CourseAssignment-Reflection 6

This week’s reading focused on service learning. This was the first chapter of Cathryn Berger Kaye’s The Complete Guide to Service Learning: Proven, Practical Ways to Engage Students in Civic Responsibility. It begins with definition of service learning stating that service learning is a way to connect the classroom with its content, literature and skills to aid in community’s needs. The definition continues with six more points stating that students will:

·         apply academic, social, and personal skills to improve the community.

·         Make decisions that have real, not hypothetical, results.

·         Grow as individuals, gain respect for peers, and increase civic participation.

·         Experience success no matter what their of ability level.

·         Gain a deeper understanding of themselves, their community, and society (Kaye, 2010, p.9).

The next part of the chapter contains a series of questions and answers which deals with different aspects of service learning. This section is very informational as well as containing bits of humor as in response to the question “what do I do if I’ve been assigned to coordinate service learning for my grade/school/organization” (Kaye, 2010, p.12)? The first part of the answer says to celebrate; I found that to be humorous.

This is followed by a section which describes the ingredients for making successful service learning. Here it is conveyed the importance of all members, the facilitator, the students, and the community partners being familiar with service learning strategies. Also, it is stated that the teacher or other adults are responsible for infusing the standards while it is the responsibility of the students to focus on progressing through the different stages in service to.

The next section gives us these standards which are meaningful service, link to curriculum, reflection, diversity, youth voice, partnership, progress mentoring and in need with, duration and intensity. In this section each one of these standards for quality practices is clearly described. This provides a sturdy framework for developing service learning.

The next section provides an overview of the five stages involved in service learning. These stages are investigation, preparation and planning, action, reflection and demonstration. This section also provides a clear explanation of each of these stages. This again provides a clear blueprint for developing a service learning project.

The next section of the chapter provides different examples demonstrating the different service learning projects for different grade levels. The first example explains how they can food drive which can provide needed food to food banks was transformed into a service learning project where students actually provided meals for needy. This idea was expanded with first-graders after reading Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen then prepared sack lunches for an agency that delivered meals to needy. Fourth graders learned about the Irish potato famine and how the Choctaw tribe raised money in 1847 to help out. The students learned to draw a parallel between Native Americans loss of tribal land and people today who lose their homes due to poverty. Middle school students learned about increasing unemployment in the region and the strain on social service agencies. This led to students learning important lessons about everything from water food staples to nutrition information and food groups. Freshman learned about malnutrition and childhood hunger which led to the promotion of canned food drives as well as creating a coloring book about fruits and vegetables to give to needy children. In history a class students read Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America and were inspired to investigate poverty in their community through a student design project. A drama class created a theatrical adaptation of The Can-Do Thanksgiving for elementary students which launched a citywide canned food drive. Photography students captured photos depicting the need for food donation. Choral groups song about homeless and provided handouts with information. A computer class created a template promoting can food drives posting it to a website to be viewed by local schools and agencies.

Overall this chapter provided a very clear and precise description of what a service learning project should look like and provided a clear outline on how to create one. I found one of the most inspiring aspects of this chapter where the sprinkling of inspirational quotes which gave meaning and credibility. I felt this gave the chapter and extra dimension.

I feel that a meaningful service learning project for this community which elementary students could be involved in could be in befriending senior citizens in a local senior community center. Students could write short stories that they could share with the individuals in the community center. They can also be involved in a clothing drive to get lightly used sweaters and jackets donated that they can also give to needy seniors. I think however one of the most important parts to ineffective service learning project would be to provide direction and have the students decide the actual details and how they wish to carry out the project.

References

Kaye, C. B. (2010). The complete guide to service learning: Proven, practical ways to engage students in civic responsibility. Minneapolis, MN: free Spirit Publishing Inc.

CourseAssessment-Reflection 5

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been around for over five decades. Originally developed to enhance medical students abilities in clinical settings. According to our reading it was found that the transition from these students abilities or increased by putting students in the situation where they had to come up with solutions to real-world problems. Later the use of PBLs expanded into other disciplines such as math, science and even social studies. In these other educational settings students are challenged to identify problems, come up with solutions and test their solutions.

