As far as working with 1st graders goes, I absolutely love that simulation. It is very easy to understand, the videos are good, and it is just as simple as what you would do in class really. I think the best part about it is that it does not work unless students are making predictions, which in my opinion the first thing that tends to fall apart within high school students (I can't get my kids to make a prediction that makes any sense to save my life.)
What specifically do you plan on asking your kids within the data collection? Can you come up with more guiding questions instead of "what did you like, what did you not like?" I feel like if you can probe them in a certain direction more, the student answers, and thus results, will be much easier to assess.
Also, would it be possible to supplement this activity with a classroom set of mealworms so that you can both have the simulation, as well as the actual live version. I'm not saying every kid gets there own, but more of a the whole class shares 3, so that you can relate what is occurring on the computer to what really happens. That is more just a thought than anything else.
Anyway, I like the idea alot, I just think you need to find someway to supplement your data collection to really find out the answers you are investigating.
Hello! I am not clear how to click on the link at all. It's not coming up as a link. I believe we can view everyone's entry back where we originally submitted it so I'll go back and try to find it there.
I am going to simply do the old fashion cut and paste with mine. -I know it's a lot of info. for a blog but here goes: Plan- Inquiry Project Two Lisen Margaret Johnson Hey CEP-806 A subject matter idea worth learning- The subject matter for this project will be the Puritan Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony and the truth behind The First Thanksgiving. The students I work with are surprisingly culturally illiterate when it comes to the story of the first Thanksgiving. They have only the faintest idea of the Pilgrim/Indian plot line and out of a class of thirty, only three could come close to explaining the significance of the Mayflower. As educated members of the society as a whole it is important for them to be able to intelligently take part in this cultural conversation. And, at the end of this lesson they may even be ahead of most, as they will be armed with the true history not a romanticized story. The idea and the students’ educative experience- So much of the lore of Thanksgiving has drifted so far from reality that it proves to be an excellent subject for a historical investigation as it gives a number of opportunities to interpret data and separate fact from fiction. As the students explore the conditions of the Mayflower and imagine what it might be like to journey over the Atlantic on such a vessel they may begin to grasp the sacrifice these people were willing to undertake to practice their beliefs. In addition, I hope that they will come to understand that when the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock there already existed a thriving society. Finally, I would like develop in their minds an accurate a picture of the first Thanksgiving . Two instructional approaches- My instructional approach for this lesson must actually entail three approaches. Because my students have such a faint idea of the players in this history, it will be necessary for me to give a background lesson on the Puritans and why they were willing to undertake such a pilgrimage as well as a background on the Native Americans, specifically the Wampanoag, and what their culture and society looked like before the arrival of the Pilgrims. After the students are brought up to speed on this we will begin our computer oriented approaches. The first involves the site is http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving. This provides a virtual tour of The Mayflower and a detailed account of the events of their crossing. The next site: http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc/index_js2.html provides more information on the daily lives of the Pilgrims and Wampanoag as well as a more in-depth detail on the events of the first Thanksgiving. To process the information found on these sites, students will take two parts. First they will play the role of historian and draw up a list of questions they would ask a Pilgrim or a Native American (They will be assigned one or the other.) Next they will assume either the role of the a Pilgrim if they wrote questions for the Native American or the role of the Native American if they wrote question for the Pilgrims and answer the questions from another historian. Finally, using the data they have collected they will resume the role of the historian and write a historical account of the Pilgrims and The First Thanksgiving. Data- In order to answer the questions: (1) What was the nature of their experience during the activity? (2) What role did the simulation play in this experience? Data will be in for the form observations I will make during the lesson, the work turned in by the students , and a survey of the experience filled out by the students.
Ok, Crystal I found yours. Looks very fun. We secondary teachers could learn a lot from the lesson plans of you elemtary types! I have two questions though: 1) Where are you getting the real meal worms from? Is it the teacher who's purchased them herself? 2) I was under the impression that we were to have two simulation approaches. Will it fit the criteria to have one none real life and one virtual? Just wondering I'm sure David will address this when he reviews your plan.
In any case it looks like a great lesson!
Ian, I couldn't access your plan! I'll try to just input the address in the address bar.
This is a link to my plan from my portfolio(its a PDF file). FYI.. I wrote intended for students that I taught last year, but no job this year to sample it on. So I using my family members. I will be commenting on your info later today.
