Fluent use of
simple structures linked
correctly mostly with
FANBOYS is evident.
Common content words
are used and spelled
correctly. Correct use of
basic punctuation is
frequent.
The text is fully coherent
with no digressions from
the topic with enough
supporting sentences to
make the point. Topic -
supporting sentence
relationship is made using
a variety of frequent
discourse markers.
Content words are used
and spelled accurately
with some errors in
low-frequency terms.
Simple language
structures and basic
punctuation prevail with
some errors in more
sophisticated elements.
The writing expresses mostly
coherent flows of ideas and
sentences show a clear
relation among themselves
linked with a variety of linking
elements. Content words,
idiomatic expressions, and
technical terms are used and
spelled accurately most of the
time and so are simple and
some complex language
structures. Basic and
sophisticated punctuation is
adequate and precise with
some negligible errors in
sophisticated forms.
The writing expresses
complex flows of ideas
logically at the sentence as
well as at text level and
exhibits an accurate use of
complex cohesive devices
throughout the text. Content
words as well as idiomatic
expressions and technical
terms are used and spelled
accurately and flexibly while
there is a consistently high
degree of grammatical
accuracy. Basic and
sophisticated punctuation is
adequate and precise.