This week’s reading provided a great deal of information in regards to PBL. The authors provided a rich history with information on initial medical education as well as PBL’s outside of the medical field. According to the authors there have been various results of implementations in various settings K-12 stating:

First, PBL have shown to be effective in conveying a variety of content areas-for example, mathematics, science, literature, history, and microeconomics. Second, PBL has been implemented effectively and schools in urban, suburban, and rural communities. Third, PBL’s can be used effectively and a wide range of student populations-for example, gifted elementary-, middle-, and high-, as well as low income students school students (Hung, Jonassen, & Liu, 2007, p. 487)

This shows that the use of PBL can be very effective in many different areas.

            There is also section and the reading about assumptions and characteristics. One of the most interesting assumptions, in my opinion, is that many believe that learning only takes place in formal educational settings; learning does not take place outside of the school. I see this as a major misconception. I believe that the majority of learning and/or cementing understanding occurs as we live our day-to-day lives. Some of the characteristics that were given are that ill structured problems give students an opportunity to become skilled in organizing as opposed to following a hierarchical list of topics, it student centered, it is self-directed and collaborative, and involves self-reflection, teachers are facilitators only in assisting and not providing solutions to problems (Hung, Jonassen, & Liu, 2007).

            I found that the research results were very interesting and that in many instances those involved in PBL did not outperform students who engaged in traditional learning. This makes me think less about the value of PBL and more about how well it was executed. PBL students tended to have content retention over long-term better than traditional students proving one of the benefits of its use. Also, students engaging in PBL developed better skills in problem-solving. There was also an increase in students’ abilities to use higher order thinking proved by their ability to generate much more accurate hypothesis as well as coherent explanations for their hypothesis (Hung, Jonassen, & Liu, 2007).

 I found the Implementation of PBL section to be the best and most informative part of the chapter. This section provided a great deal of detail in the role of the student, tutors role as well as tutors’ issues. There is also a section about the group processing, and assessment issues. There is also a section on curriculum design in PBL. Finally there is a section providing information on technology in PBL. These sections provides a great deal of information which can be used by anybody who is in the process of designing PBL for use in any discipline, and any age group, and any circumstance.

Last part of the chapter provides information on direction for future research. With topics such as problem types and PBL, internal factors and PBL, and designing distributed PBL. This last part also provides information on implementing PBL. A possible project involving PBL could be in looking for possible solutions to lack of water resources on both sides of the border in the area in which we live.

           

References

Hung, W., Jonassen, D. H., & Liu, R. (2007). Problem-based learning. In J. M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. Van Merrienboer (Eds), Handbook Of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (pp. 485-500). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group

CourseAssessment-Reflection 4

This week's reading Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry is a report focusing on Science Inquiry. This work is divided into several sections. It includes four lesson plans modules which teachers can use which are examples of science inquiry. This report beginning with the forward, which introduces the reader to the National Institutes of Health and its mission/goals, organization, research, grant-making process, Nobel Prize contributors, impact on the nation's health, and science education. A brief description about the National Institute of General Medical Sciences is also provided in this section.

            The introduction of the book highlights some of the innovations in science, new technology which is having an effect on many aspects of the modern world. Some of these are work done in DNA technology, in vitro fertilization techniques, personal computers, and cell phones. During the introduction the four objectives of this science inquiry module are related. These objectives begin with helping students to understand basic aspects involved in scientific inquiry. Students are to learn that science is not a rigid set of methods but is flexible. The second objective is for students to be able to develop their critical-thinking skills. The third is to assistance students envision the purpose of scientific research. The last objective is to try to get students to think in the terms of scientific inquiry not only in the present but also as the get older.

            The next section is titled, Implementing the Module, which contains an outline of how to go about in teaching the four lesson plans which are included in this book. This part of the work also includes information about the connection of science concepts as well as in regards to help the modules relate to National Science Education Standards. The 5E model is discussed in this section and quite a bit of detail. There is also information concerning teachers promoting safety in science classroom.

Following section provides information in regards to the use of the student lesson. There is an overview followed by a description of preparation. It also includes a module timeline, hardware-software requirements, the use of the web, collaborative groups and in with web activities were disabled students.

The final section of this work is titled, Information about the Process of Scientific, which I found the most important and best parts of the reading. It gives detailed background on science education in America and the use of science inquiry. There is a discussion about science inquiry used in middle school science curriculum. There’s information about inquiry and educational research which is discussed in great detail. Information in regards to inquiry and National Science Education standards is provided. This section also includes an easy to follow table showing essential features of classroom inquiry and their variations as well as one on Content Standards for Science as Inquiry focusing on grades 5-8. As well as a section that includes misconceptions about inquiry-based instruction which includes descriptions on seven misconceptions. There is also a discussion of important elements scientific inquiry for use with the module, highlighting the nature of science inquiry: science as a way of knowing, scientifically testable questions, and scientific evidence and explanations. The final two parts of this section focus on teaching science inquiry and ends with an example of scientific inquiry: epidemiology.

