Techniques for Assessing Course-Related Knowledge and Skills

What I know about assessments:
     I know that there are 2 different types of assessments, summative and formative or formal and informal (respectively). I know that formative assessments are basically just checks for understanding throughout each lesson. "thumbs up if you understand, thumbs sideways if you kind of get it, thumbs down if you need help" .... "give the number 1 if you get it, 2 if you klind of get it, three if you need help" ... things like that. Summative or formal assessments are basically the "tests" or "exams" or even quizzes. Multiple choice assessments DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT show understanding at all!! You can cheat your way through a multiple choice assessment any day of the week. Assessments need to have students explain so you can see, if they are wrong, where exactly they are wrong at!!

What I want to know about assessments:
     Honestly, I cannot think of what I want to know. I've given assesments before and all turned out okay. I guess the only thing I can think of that I would struggle with is if a student refuses to do the assessment or try at all. In STEP TWO I had a teacher allow her students to write IDK (I don't know) on my pretests and then ISDK (I still don't know) on my post test ... how did that help them or me at all???

What Issues Arise with Inquiry Learning and Teaching?

What I know about the problems that arise with inquiry learning amd teaching:
     When it comes to inquiry learning I know that students have a tendency to not be able to think on their own because they are use to being told what to think. For examlle, I had stjdents think of a definition once and a few responded with "can't you just give us the definition like our teacher does?". When students are not use to a way of learning they tend not to disregard what the teacher is trying to get at. 
When it comes to teaching, problems arise hecause teachers do not have the support from students and faculty they need in order to successfully teach inquiry.

What I would like to know about the problems that arise with inquiry learning and teaching:
     I would like to know how to approach problems you run into as a teacher. If a student refuses to do the work then how do get him/her to cooperate. 

What I learned about problems that arise with inquiry learning and teaching:
     ....Not what I expected to learn, that's for sure! I thought the article would tell me what I wanted to know .... like how to deal with problems that students give you when inquiry teaching. That's not at all what the article is about. It basically took the last 4 semesters of MTeach material and threw it into one article. The article basically talks about supports for an inquiry classroom, like technology and different tools. I also learned that this article was written awhile ago since it referred to the internet as "A great tool for research is the World Wide Web" .... awkward!

The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them

What I know about concept maps:
     Concept maps are a graphical representation of different ideas and how they link to each other. I know that concept maps are like knowledge packets, which we had to put in our lesson plans in Classroom Interactions, but I do not know what the exact similarities and differences are between the two.  

What I want to know about concept maps:
     I guess first I would like to know what the differences are between concept maps and knowledge packets are. I would like to know different ways to incorporate them into lesson plans. I would like to know how students respond to concept maps. How big should a concept map get? How many links should there be between students' ideas and words?

What I learned about concept maps:
     I learned that concept maps, although having the same words and ideas, could look completely different from person to person. They are used to connect similar ideas but people can have different ways they connect things to one another. Knowledge packets and concept maps are different because concept maps have words and "reasons" between linked ideas explaining why they are linked. Other people should be able to follow your concept map... even if they dont agree with you. It could be helpful for students to use concept maps so they must think about why things connect. They are also important for teachers to see how students connect their knowledge, it could help determine where miscoceptions are (if there are any). There are different types of concept maps, in figure 6 it shows the string map a student made after visiting a paper plant. 

Establishing Relevance to Students' Lives

This article talks all about driving quetions and how to relate those questions to students' lives so they will be interested in answering the quetion! (Okay, okay, I may have cheated and read the introduction to figure that out. Besides, in my stomach virus loopiness I could not for the life of me figure out what the title of the article even meant... I get it now!!)

What I know about driving questions:
     I know that a driving question is the basis on which this lesson will come from. Each problem or project should stem from a driving question that is relevant to the students' lives in some way. The students need to find it interesting so that it drives them to find the answer. Examples being "what dog food is better for your dog", "at speed does your bat meed to be going to hit an over-the-fence homerun?", "what is in your water/toothpaste/drink/etc?" ... those are just a few examples of what a driving question could look like.

What I want to know about driving questions:
     Well, the article seems to just talk about science (that's what I gathered from the intro) sooooooo, what are some interesting math driving questions? Are probing questions a type of driving question?  What about driving questions actually clicks with students snd makes them want to know more? How detailed should/can a driving question get?

What I learned about driving questions:
     A driving question is a well designed question that is elaborated, explored, and answered by students and teachers. Driving questions are suppose to be relevant to students' lives and give them a reason to want to know the answer. There are 5 key features of driving questions: (1) feasibility (2) worth (3) contextualization (4) meaning (5) ethical. I can say I wasn't as interested in this article because it was about driving questions in science, which I think os really easy to obtain.... give me DQs in math please!!!

Lessons from Research on Problem- and Project-Based Learning -- Integrating the Four Principles

Part Two of Doing with Understanding: Lessons from Research on Problem- and Project-Based Learning is titles Integrating the Four Principles: SMART Blueprint. As I discussed in my last blog, the four principles teachers should consider when implementing a project-based lesson are  (a) defining learning-appropriate goals that lead to deep understanding; (b) providing scaffolds such as "embedded teaching," "teaching tools," sets of "contrasting cases," and beginning with problem-based learning activities before initiating projects; (c)ensuring multiple opportunities for formative self-assessment and revision; and (d) developing social structures that promote participation and sense of agency (Barron).

