The problems just kept coming and coming: Addressing unplanned mediation when de-signing multimodal pedagogy through Living Theory research

This research project was initiated due to the lack of effective pedagogy for teaching multi-modal oral presentation skills. Responding to this pedagogical dilemma, I adopted the action-reflection cycle, drawing on Living Theory research, to design and evaluate an intervention named the Responsive Multimodal Oral Presentation Pedagogy (RMO2P). RMO2P aims to enhance degree students’ acquisition of multimodal oral presentation skills. This paper discusses the unplanned mediation required to ensure the effective design and implementation of this method in a public speaking course with 20 students. Unplanned mediation included modifying tasks and answering unexpected questions. Being responsive to students’ individual needs was the most challenging mediation to manage. The research offers a living-educational-theory based on responsiveness, which can be directly applied in practice.