Week 7 - Evaluation and Assessment

Use in Classroom
My lesson for this week focuses on the differences between Federalists & Anti-Federalists and the creation of the Constitution as a replacement for the Articles of Confederation.  This is a topic I cover in both my 9th grade civics/government class as well as my AP Government class.  I have decided to use project-based learning as a tool to help students work with the content and produce a representation of their understanding of the concepts I want them to know.  I will have also used a google forms as a way of quizzing my students and formatively assessing their understanding of the big ideas at the end of the project.

Learning Objective: The learner will analyze the major differences between the federalists and federalists and create a propaganda poster representing the federalist or anti-federalist position on the Constitution.

Step 1: students will watch a quick 5 minute video that conveys the important content for this lesson.  In order to ensure careful watching and comprehension of the video students will take a brief quiz before moving on from this step.  I decided to exclusively use google tools for this project - forms for the survey and quiz, docs/slides/drawings for the student project, and docs for the project description and rubric.
Link to assignment description and rubric

• Kahoot - provides teachers with four different tools for review and/or formative assessment.  The most popular tool is a bar-trivia style quiz game.  After each question the teacher is given an item-analysis breakdown for the question and can take a moment to clear up misconceptions and explain the correct answer.  At the end of the game the teacher can access an excel-style spreadsheet showing results for every student on every question.  Kahoot also provides the option of a review game called Jumble, a tool to give surveys, and a tool to facilitate class discussions.

• Go Formative - quiz style website.  Student workspace for each question lights up green or red depending on whether they got the question correct or incorrect.  Teachers can also individually access student "workspace" for subjective questions.

• Segmenting - the instructor breaks the lesson/tool down into learning paced parts.  By breaking up my above lesson into different steps I am accomplishing this.  Using the video quiz and the formative assessment at the end allow me to check on my students and give them remediation if needed before moving on to the next step.  The ability to break up google forms into different sections also is an example of the segmenting principle.

• Pre-training - present characteristics of key concepts before lesson.  The video in step 1 as well as the assignment description in step 2 meet this principle.

• Modality - use spoken words rather than printed words.  The use of video as an introductory tool fulfills the modality principle.

I do most of my online quizzing on a website called Socrative.com.  It provides instant feedback for each question to both the student and the teacher.  It also allows for each question to be tied to an individual standard or target so a teacher can see what topics need further review or clarification.  For simplicity's sake I stuck with google forms for today.

Step 2: Students will create a propaganda poster representing the Federalist or Anti-Federalist position on ratification of the new Constitution.  Here is the assignment description complete with an assignment rubric.  Students will create these posters electronically and then share with the class.  Even though each student is only working on one side of the debate, the presentations will guarantee that all students get a significant amount of review about the opposing viewpoint.







Step 3: Students will complete the following survey after completing steps 1 and 2.  This survey presents students with a metacognitive exercise that will also provide me with useful data points.  Is there something specific I need to review?  Did one resource prove to be more useful than another?  I wanted to try using something other than google forms, but ultimately decided that keeping things simple by staying in google was the way to go.  I did play around with a couple of different tools outside of google.

Link to Survey

I have used PBL (project based learning or problem based learning) units on a limited basis in my classroom.  I do three PBL units in my economics class and use several smaller PBL lessons in my other classes.  PBL develops a variety of skills while allowing students an opportunity to practice and work with content.  Students learning to role play, empathize, analyze, and develop products for real-world audiences.  Students also learn the value of collaboration, communication skills, and how to create interdisciplinary connections.  There has been a big cross-curricular collaborative push at my school and elements of PBL lend themselves to this cross-curricular emphasis.  For example our school created an "edible schoolyard" where science classes work on the development and growing of the garden, English and Social Studies classes work on grant writing to secure funding for further development and expansion, Geometry classes design the layouts of plant beds, and shop classes build the actual flower beds.  The eventual goal is to create a garden that allows for a CSA (community sponsored agriculture) farm run by students and different classes.

Application

The three multimedia instructional design principles I am choosing to focus on are segmenting, pre-training, and modality.

Reflection

This week's project has opened my eyes to how many tools truly exist for formative assessment.  It is so easy at the end of a lesson to have students quickly complete an exit ticket that can be used to guide instruction for the next class period.  These are tools that are easy to use and provide quick and easy data that can inform teacher reflection and future instruction.

Week 6 - Concept Mapping and Collaboration

Use in the Classroom

• Lesson Objective: the will be able to analyze content from the textbook and create a concept map answering the question "Why has global trade increased since the middle of the 1900s?"

Students will read a section of our economics textbook individually and take reading notes.  I will then group students up into groups of 4-5 people to create a concept map as a group.  Students will be encouraged to answer the above question in the form of a concept map using the information from the textbook.  The challenge will be to take the ideas and view of different group members and meld them together into a single concept map.  Through discussion and debate students will develop a stronger grasp of the content and will develop important analytical and argumentative skills.  The process of creating a concept map will also help students develop the ability to link together individual pieces of information into a larger, linked concept.

Technology opens new doors for meaningful collaboration in the classroom.  I can have students collaborate on research papers to give feedback on first and second drafts.  I can use google slides to have students collaborate on a class jigsaw presentation.  The discussion feature on google classroom allows me to give students the opportunity to discuss controversial or challenging topics - it provides students with the time and safe space to interact with one another and developing their opinions and perspectives on a variety of topics and issues.

