Prompt: How will your interactive learning resource specifically ensure that the needs of all learners can be met?
Background: I would like to use a specific example, which is again, my experience in learning about coffee to illustrate this prompt. Roasting coffee beans is a skill you could take courses on and the primary purpose for a beginner on roasting coffee beans is to know about the coffee roasting curve. The curve shows the temperature of the coffee beans when roasted in an oven and the curve is THE factor that records the development of the beans in the oven and could be used later to analyze the taste of the coffee.
There is a group of learners, with some of them worked as baristas but no experience in roasting, some having zero knowledge in coffee, and a few who have had some experience in roasting without knowing the theory behind it.
My interactive learning resource would include the basic knowledge of coffee tasting. How a cup of coffee tastes and what makes it how it tastes. This part will be a simple chemistry class mainly talking about particles and their tastes (sweet, bitter, sour, salty) and will involve coffee tasting. For learners with experience, they could describe more flavors and get to know why those flavors are shown in a chemical level which will be useful in later roasting. While for learners with little or zero experience, this could be a simple tasting class that gets them to know simple flavors from coffee in a chemistry level.
The next part of the interactive learning resource would be the roasting. With all learners on the same level of knowing that we want coffee beans to have certain flavors (sweet, sour, bitter and sometimes savory) by roasting them, the roasting curve is introduced. And related parts of the oven that they could manipulate to control the curve will be introduced. Students are asked to apply the knowledge taught on how to control the oven, to roast the same beans with the curves given by the teacher. 4 curves will be provided.
The second part ensures that all learners’ need can be met because everyone gets the same information based one the first part and same tasks are given.
When the second part completes the students will be asked to taste the beans they roast and apply the knowledge given in the first part, which is analyzing the flavors. Then based on the flavor differences, they will discussion why they think the beans have different flavors when different curves are used when roasting. The teacher will reveal the answer at last.
The last part ensures that the needs of all learners are met because all tasks are given based on their previous learning content. Learners with more experience would apply the roasting skills to get the flavors they want using the roasting curve as they already know much about the flavors. And learners with less experience would still meet the basic need of knowing what a roasting curve is.
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