Ian, I enjoyed your plan a lot. It makes look back at my bio classes at college. I graduated fairly recent so I can give you some of th incite that worked best for my experience, I my cellular biology class which was around five years cds and simulations where crap or didnt exist. I struggled learning transcription, translation, and proetein syn. I waited as long as I could to take genetics becasue these materials were difficult to me. Two years later i took genetics in lecture hall of who knows how many and we went over PP which didnt pertain to diddly. SO where I am going is that books cannot do an efficient job at explaining these concepts. If it wasnt for the CD that came with the book which was brand new. I would have been retaking it. I learnded more from the simulations on the CD than from two weekely yawn fests from the Professor. I am totally for simulations for such as this. These concepts cannot be explained on paper to all kids.
I took my project in a different approach due to the fact I am not teaching this year, is that if a concept can be explained using the natural material then it is hands the better way to do. I dont think simulations of disections or virtual chem labs do any good except save money period. I have done my fair share and they turn out to be a speed test and I loose interest in that topic. Hopefully I havent offended anyone in our group seeing how i have only read urs.
I was at first going to do Meiosis and mitosis, but explaing that to my dad who was a science teacher and my mom who would be lost at the word chromosome would be kinda useless lol.
The only thing I could see that would help some students and help your data collecting would be making them draw or physically represent it on paper. But you may have thought of this in your assesment.
Can you explain the lego part for me. I am curious. Is each lego a codon because it has three connector peices or is that by chance.
I am jealous of what your doing. This is how I would have wanted to learn it in HS.
Crystal, If I was you I would get a whole bunch of tent worms and let grow all around the school to show your satisfaction of funding. jk... I dont see and problems with your plan but I am nervous for you in growing successful mealworms. I have had lizards my whole life. They arent that fun of insects. They take so long to reproduce and change phases. Is this going to be a long unit? If you ask pet stores will sell you some of the beetles. If you need some more hints on growing them dont be afraid to ask.
I dont have much to say on it because you project is straight forward to me. Like I mentioned to Ian is that if something can be represented in a first hand experience I dont see how it could be better in a simulation for the learner. Thats not to say for the teacher or school who benefits from time and funding. I am not the most famaliar with elementary ed but I can forsee students knowing the correct info from the simulation provided for data and some sort if short term memory. At that age the first hand experience will be more meaningful down the road and maybe hard to look for when collecting data. I thinking we maybe on the same page here. Dont forget to tell your students that there is a lot of protein in mealworms.
Lisen, This reminds me of the Ellis Island renactment I did in middle school. I liked the websites and especiially the timeline one during the voyage. I was confused on the instructional approaches, are you comparing the simulation to the role reveral interviews or am I way confused. I am sorry I dont have as much to say to you as I did for crystal and Ian. Also what grades do you teach that may help me out when thinking about this project.
I teach high school social studies (this explains the non-science theme!) at an alternative school. This lesson may seem a bit middle schoolish but my students generally read at a 6th grade level and are lacking in their cultural liteacy, so I believe the sites are appropriate.
As for my approach, I am not approaching it as a comparison of the two simulations but rather as a comparison between virtual vs. traditional lessons. It is my hope that the data I collect will give me a true picture of the value of simulations.
I really appreciate your thoughtful and thorough feed back.
Yea, I got to your plan! I have to admit a lot of the science jargon is lost on me but I mostly get it. I think I would totally get it if I could particiapte in the lesson in your classroom -and maybe finally understand DNA!
You seem to have some experience in teaching this lesson so I'm curious about how you think they'll fare compared to the classes who won't participate in the virtual simulations.
Listen – I like the virtual experiences you found for your students, especially the one that explores the everyday life of the Pilgrims and Native Americans. I must admit, I was a little confused by the lack of activities for an obvious comparison of virtual experience to hands on experience but after looking back at Dr. Wong’s guidelines for this project I see now that it is not necessary. But indeed you will probably have to think back in your teaching and compare this group of learner’s experience with virtual learning to a year that you taught this same theme but without the use of computers. If your feedback from the instructors come back and they are worried about the lack of “hands on” or “non-virtual” approach what are your thoughts on something to implement? You could always bring in a guest speaker from a nearby Native American tribe or in your study of the everyday living of Pilgrims you can bring in food that the Pilgrims survived off of before they befriended the Indians and had little to eat.
