Week 4 = Epiphany through Teaching Learning Assessment

June 23, 2011 – I came across this while reading the agenda for Week 4:

“Words like "tests" and "examinations" have well established connotations of evaluating a student's possession of knowledge. We need a different process, and a new language, to identify how to assess a student's capability for using and applying knowledge. Education of an individual, understood in terms of developing a capability for using and applying one's knowledge, cannot be adequately assessed by traditional testing. Grading on a curve, which sorts students into groups for administrative purposes, says nothing about how each student is using his or her project solving talents or growing toward their potential.” (Rice, 2009)

I would sum up that the above quote is saying assessments are a gateway to teaching students not a final judgment of their worth in a classroom.

I also had a colleague send me this link to a video about changing the education paradigm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

The combination of these two things lead me to the thought that: it is the instructor’s job, when writing assessments to first determine what is being assessed and how do we measure that success. It is also the instructor’s job to build an effective curriculum to solve the problems in which our students will face.

In other words, here are the three main focal points for a teacher when dealing with assessment:

1. Locate the problem you want the students to solve and build that into authentic situational learning.
2. Use or build an assessment to facilitate the need of the aforementioned problem.
3. Re-evaluate the need to re-teach or continue exercises in a particular area by determining whether or not you we measuring the correct success.

I’m very interested in looking through the RSA site (http://www.thersa.org/) which I discovered through the YouTube video above. Just a quick skim allowed me to see a philosophy I whole-heartedly agree with, the philosophy of innovative education. I believe education as a whole alienates kids when they don’t allow them to search for the answer. It is much more important the student makes the journey than they come up with the “grand 1 answer” to any question asked by the teacher.

Just through this study I feel much more comfortable trying new things in my classroom and doing more projects as well. During my first full year of teaching I found I had a lot of unique (my students would say weird) lessons and things they never expected to do in school. For example: we used Microsoft Word to format an original screenplay and award speech for our “(insert name of school here) Academy Awards.”

I guess I am now more accepting of being a “weird teacher” after today.

Week 3 Crafting the Driving Question

June 16, 2011 – This week I thought I’d just label the criteria for a Driving Question. It goes as follows:

• “Driving Questions are Open-Ended. We must allow students to adequately answer the question given, yet allowing them to take ownership over the project. Be sure as you design your Driving Question that you think carefully about time, resources and student skills.
• Driving Questions are Provocative. The driving question must sustain students’ interest during the entire project and challenge students to go beyond the obvious.
• Driving Questions get at the Heart of a subject area. The driving question can be focused at the heart of an issue, allowing students to investigate.
• Driving Questions are Challenging. Students should be encouraged, through the use of the driving question, to confront different situations.
• Driving Questions need to Interest Students. Create driving questions from real-world situations, igniting an interest for students.
• Driving Questions are consistent with Standards. While driving questions should be challenging, they should also lead students to master the agreed upon content, knowledge and skills that define a course of study. “ (Rice, 2009)


June 16, 2011 - Driving Question for my project: As an Entrepreneur, how do create an effective advertising and marketing campaign on a fixed budget you deem necessary to bring in new customers while keeping your business afloat?

A driving question, I learned, is a question that will open up the entire unit for the class. Students use these questions to formulate sub-questions that allow them understand the complexity of an authentic real-world problem.

This week was a little more difficult for me than usual. Perhaps I am starting to slow down, but I think I just have a hard time developing complex questions.

Source:
Rice, K. (2009). Edtech 542 week 3: part i & ii - craft the driving question. Retrieved from http://edtech.mrooms.org/mod/resource/view.php?inpopup=true&id=19786

Journal #2

June 13, 2011 – In looking at the www.bie.org website, I confirmed with the handbook reading that each project has a driving question, a summary, a scope, and a sequence to drive the project and give it clarity.

http://pbl-online.org/driving_question/dqtest/dqtest.html has a short quiz on what a driving question should contain. The characteristics are:

1. The question serves as a lighthouse for the project.
2. It incorporates a big idea or theme
3. Specific content or skills are included
4. It utilizes authenticity

Perhaps I shouldn’t jump ahead, but starting with the end in mind means having an idea of what you would like the students to learn. As a computers in business teacher I would like my students to learn how to incorporate business skills into leading successful lives whether or not the student would like to start their own business.

It was pretty easy to find a project for my curriculum because it is already one of the standards (Standard 6) link: http://www.uen.org/ctecore/core.do?courseNum=520111

June 13, 2011 – Over the last couple days looking over the definitions and characteristics of project-based learning I’ve found that I already do a lot of PBL in my classroom. For example, when we learn Microsoft Word I have the students write a script or screenplay with various color coordination of each characters and using a screenplay layout to show how well they can operate Microsoft Word.

I also collaborate with other teachers to provide real-world experience not found in a single class. I believe it is an illusion that the curricula are separate. They should be integrated together and the projects become more real world.

My idea for my project in this class is to create an online set of instructions (possibly a WebQuest) to have a team of students create a simulated business utilizing computers to create their own webpage, web content, advertisements, stock market and data sheets, and an overall business plan.

Culminating Project Purpose:
Students will create a simulated business by building a business plan, advertisements (electronic and print), create a web page, and develop an overall understanding of how businesses work and the various types of businesses. By creating this simulated business the students will experience a project-based activity to simulate a realistic scenario of owning and operating a business using computers.

Scope:

1. Utilize technology in a business setting.
2. Interpersonal collaboration with peers to develop essential business social skills.
3. Standard 6 - Students will incorporate concepts learned to create, present and evaluate a business plan those skills include:
a. Create web pages, business documents, and advertisements to enhance a business by utilizing web 2.0 and 3.0 technology.
b. Building effective advertisements and understand the terms associated with this field.
c. Students will have the option to apply a variety of software towards their business venture including Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite Web Premium 5.5, Garageband, Firefox, Explorer, Mobile Apps, iMovie, Photobooth, and many others.
d. Students will enhance their keyboarding skills and develop web content using HTML and CSS programming languages.

Journal #1

Reflective Journal

Quotes from Reading and Class/Tasks and Activities

Thoughts/Learning/Questions

June 8th 2011 – “Real-world relevance: Activities match as nearly as possible the real-world tasks of professionals in practice rather than decontextualized or classroom-based tasks… Value laden: Provide the opportunity to reflect and involve students’ beliefs and values.” (Characteristics of Authentic Learning Activities)

June 8th 2011 – I hear my colleagues complain about this question all the time when they get it from their students: “When am I ever going to use this?” Honestly, I believe teachers should be able to answer that question with real authority. It’s important for a student to see value in their education. What they are looking for is a way to justify the reason they are even attempting to accomplish the, at times, grueling tasks set forth by the teacher. If it carries no real weight or no real personal motivation it pulls the metaphorical leg out from under them. I would much rather hear my colleagues rejoice that they had an answer ready and that the student took to the project better than they ever have before. That is education at its best: a motivated student creating something with the guidance of a teacher, who has to guide progressively less and less. Thomas Carruthers said “a teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary,” and I would have to agree with him.

Bibliography:

• Characteristics of Authentic Learning Activities. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://pbl-online.org/About/characteristics.htm