About this Blog

I am taking two classes this semester and BOTH classes require me to maintain a weekly blog. Because the topics are similar, I've decided to combine the reflections for both classes into one blog. So, each reflection post will be labeled with the appropriate course title (e.g. ECI515, ECI517) to enable those who wish to comment to know which entry to comment on.
If my method of organization is not beneficial, please feel free to let me know!
Enjoy, and happy blogging!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Learning Objects

It is very interesting to learn about learning objects as we close out the semester. I think learning objects would be okay even out of context for low order thinking skills that students need to learn. Such as learning how to create a table in MS Word, or learning how to add. I actually learning objects throughout the courses that I teach to HS students. I do not require the students to purchase a text book for my classes (the background is: I teach at an independent school; textbooks are not included in the tuition; most students end up paying an additional 500 - 600 $ per year to purchase books for their classes), so I have to find the information on the web for the different topics I teach. Since I teach computer-related courses, I have found the information I need widely on the web. So, without even knowing it, I use learning objects as the source for introducing material to my students. I also use Moodle as my course delivery system, so, having the students access the web for reading materials and other activities has not been a stretch. Even piece-mealing the objects together from different sites seems to work out well. Similar to lesson model presented in the Wiley paper, I simply break my course up into several deliverable tasks and find learning objects on the web that assist the students in completing the task. For instance in my digital video production class before I have the students go out and shoot with lights, I have them go through a learning object I found online that teaches about the importance of lighting. I also have them look at videos (from a different site) that shows them how to set up lights in a video production.
Because these tasks are "low order" I feel it is simple to integrate learning objects into a curriculum, especially because they are "decontextualized".

Sunday, April 5, 2009

I remember case-based scenarios being a big deal when I was in corporate america. Using them seemed to be the calling card of the b-schools! The concept is appealing, though. Additionally, it's used daily by physicians and lawyers. In their industry, many "cases" they encounter are rare and they must refer back to prior experience to understand how to deal with them. I would go even further and say that the IT industry uses cases as well - especially if you are in the Tech Support field! Referring back to how a computer issue was resolved is the primary method for solving problems with computers and networks.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

An example of the STAR Legacy Model

I realized after watching this week's presentation and reading the Swartz document that I have actually implemented this learning module in one of my classes. In fact, I'll tell you, it was a class that my taught the first year as a formal classroom teacher and it was a class that I "inherited" from another teacher - so it was not a class that I developed. As a result, I sort of had to create the content and piece it together as we went along in the semester. So, what I ended up doing was as follows:

The subject was Computer Networking and we were using actual routers and servers in the classroom to give the students the opportunity to "touch" what they were learning about. I decided that once the students learned about data communications, computer networking, routing, and other foundational knowledge, that I would give them the task of setting up a working computer network in our class using the provided equipment. So this was step 1 of the STAR Legacy model - presentation of the problem.
Steps 2 and 3 were also completed during this project - the students had to continue to research how computers communicated and how routers were implemented in networking. They had to research and learn how to configure the routers so they would function in the way expected. They started with assessing their skills and knowledge, determining what they needed to learn, and then set out to learn what they needed.
After the research was complete they set up and configured the network and troubleshooted until it was correct.
Steps 4 and 5 -
Their assessment and reflection was two-fold:
1 - they had to write a wiki with the purpose of documenting what they did and also documenting for future students what computer networking is (if you'd like to take a look here's the link: http://danotwork.pbwiki.com/)
2 - they had to present their wiki and network to a group of teachers; each teacher representing a different expert content area. so, essentially, they presented their final product to a panel of experts.

I think this project is the spirit of the STAR model: the students collaborated, shared, communicated with content experts, and left a legacy to future students.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Using Blockbuster Movies to Teach

I thought the article by Goldman presented a pretty cool idea: the use of an Indiana Jones movie to demonstrate a scientific problem to students. It's one of those: "why didn't I think of that?" moments! It seems so obvious, first, that presenting problems, whether through the method of PBL, or through Anchored Instruction, and then challenging students to solve the problem through research, trial, and error is an excellent format. We already know that it is extremely important to make students' learning relevant to their lives. Putting these two worlds together - movies and problem solving - seems like a natural connection. How fun to be in a history or science class and get to watch a movie about which you as the student will have to learn more about and solve a problem that is presented?
For the Anchored Instruction model, I think the video aspect of it brings it to a modern-day type of model. It was, after all, developed in 1990, one of the more current models we've studied. I continue to believe that these models that we are studying should be used sparingly and not adopted as a sole method of teaching/learning. Every student and teacher needs a bit of variety!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