Ian – I like your approaches for your unit on the structure of DNA. Using a computer simulation to create DNA and then using legos are two completely different approaches and it will be interesting to hear which one the majority of students prefer. I am sure that one benefit of the simulation is its immediate feedback rather than the legos activity where you will be in charge of telling students whether they’ve got it or not. Your questions are great, helped clarify the changes I need in my own questions for my students. Your plan for data collection seem to be on point (informal assessment, formal assessment, interview questions).
Adam – I like the websites you found for your virtual activities for this unit. I think both approaches are great and will be interested to hear which one the majority of your students preferred. I suggest interviewing several of your students about their learning experience once the unit is complete. So not only are you going to compare your students’ learning from one approach to the other… you are also going to compare their learning to classes in the past who did not participate in virtual learning? I think I have that right. Being a middle school teacher I know that time on task is also a big issue for you and your students. If you want to assess their interest in each approach I recommend doing a 2-4 minute assessment of their time on task. I use this a lot in my classroom with elementary kids. Using tallies I keep track of every time someone is off task for a couple minutes, unbeknownst to the kids. Gives me an idea of their interest in the activity and highlights for me the best time of day to do particular kinds of activities. Your plan sounds great.
I appreciate the feedback but i have to appologize for my not giving you guys all the info. I wrote this explaining what I would do if I was teaching. I am laidoff so getting some student feedback would be impossible. I taught the lesson last year with the slinkys and rope and it was a good one day lab. I wanted to compare using the virtual rope and slinkys to compare to the real deal. I am going to be testing my inquiry on my family instead. Lucky me huh. lol. For some reason getting family to do my last inquiry was like pulling teach. If anyone has any suggestions for my approach with the family please let me know. I could use it!!
I like the activity set up alot, but I have a slight problem/question regarding your timing. If you teach the students using slinkys and ropes, then assess them via quiz, and then have students learn the material via interactive online simulations, and then assess them with a quiz, I would assume students would do better on the second quiz, regardless of which it was just because they will have covered the material twice at that point. Do you think the results would be the same if you switched the days around? Heck, do you have 2 of the same class and is it possible to have each class go in a different order? I dunno, this is just me thinking out loud I guess and if it makes no sense, then ignore it. Other than that, I like the class set up.
Oh, and you may want to question students to see how they like the different forms of instruction. They will say things that will be very quotable (meaning good presentations for you), and they will lead you into insights that you might not have had just with the quizzes.
Hi Adam. I understand your “no classroom” situation. I find myself in the same boat as you. Fortunately I have found a school that is willing to let me come in and do these inquiry projects on their students. It’s a hassle yes, but the data received based off real students doesn’t compare to what I would be getting if I were using a neighbor or family member. Just a thought. I read Ian’s comment about the validity of your assessments. His idea about using 2 different classes seems to be the answer, but again I know you are not in a school setting. If would however make your results more valid if you could find a school who is willing for you to come in on short notice. Or maybe you could find an after school program in your community that will let you come in and do your project on their kids. Sometimes it seems easier to get into place like these rather than time crunched classrooms at schools.
I made my test mp3. But I was not sure where to host it, so I chose my MSU afs space. It is useful for something. I know that the portion with me speaking is slightly fuzzy in the background, my other computer was on and created some extra white noise. Easy fix for next time. Anyways, take a gander... https://www.msu.edu/~bankeria/Banker.test.mp3
How are your Inquiries going? Have you all finished the data gathering? I'm finishing up tomorrow. They are not quite as excited about the sites I found as I was. I guess it doesn't really compare to Grand Theft Auto!
Hi everyone. Should we be posting our test podcast here on blogger? Not really sure how... I turned it in on ANGEL but realize that classmates can't access it once I turn it in. I dunno.
Project is coming along... kids love mealworms. We've lost a couple along the way which makes for a very exciting day in the classroom.
I think they're setting up a communal area for us to post our practice runs.
I have the basic premise of my podcast outlined but I wanted to record some of my student's voices and I can't figure out how I'm going to do that unless I bring my laptop to school or buy a tape recorder (do they even make those anymore?)- Any ideas?
Crystal, YUCKY! on the meal worms! Ha! But sounds like you're having some REAL (as oppposed to virtual) fun.