A possible proposal based on this reading could be to study how effective the included modules are working with actual students. All four lesson plans could be taught to several groups students were focus group could be used to gauge the students understanding of the concepts as well as their engagement throughout the lessons.

CourseAssessment- Reflection3

The Biological Science Curriculum Study (BSCS) 5E model is based on the constructivist view towards learning. According to Burke in his 2014 study; "the objective of constructivist model is to provide students with experiences that make them reconsider their conceptions" (Burke, 2014, p. 14). In this way students can identify any misconceptions they may hold as new knowledge is being formed. The five Es’ of the 5E model are engagement exploration explanation elaborate, and evaluate. This is a very powerful tool which can be used in science education, according to  Tural, Akdeniz and Alev:

Researchers on science education show that students have intuitive thoughts and beliefs about natural facts. Students interpret all of their knowledge according to their existing beliefs and ideas. Reconstructing knowledge in this way has an important role in science learning (Tural, Akdeniz, & Alev, 2010, p. 471).

Very closely connected to the idea of conceptual change theory as students go through each of these phases they are given an opportunity to pause and reflect on their previous understanding of the world and how it connects to the new concepts there learning.

Although the specific model which this reading focuses on his biological science, this model is relevant throughout science as well as most other disciplines ranging from engineering to English language arts. As educators use this model it can be advantageous to include formative assessments to help students reflect as they go through the different phases. Creghan and Creghan convey, "the 5E in structure model is relevant to all ages, as is the process of using formative assessments at each phase of the model" (Creghan, & Creghan, 2013, p. 29). This means students will be able to identify previously acquired misconceptions and move towards correcting these as they cycled through the phases. As students move to the cycle it is often advantageous for the instructor to incorporate analogies comparing familiar concepts or ideas with those which may be less familiar. Orgill and Thomas state that, "effective analogies motivate students, clarifying students' thinking, help students overcome misconceptions, and give students ways to visualize abstract concepts" (Orgill, & Thomas, 2007, p. 40). One of the benefits that can be found in using the 5E model is that it goes through of the phases as steps where they can be assessed either by the teacher using formative assessments or by the students’ self-reflection. 
 While examining the article it was clear to see the rich collection of tables which provide a great deal of insight. Many of these provide a valuable resource which can be used in evaluating how well the 5E model is implemented. These can be used in judging the quality of a topic lesson plan to be implemented or in retrospect on one that has been completed.
One aspect can be noted by review of this article is the fact that,at the time of publication, little or no information has been provided in respect to the use of this model and enhancing students understanding of the Nature of Science. This shows that there is a strong need studies on how effective the 5E model can be used to develop students greater understanding of NOS. Developing students understanding of the Nature of Science is an important goal in science education (Rudolph, 2000).

As was mentioned it can be argued that this model or similar models can be used in disciplines other than science. In a previous blog there was a comment about project lead the way; PLTW starting with kindergarten uses a very similar model. They have replaced the term engagement with “Ask”, exploration is replaced with “Explore”, explanation is replaced with “Model”, elaboration is replaced with “Evaluation” and evaluate is replaced with “Explain” using a similar cyclical model. 

I have included a short video which depicts the processes and use with students.

                                                                  References

Burke, B. N. (2014). The ITEEA 6E learning ByDesign™ model: Maximizing informed design and inquiry in the integrative STEM classroom. Technology And Engineering Teacher, 73(6), 14-19.

Creghan, K. A., & Creghan, C. (2013). Assessing for achievement. Science And Children, 51(3), 29-35.

Orgill, M. K., & Thomas, M. (2007). Analogies and the 5E model. Science Teacher, 74(1), 40-45.

Rudolph, J. L. (2000). Reconsidering the ‘nature of science’ as a curriculum component. Journal

of Curriculum Studies, 32(3), 403-419.

Tural, G., Akdeniz, A. R., & Alev, N. (2010). Effect of 5E Teaching Model on Student Teachers' Understanding of Weightlessness. Journal Of Science Education And Technology, 19(5), 470-488. doi: 10.1007/s10956-010-9214-y