1.0 Title and Summary

Note to reviewers

To navigate through this OP use the tabs at the top or the arrows at the bottom of each page. You can also refer to and use the Table of contents in the right column (hyperlinked titles). 

The links in this report (colored) will tell you where they lead. If you visit one of these links, press the back button in your browser to continue where you left off. External links are marked with this arrow symbol (➚) and will open a new window. These links and documents are details, which are not essential to understand the project. 

The sections in the Table of contents (right column) with an asterisk next to them are the sections to be reviewed. To help you understand the scope and thoroughness of this project I ask you take a glance at the pages 1.4 the Manual and 1.6 Supporting evidence (though it is not part of the word count). The manual itself is embed on 1.4 The Manual page (it is not necessary to read it) scrolling through the pages will give you an idea of the final outcome. I really appreciate any constructive feedback. Thanks for your time and effort!

OP Specification 

This is my final project report for my BSc in Integrative EcoSocial Design at Gaia University, Authoring a teachers manual - facilitating an earth oven course. 

I saw this project as an opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the field. By creating this manual of best practices not only am I bridging the pedagogical gap in the field of earth oven building, but I'm also bringing more awareness to the need of teacher's manuals in other fields. I chose the specific field of earth ovens, because it is where I have the majority of my teaching experience.  

I wrote and illustrated this manual by reviewing my own experiences of teaching and by consulting other earth oven teachers. This manual includes: the present cultural context of earth ovens, best practices for facilitators and a technical manual to teaching the course, along with supplemental information. 

The most essential component in creating this manual was my dialogue with other earth oven teachers. When discussing my first draft with them I realized several very important points which transformed the content of the manual:

• I had skewed the manual to my own needs as a new teacher
• I was afraid of imposing my views on others, wanting to keep the manual objective

A success of this project was formatting it as an eBook for optimal distribution.  eBooks and PDFs are taking the place of books and magazines. To effectively bridge this gap in the various fields, we need to make our content relevant and accessible.