A real-life, walking, talking example

In the fall of 1998, I sat in a programmer's chair in St. Charles, Il at the education facility of Andersen Consulting as a newly-hired analyst. The setup at St. Charles (which is what we called the facility) was like the article described: comparable to a college campus (in fact, I think it actually was a campus of a jr college before Andersen purchased it). We stayed in dorm rooms for three weeks while we attended classes and, specifically, participated in the goal-based scenario training. As I remember it (it was 10 years ago!), a classroom of maybe 18 people in teams of three sat in front of computers and attempted to solve the problem that was given to us. In the process of solving the problem, we learned about the business processes that AC used, the technologies used to achieve results, and how the roles of each individual team member were defined and played out. We were evaluated by our coaches throughout the process and the entire scenario was built on the simulation of what a real life project would be like. (This training was for analysts, the training we read about in GBS_Various was for consultants, which are with the firm for 24 months. The exact scenarios are not the same, but the model for learning is close.)

I did enjoy participating in the GBS. It provided hands-on experience and exposed me to a working environment that I had not known before. I have always thought that learning by doing was the best way to learn - for me - so I appreciated the approach.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

What is old becomes new again

Remember how your mother, father, or grandparents would always talk about how things that are in style today like sayings, hairstyles, clothing trends were in style back when they were young? That's the image that comes to mind when I read about the "new" teaching models that are popular today. For instance, Herrington and Standen state that "little credence is now given to learning theories that propose that learning is no more than the transmission of a body of knowledge from teacher to student." (p.196) And we are reminded in our reading and the presentation that the way knowledge was transferred "back in the day" was through apprenticeships. In fact, I always find it interesting that the same verbiage is still in use today: lawyers practice law, doctors practice medicine, because that is how they learned and, quite frankly, how they still learn today. Theories today support the notion that knowledge should be transferred through real-world experiences; authentic experiences. Experiences that are relevant and provide the appropriate context for students to learn. The Cognitive Apprenticeship appears to be a process that can help educators achieve the goal of teaching by modeling and coaching and letting the students take more control over their own learning process. It will be interesting to see if anyone chooses this model and has the ability, nay, talent, to make this model web-based.

Friday, February 13, 2009

PBL seems ideal

The way you hear the terms "21st Century" learning and skills thrown around these days, you'd think that it wasn't thought of before a couple of years ago! As I am fairly new to the K12 teaching profession, I wasn't aware of all the research and work that had been done prior to this century on the topic and urgency of 21st Century Skills and learning. From what I've read and learned over the past 4 or so years, PBL seems to me to be the poster child for 21st C. learning. It contains some of the major elements: self-direction, coaching/guidance from the teacher (as opposed to lecture), knowledge-sharing, collaboration, problem-solving, student-centered, and the list continues. But here's the question: if it's so great, has so much potential, and is beneficial for teaching the 21st C. skills we profess students must have, why isn't it ubiquitously used in schools? For that matter, why isn't it even moderately used? Please let your voice be heard!

Do you employ the PBL model in your classroom? How often if yes. Why not if no.

I will begin with my answer. I do use the PBL method in my classroom. And I'd say for 1/3 of my semester.
First, I love, love, love using projects in my class to enable my students to participate in hands-on learning, to learn by doing, and to demonstrate their understanding of the material and general knowledge. The way the PBL model is set up, it seems you have to present a problem FIRST and then coach the students through gaining the knowledge needed in order to solve the problem. I think at a college level that this sounds great. Because a lot of core or foundational information is already learned and understood and the students can at least conceptualize a problem initially while building new knowledge and skills in order to solve it. At a lower education level where students are still building their foundational knowledge, I'm not sure it makes as much sense - at least not for EVERY lesson. And that's just it - I don't think it's fair to students or teachers to expect only one method of instruction or knowledge-delivery to be used in a classroom. Every person is unique, every student learns best in different ways, and, ultimately, we as teachers should seek to vary our delivery methods in order to reach every child.

Shouldn't we?