If you upload your mp3 test file to your afs space, you can just link to it here. I am sure there are many other hosting sites you could use as well, but I figure if I'm paying tuition still, I'm getting my monies worth :P
My presentation is going well. I have all the kinks worked out on the podcasting (I love garage band, it is so easy). I have the basic idea of what to talk about for 5 minutes, but I need to just sit down and do it. This is my last week of the cross country season I think (I doubt my boys will make it to states) and I am feeling slightly overwhelmed time-wise between teaching, coaching, and classes-ing. I plan to sit down and do it tomorrow (what an awesome waste of a friday night) because we have the State qualifying meet early on Saturday morning.
Long story short, they liked the concept of using the computer simulations, but the videos themselves were merely information that confused them or just lost their attention. Anyways, much more to come on that later...
Hey guys. Lisen I think the only way to record your students would be to bring your laptop to school or if your phone has voice recording capabilities that would be easier to take along with you.
Just finished my podcast. I too love Garage Band Ian. It is so easy to record yourself and add nifty loops. Lisen - do you have a Mac? Garageband would be a super easy way to splice together your voice recording and that of your students.
My results were pretty neat in my project. Both classes, those using live mealworms and those using virtual, learned the material and were engaged in doing so. The results of their assessments were nearly identical. I'm becoming more appreciative of virtual learning now that I know that it can be effective, given quality resources and websites.
Oh, just a reminder... don't forget about our Second Life conversation on Mindomo. Its easy to forget about those group discussions while participating in this discussion and the project... I know I let the Smithsonian discussion slip by me last week...
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to view my plan for our second inquiry project:
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dftd7zzq_10dg657tc8
Tear it apart. If you see something you like, let me know so that I can enhance it. If something is lacking, that would be awesome to know too.
Ian B.
Here's a link to my Inquiry Plan...
ReplyDeletehttp://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYlDEe2lKydfZGp0NW5xc180ZHd4a3AyZzI&hl=en
-Crystal P.
Crystal,
ReplyDeleteI don't have access/rights to view your document. You either have to invite us, or publish it such that everyone can see it.
Ian B.
Thanks Ian. Let's try that again...
ReplyDeletehttp://docs.google.com/View?id=djt5nqs_4dwxkp2g2
Crystal,
ReplyDeleteAs far as working with 1st graders goes, I absolutely love that simulation. It is very easy to understand, the videos are good, and it is just as simple as what you would do in class really. I think the best part about it is that it does not work unless students are making predictions, which in my opinion the first thing that tends to fall apart within high school students (I can't get my kids to make a prediction that makes any sense to save my life.)
What specifically do you plan on asking your kids within the data collection? Can you come up with more guiding questions instead of "what did you like, what did you not like?" I feel like if you can probe them in a certain direction more, the student answers, and thus results, will be much easier to assess.
Also, would it be possible to supplement this activity with a classroom set of mealworms so that you can both have the simulation, as well as the actual live version. I'm not saying every kid gets there own, but more of a the whole class shares 3, so that you can relate what is occurring on the computer to what really happens. That is more just a thought than anything else.
Anyway, I like the idea alot, I just think you need to find someway to supplement your data collection to really find out the answers you are investigating.
Ian B.
Crystal and Ian,
ReplyDeleteHello! I am not clear how to click on the link at all. It's not coming up as a link. I believe we can view everyone's entry back where we originally submitted it so I'll go back and try to find it there.
I am going to simply do the old fashion cut and paste with mine. -I know it's a lot of info. for a blog but here goes:
Plan- Inquiry Project Two
Lisen Margaret Johnson Hey
CEP-806
A subject matter idea worth learning-
The subject matter for this project will be the Puritan Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony and the truth behind The First Thanksgiving. The students I work with are surprisingly culturally illiterate when it comes to the story of the first Thanksgiving. They have only the faintest idea of the Pilgrim/Indian plot line and out of a class of thirty, only three could come close to explaining the significance of the Mayflower. As educated members of the society as a whole it is important for them to be able to intelligently take part in this cultural conversation. And, at the end of this lesson they may even be ahead of most, as they will be armed with the true history not a romanticized story.
The idea and the students’ educative experience-
So much of the lore of Thanksgiving has drifted so far from reality that it proves to be an excellent subject for a historical investigation as it gives a number of opportunities to interpret data and separate fact from fiction. As the students explore the conditions of the Mayflower and imagine what it might be like to journey over the Atlantic on such a vessel they may begin to grasp the sacrifice these people were willing to undertake to practice their beliefs. In addition, I hope that they will come to understand that when the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock there already existed a thriving society. Finally, I would like develop in their minds an accurate a picture of the first Thanksgiving .