Creating a culture of collaboration in a classroom takes intentionality on the part of the teacher.  I need to take the time to model appropriate collaborative behaviors to students - many of them do not know what good collaboration looks like.  I also need to dedicate time to team-building activities.  In order for students to feel completely comfortable sharing ideas and collaborating we need to have a classroom culture built on respect and the idea that all people have something of value to add to the discussion/project/activity.

Here is my sample project.

Application

This week's project illustrates several of the multimedia design principles.

• The Coherence Principle - a concept map takes the key ideas and places them in relation to one another.  Extraneous information is removed and only the essential content is presented to students.
• The Spatial Contiguity Principle - people learn best when related content is presented in close physical proximity to each other.  A concept map visually represents the relationships between important content.
• Segmenting  Principle - a concept map breaks a lesson into learner-paced parts.  Somebody who views a concept map processes the information in bite size pieces and analyzes one relationship at a time.  A student who is creating a concept map must break the information down into individual pieces in order to create a concept map.

Reflection

I played around with the coggle software, but ultimately struggled with using it to create my concept map.  As a google user I didn't find coggle to be as intuitive.  Ultimately I gave up and defaulted to using google drawing to create my concept map.

I thought about using Prezi.  I have never used prezi, but based on presentations I have seen it seems like it could be a good option for creating a concept map that an audience could view in a flexible and explorative way.

Throughout this class I have felt like I have struggled through each new project - most of the ideas and tools have been new and my ability to use them has been rudimentary at best.  I have appreciated being exposed to a variety of different multimedia tools, but I think it would take additional practice (and maybe PD training) to master the tools in a way that I could effectively and efficiently use them in the classroom.

Week 5 Augmented Learning

I created a document with a series of QR codes that students can scan to access various resources that will build their understanding of political ideology and political parties in the United States.  My plan is to post the different sections of the document around the room at different stations.  Students will read the objective, read the directions, and then scan the code.  After accessing the resource students will answer the question/follow the directions described on the document.

Link to Assignment

Political Parties and Ideology

Segment Title	Learning Objective - The learner will...	Directions	QR Code
Introducing Political Ideology	TLW be able to place different political ideologies on a political spectrum and describe key features of each ideology.	Please visit the website linked to the QR code.  Read over the chart on the main page (you may need to click on the image to zoom in).  In your Cornell Notes please briefly describe each political ideology represented in 4-5 sentences.
A Brief History of the Republican Party	TLW analyze the historic roots of the modern Republican party and be able to explain the major issues that defined the Republican party in different eras.	Please scan the QR code and answer the following questions in your Cornell Notes.   What issue shaped the Republican party of the 1860s? What issue defined the Republican party from 1880s through the Great Depression? How did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 lead to realignment of voter bases within the Republican party? How did immigration lead to a split in the Republican party leading up to the 2016 election?
A Brief History of the Democratic Party	TLW analyze the historic roots of the Democratic Party and be able to explain the major issues that defined the Democratic party in different eras.	Please scan the QR code and answer the following questions in your Cornell Notes. What issues define the Democratic party today? Did Andrew Jackson and the Democratic party represent the common man or the elite class? Explain. What was defining issue for Southern Democrats from the 1840s through 1960s?  What changed in 1964? How did FDR change the Democratic party into the party of “big government”?
What Political Ideology Are You?	TLW be able to identify the defining issues of each ideology and describe why he/she identifies with a political ideology.	Please choose from any of the three (you may use all three if you like) political ideology quizzes linked to the QR codes on the right.  Then answer the following questions in your Cornell Notes. What political ideology best describes you?  Why do you think this is the case? What do you think are the defining issues of each political ideology?
Applying your Knowledge to Campaign Commercials	TLW use their knowledge of different political ideologies to categorize historic campaign commercials as either being liberal or conservative.	Please watch the three campaign commercials linked in the QR codes to the right.  For each commercial please identify as either conservative or liberal and then explain in 2-3 sentences why you believe this to be the case.  Use specifics from the commercial to illustrate your point.

Each section has a unique focus and learning objective with a resource and guiding questions to help the student achieve that learning objective.  Students are able to learn at their own pace and are able to review the materials to whatever extent is needed.  This fits with multi-media principles outlined in week one as well as the concept of differentiation.  Students can work at their own pace and can review materials as many times as needed.  I also have included guiding questions to help them pick out the key ideas and concepts from each resource.

Using augmented learning artifacts in the classroom is labor intensive, but can offer a unique tool for instruction.  Instead of a teacher-centered model where students passively absorb information from a stationary physical position, I can use QR codes to get students moving around and interacting with a variety of different electronic resources.  This type of tool also allows me to slowly scaffold lessons for learners of different abilities.

I am also excited about the possibilities this presents for student creation of artifacts.  Students could be assigned a topic and would be responsible for compiling resources that their classmates could easily access using their devices.  

I frequently use "job fair" or "speed dating" formats for student presentations/sharing of information.  However, in the future I could have students create a brief audio or video presentation of their information linked to a QR code either on their poster, presentation, or project.  Students could peruse the room at their own pace listening to the presentations on their devices.  This frees up students to move around and access other presentations as opposed to sitting giving the same presentation 5-6 times.