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.

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!

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.