Two instructional approaches-
My instructional approach for this lesson must actually entail three approaches. Because my students have such a faint idea of the players in this history, it will be necessary for me to give a background lesson on the Puritans and why they were willing to undertake such a pilgrimage as well as a background on the Native Americans, specifically the Wampanoag, and what their culture and society looked like before the arrival of the Pilgrims. After the students are brought up to speed on this we will begin our computer oriented approaches.
The first involves the site is http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving. This provides a virtual tour of The Mayflower and a detailed account of the events of their crossing.
The next site: http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc/index_js2.html provides more information on the daily lives of the Pilgrims and Wampanoag as well as a more in-depth detail on the events of the first Thanksgiving.
To process the information found on these sites, students will take two parts. First they will play the role of historian and draw up a list of questions they would ask a Pilgrim or a Native American (They will be assigned one or the other.) Next they will assume either the role of the a Pilgrim if they wrote questions for the Native American or the role of the Native American if they wrote question for the Pilgrims and answer the questions from another historian. Finally, using the data they have collected they will resume the role of the historian and write a historical account of the Pilgrims and The First Thanksgiving.
Data-
In order to answer the questions:
(1) What was the nature of their experience during the activity?
(2) What role did the simulation play in this experience?
Data will be in for the form observations I will make during the lesson, the work turned in by the students , and a survey of the experience filled out by the students.
Ok, Crystal I found yours. Looks very fun. We secondary teachers could learn a lot from the lesson plans of you elemtary types! I have two questions though: 1) Where are you getting the real meal worms from? Is it the teacher who's purchased them herself?
ReplyDelete2) I was under the impression that we were to have two simulation approaches. Will it fit the criteria to have one none real life and one virtual? Just wondering I'm sure David will address this when he reviews your plan.
In any case it looks like a great lesson!
Ian, I couldn't access your plan! I'll try to just input the address in the address bar.
Sorry for the typos! I should have read through first!!
ReplyDeletehttp://frencha8.weebly.com/student-work.html
ReplyDeleteThis is a link to my plan from my portfolio(its a PDF file). FYI.. I wrote intended for students that I taught last year, but no job this year to sample it on. So I using my family members. I will be commenting on your info later today.
Adam French
Ian, I enjoyed your plan a lot. It makes look back at my bio classes at college. I graduated fairly recent so I can give you some of th incite that worked best for my experience, I my cellular biology class which was around five years cds and simulations where crap or didnt exist. I struggled learning transcription, translation, and proetein syn. I waited as long as I could to take genetics becasue these materials were difficult to me. Two years later i took genetics in lecture hall of who knows how many and we went over PP which didnt pertain to diddly. SO where I am going is that books cannot do an efficient job at explaining these concepts. If it wasnt for the CD that came with the book which was brand new. I would have been retaking it. I learnded more from the simulations on the CD than from two weekely yawn fests from the Professor. I am totally for simulations for such as this. These concepts cannot be explained on paper to all kids.
ReplyDeleteI took my project in a different approach due to the fact I am not teaching this year, is that if a concept can be explained using the natural material then it is hands the better way to do. I dont think simulations of disections or virtual chem labs do any good except save money period. I have done my fair share and they turn out to be a speed test and I loose interest in that topic. Hopefully I havent offended anyone in our group seeing how i have only read urs.
I was at first going to do Meiosis and mitosis, but explaing that to my dad who was a science teacher and my mom who would be lost at the word chromosome would be kinda useless lol.
The only thing I could see that would help some students and help your data collecting would be making them draw or physically represent it on paper. But you may have thought of this in your assesment.
Can you explain the lego part for me. I am curious. Is each lego a codon because it has three connector peices or is that by chance.
I am jealous of what your doing. This is how I would have wanted to learn it in HS.
Adam French
Adam French
Crystal, If I was you I would get a whole bunch of tent worms and let grow all around the school to show your satisfaction of funding. jk... I dont see and problems with your plan but I am nervous for you in growing successful mealworms. I have had lizards my whole life. They arent that fun of insects. They take so long to reproduce and change phases. Is this going to be a long unit? If you ask pet stores will sell you some of the beetles. If you need some more hints on growing them dont be afraid to ask.