What I know about integrating the four principles:
     I think the "learned" portion of my last blog explains perfectly what I "know" about how to integrate the four principles into my lessons. Define learning-appropriate goals - teachers and students get so caught up in making the projects pretty and "the best" that the reason and importance of the project gets lost. Scaffolding is a great tool to use to make sure students understand the content. Use "embedded lessons" to build up to the project-based lesson. Make checkpoints in the projects for students (and yourself as a teacher) to look back at their progress and self assess. Give students a sense of agency - an opportunity to let group mates depend on one another. Having students be responsible for certain parts of the project is important and having them present to classmates or other people gives them a sense of accomplishment and will bring out their best work every time!


What I want to know about integrating the four principles:
     I think with the experience I have with inquiry lessons I basically know how to integrate these four principles into lessons. I think keeping students on task and having them attain a goal will be the hardest, especially for those "type A" students (yea, that was me in school). Scaffolding is always important, you don't want to throw a brand new topic at students and say "here is a project about something you know nothing about... good luck!" I think the biggest difficulty for me is going to be changing students roles in groups, so that everyone has a sense of importance, but that the role is different every (almost every) project. I will definitely have to let control go away for a minute and give someone who may be shy the chance to step up and be a leader every now and then!
     Also, I think the big thing I would like to know is what is the SMART Blueprint ... the title of this part of the article ... duh! I am interested in finding out :)

What I learned!
     The overall concept that I learned in this part of the article is that teachers are here to navigate students through a lesson. The bulk of teachers work is while lesson plannig and evaluating.  The student should work through topics and subjects hemselves or within groups and the teacher should be there to help out when needed.
     Different ways to implement learning appropriate goals that support standards based content are to include opportunities to engage in sustained problem solving, planning, problem formulation and the application of the math concepts to real world contexts. Different scaffolds and social organizations that support teacher and student learning are: just-in-time scaffolds for blueprint,  embedded teaching, and he jasper challenge problems.

Doing with Understanding: Lessons from Research on Problem- and Project-Based Learning -- PART ONE

Doing With Understanding: Lessons From Research on Problem and Project-Based Learning

Brigid J. S. Barron

School of Education

Stanford University

What do I know about project based learning?
      First I know what it is - a type of curriculum that where students learn through projects and problems. This is not the typical kind of teaching style that is used in the United States. In US mathematics classes, teachers tend to use lectured style teaching, where the teacher stands up at the board and gives the students notes to copy. After notes are copied the students are to find a page in their textbooks and work problems from the textbook for homework or classwork. This happens day after day until the test comes, where students are expected to regurgitate what they have been shown to memorize and put it on to paper which is then given a grade from A to F and immediately following that test, the lecturing starts again. I'm sorry .... but .... NO! NO! NO! BAD TEACHER! How can students learn like that? The only students who that really sticks with are the ones with photographic or eidetic memories. Even in those cases, the students don't learn anything they just memorize. I am going to be a math teacher and I don't remember half the stuff I learned in high school because I just remembered it for the test! Project and problem based curricula is put into place so students figure out answers, equations, and make connections on their own (or in groups). So much research has shown that students learn more (not memorize) when they are to figure things our and make connections without any help.

What do I want to know about project based learning?
     One word ... EVERYTHING! GIMME, GIMME, GIMME! Tell me how to make my classroom project based. Show me statistics that make me want to make every single lesson a project for students. Tell me how to implement PBL in my classroom in different ways so that students are not doing the same activities over and over again. Tell me different questions students will ask me that I need to know how to answer, how to push them to figure things out for themselves. I. WANT. TO. KNOW. IT. ALL.

What I learned about project and problem based learning!
      I learned that there are four principles that need to be kept in mind while enforcing problem and project based learning: (a) defining learning-appropriate goals that lead to deep understanding; (b) providing scaffolds such as "embedded teaching," "teaching tools," sets of "contrasting cases," and beginning with problem-based learning activities before initiating projects; (c)ensuring multiple opportunities for formative self-assessment and revision; and (d) developing social structures that promote participation and sense of agency (Barron).      First you must define learning-appropriate goals, sometimes teachers and students get so caught up in making the projects pretty and "the best" that the reason and importance of the project gets lost. Make sure the goals of each project are to clear to all involved and try to keep students on track to attain those goals.
     Next, scaffolding is a great tool to use to make sure students understand the content. Before implementing a project, try a problem based lesson so that students understand the "backbone" of a topic before moving onto a project.
     Make sure there are checkpoints in the projects for students (and yourself as a teacher) to look back at their progress. Ask questions, such as, "is what you've done so far leading to your end goal?", "what have you learned so far through this project?", "if there was anything you could change, what would it be?", "is there anything you can change to make it better or lead to your goal faster?". Questions like these give students a chance to reflect on their progress and gives teachers a chance to see if students are actually grasping the concept of the lesson.
     Give students a sense of agency, an opportunity to let group mates depend on one another. People usually do better work when (1) they have others depending on them and (2) they have something to attach their name too, that others will see; something that will give them a sense of pride. Having students be responsible for certain parts of the project is important and having them present to classmates or other people gives them a sense of accomplishment and will bring out their best work every time!