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

A different perspective on women in math, science, and engineering

I must admit at the outset of this post that my perspective of women in the sciences must be different from the norm. If you've read any of my other posts, you know that I am a trained engineer. What I haven't disclosed is that my aunt is also an engineer (metallurgical) and my mother a physician. So, I grew up assuming and knowing that women are very capable of succeeding in math, science, and engineering - it was my norm. I attended Spelman College (all female HBCU) which was and still is rich with women in math, science and engineering. I pledged a sorority at GA Tech (which is where I obtained my engineering degree) and there were 20 of us that pledged together and all but one of us were science or engineering majors. The concept of there being some "issue" of women in the sciences was not my reality. It wasn't until I started interacting with people and women NOT in the sciences that I began to realize that there is some idea floating out there that women can't or don't do science and engineering because they are women. Now, granted, I know that more men go into the sciences, but I have a hard time instantly attributing that to women/girls being intimidated by the field. Maybe it's the people who are always talking about the "issue" that are actually creating the issue - like a self-fulfilling prophecy. :-) No one EVER told me or even mentioned to me while I was coming up that women are scarce in the sciences, or that it was hard or too hard for girls, etc., etc. I just don't get it....
Now, I was moved to write about my perspective because of the article by Haller, et. al. about cooperative learning in an introductory engineering course. It was mentioned throughout the article that groups should be designed with consideration for gender make-up. It was even stated that "several studies of cooperative learning indicate that setting up engineering groups to include only one female jeopardizes the female's chances of a full participatory role in the group." The article went on to admit that data was limited in the studies and this suggestion needs to be further investigated. Let me offer that it may not be a gender issue, but a personality issue. In many of my classes I was the only female (the aerospace discipline was not highly populated) and for two years, in my steady study group of 3, I was the only female. If you talked to other female engineers I'd bet they could affirm this by citing their own experiences. As the only female, it was not difficult for me to speak up, participate, learn, or teach in my groups or classes. But that's my personality. IMHO I think society should give women a little more credit for what they are capable of, and not beat itself up if women happen to choose to go into law instead of engineering :-)

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Excited about Guided Design!

As I do every week, I first watched the camtasia presentation on guided design before reading the research articles. I immediately was connecting with the method of instruction and already thinking about what the topic of my module was going to be using guided design. Then I read the Casada/DeShazer article where it talks about how this method was used in an introductory engineering class to help students learn problem solving for design, professionalism, and communication. This captured my attention even more! One of my undergrad degrees is in engineering, so I immediately connected with the point that these skills are important and need to be taught. It is unfortunate, however, that the University of Idaho used the instruction method, which is intended to help students learn problem-solving skills, to teach problem-solving skills. Just doesn't seem to make sense, and, according to the report of how the course went, it didn't make sense to the students either. It would seem to me that the problem-solving skills should be learned and taught through the process of actually solving real-life problems - like the method is intended to be used.
I like the idea of using guided design as a method of teaching and learning because I believe strongly in real-life applications of knowledge. Additionally, decision-making is a skill all people must learn to be successful in life and I think guided design puts these two together nicely. I strive to provide realistic problems and projects in my technology classes for my students. Granted, it is not hard to come up with practical applications for a podcast or, say, a web page, but I think in any course we as educators really need to focus on providing real-life problems for students to solve and help them develop one of the 21st C. skills: decision-making.

Friday, January 23, 2009

The Audio-Tutorial Method Fails to Impress

In my review of the material surrounding the individualized instruction method of Audio-Tutorial (A-T), I must say that I am not impressed. The data that reported on the results of comparisons between the A-T and conventional teaching methods seem to be stretched and distorted to show that the A-T method is sometimes favored. From what I can tell, it looks like the A-T approach is too much work for the instructor and too much time and work for the student. There is a general session EVERY week, plus small group sessions EVERY week (at least once per week), AND the individual work sessions at least once per week. It seems to me that as a student, I'd rather sit through the potentially boring lecture to receive my material as opposed to having to make the time to attend all of the required sessions under the A-T method. Furthermore, as an instructor, I have to prepare for more sessions that the traditional lecture approach to teaching. Too much work!
I like the idea of supplementing a conventional instruction approach with A-T components, but, I do not favor an entire course being delivered in this method.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Effectively Grading Students

Watching the classroom presentation of PSI got me to thinking about the practice of evaluating students for grades. My professional training began in corporate america and my academic subjects covered math and engineering, not education, so, I preface this post with the admission that I do not posses some of the formal training that most teachers do. My personal education training has been very rigorous and my professors expected a lot from me. Thus, I expect a lot from my students. As a teacher of technology, I look for my students to be precise, timely, and accountable. Grading is such a subjective process. I was struck by the mention of how grades should be awarded in the PSI presentation. I agree with the original Keller plan that just the basic learning of the material presented warrants a grade of "C," and B's and A's should be reserved for students who go above and beyond what is asked of them from the basic course material. This is how I try to operate in my classes. Assignments, projects, and formal assessments are developed/designed to separate the good students from the excellent students - I think this is only fair to the students that exceed what is expected.
Remember, a "C" is supposed to be average, a "B" is good, and an "A" is excellent!
What do you think? What is your grading philosophy?

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Just a start

I'm looking forward to all of the learning and collaboration ahead of us in ECI 515 and ECI 517. Here's to a wonderful semester!