ReplyDeleteI dont have much to say on it because you project is straight forward to me. Like I mentioned to Ian is that if something can be represented in a first hand experience I dont see how it could be better in a simulation for the learner. Thats not to say for the teacher or school who benefits from time and funding. I am not the most famaliar with elementary ed but I can forsee students knowing the correct info from the simulation provided for data and some sort if short term memory. At that age the first hand experience will be more meaningful down the road and maybe hard to look for when collecting data. I thinking we maybe on the same page here. Dont forget to tell your students that there is a lot of protein in mealworms.
Adam French
Lisen, This reminds me of the Ellis Island renactment I did in middle school. I liked the websites and especiially the timeline one during the voyage. I was confused on the instructional approaches, are you comparing the simulation to the role reveral interviews or am I way confused. I am sorry I dont have as much to say to you as I did for crystal and Ian. Also what grades do you teach that may help me out when thinking about this project.
ReplyDeleteAdam French
Adam,
ReplyDeleteI teach high school social studies (this explains the non-science theme!) at an alternative school. This lesson may seem a bit middle schoolish but my students generally read at a 6th grade level and are lacking in their cultural liteacy, so I believe the sites are appropriate.
As for my approach, I am not approaching it as a comparison of the two simulations but rather as a comparison between virtual vs. traditional lessons. It is my hope that the data I collect will give me a true picture of the value of simulations.
I really appreciate your thoughtful and thorough feed back.
I look forward to check out your plan.
-Lisen
Ian,
ReplyDeleteYea, I got to your plan! I have to admit a lot of the science jargon is lost on me but I mostly get it. I think I would totally get it if I could particiapte in the lesson in your classroom -and maybe finally understand DNA!
You seem to have some experience in teaching this lesson so I'm curious about how you think they'll fare compared to the classes who won't participate in the virtual simulations.
-Lisen
I am interested in what
Listen –
ReplyDeleteI like the virtual experiences you found for your students, especially the one that explores the everyday life of the Pilgrims and Native Americans. I must admit, I was a little confused by the lack of activities for an obvious comparison of virtual experience to hands on experience but after looking back at Dr. Wong’s guidelines for this project I see now that it is not necessary. But indeed you will probably have to think back in your teaching and compare this group of learner’s experience with virtual learning to a year that you taught this same theme but without the use of computers. If your feedback from the instructors come back and they are worried about the lack of “hands on” or “non-virtual” approach what are your thoughts on something to implement? You could always bring in a guest speaker from a nearby Native American tribe or in your study of the everyday living of Pilgrims you can bring in food that the Pilgrims survived off of before they befriended the Indians and had little to eat.
-Crystal P.
Ian –
ReplyDeleteI like your approaches for your unit on the structure of DNA. Using a computer simulation to create DNA and then using legos are two completely different approaches and it will be interesting to hear which one the majority of students prefer. I am sure that one benefit of the simulation is its immediate feedback rather than the legos activity where you will be in charge of telling students whether they’ve got it or not. Your questions are great, helped clarify the changes I need in my own questions for my students. Your plan for data collection seem to be on point (informal assessment, formal assessment, interview questions).
-Crystal P.
Adam –
ReplyDeleteI like the websites you found for your virtual activities for this unit. I think both approaches are great and will be interested to hear which one the majority of your students preferred. I suggest interviewing several of your students about their learning experience once the unit is complete. So not only are you going to compare your students’ learning from one approach to the other… you are also going to compare their learning to classes in the past who did not participate in virtual learning? I think I have that right. Being a middle school teacher I know that time on task is also a big issue for you and your students. If you want to assess their interest in each approach I recommend doing a 2-4 minute assessment of their time on task. I use this a lot in my classroom with elementary kids. Using tallies I keep track of every time someone is off task for a couple minutes, unbeknownst to the kids. Gives me an idea of their interest in the activity and highlights for me the best time of day to do particular kinds of activities. Your plan sounds great.
-Crystal P.
I appreciate the feedback but i have to appologize for my not giving you guys all the info. I wrote this explaining what I would do if I was teaching. I am laidoff so getting some student feedback would be impossible. I taught the lesson last year with the slinkys and rope and it was a good one day lab. I wanted to compare using the virtual rope and slinkys to compare to the real deal. I am going to be testing my inquiry on my family instead. Lucky me huh. lol. For some reason getting family to do my last inquiry was like pulling teach. If anyone has any suggestions for my approach with the family please let me know. I could use it!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your feedback. Adam French
Adam,
ReplyDeleteI like the activity set up alot, but I have a slight problem/question regarding your timing. If you teach the students using slinkys and ropes, then assess them via quiz, and then have students learn the material via interactive online simulations, and then assess them with a quiz, I would assume students would do better on the second quiz, regardless of which it was just because they will have covered the material twice at that point. Do you think the results would be the same if you switched the days around? Heck, do you have 2 of the same class and is it possible to have each class go in a different order? I dunno, this is just me thinking out loud I guess and if it makes no sense, then ignore it. Other than that, I like the class set up.
Oh, and you may want to question students to see how they like the different forms of instruction. They will say things that will be very quotable (meaning good presentations for you), and they will lead you into insights that you might not have had just with the quizzes.
Ian B.
And I somehow missed that last comment. It's cool, I'm only 2 days behind...
ReplyDeleteHi Adam. I understand your “no classroom” situation. I find myself in the same boat as you. Fortunately I have found a school that is willing to let me come in and do these inquiry projects on their students. It’s a hassle yes, but the data received based off real students doesn’t compare to what I would be getting if I were using a neighbor or family member. Just a thought. I read Ian’s comment about the validity of your assessments. His idea about using 2 different classes seems to be the answer, but again I know you are not in a school setting. If would however make your results more valid if you could find a school who is willing for you to come in on short notice. Or maybe you could find an after school program in your community that will let you come in and do your project on their kids. Sometimes it seems easier to get into place like these rather than time crunched classrooms at schools.
ReplyDeleteWhats up group 4, long time no post. Anyhow...
ReplyDeleteI made my test mp3. But I was not sure where to host it, so I chose my MSU afs space. It is useful for something. I know that the portion with me speaking is slightly fuzzy in the background, my other computer was on and created some extra white noise. Easy fix for next time. Anyways, take a gander... https://www.msu.edu/~bankeria/Banker.test.mp3
Ian B.
How are your Inquiries going? Have you all finished the data gathering? I'm finishing up tomorrow. They are not quite as excited about the sites I found as I was. I guess it doesn't really compare to Grand Theft Auto!
ReplyDeleteHi everyone. Should we be posting our test podcast here on blogger? Not really sure how... I turned it in on ANGEL but realize that classmates can't access it once I turn it in. I dunno.
ReplyDeleteProject is coming along... kids love mealworms. We've lost a couple along the way which makes for a very exciting day in the classroom.
I think they're setting up a communal area for us to post our practice runs.
ReplyDeleteI have the basic premise of my podcast outlined but I wanted to record some of my student's voices and I can't figure out how I'm going to do that unless I bring my laptop to school or buy a tape recorder (do they even make those anymore?)- Any ideas?
Crystal, YUCKY! on the meal worms! Ha! But sounds like you're having some REAL (as oppposed to virtual) fun.
If you upload your mp3 test file to your afs space, you can just link to it here. I am sure there are many other hosting sites you could use as well, but I figure if I'm paying tuition still, I'm getting my monies worth :P
ReplyDeleteMy presentation is going well. I have all the kinks worked out on the podcasting (I love garage band, it is so easy). I have the basic idea of what to talk about for 5 minutes, but I need to just sit down and do it. This is my last week of the cross country season I think (I doubt my boys will make it to states) and I am feeling slightly overwhelmed time-wise between teaching, coaching, and classes-ing. I plan to sit down and do it tomorrow (what an awesome waste of a friday night) because we have the State qualifying meet early on Saturday morning.
Long story short, they liked the concept of using the computer simulations, but the videos themselves were merely information that confused them or just lost their attention. Anyways, much more to come on that later...
Ian B.
Hey guys. Lisen I think the only way to record your students would be to bring your laptop to school or if your phone has voice recording capabilities that would be easier to take along with you.
ReplyDeleteJust finished my podcast. I too love Garage Band Ian. It is so easy to record yourself and add nifty loops. Lisen - do you have a Mac? Garageband would be a super easy way to splice together your voice recording and that of your students.
My results were pretty neat in my project. Both classes, those using live mealworms and those using virtual, learned the material and were engaged in doing so. The results of their assessments were nearly identical. I'm becoming more appreciative of virtual learning now that I know that it can be effective, given quality resources and websites.
Oh, just a reminder... don't forget about our Second Life conversation on Mindomo. Its easy to forget about those group discussions while participating in this discussion and the project... I know I let the Smithsonian discussion slip by me last week...
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