Imagine IT Project Phase 5
Conferring with Colleagues and Conducting Focus Group
Conferring with Colleagues & Conducting Focus Group.
Conferring with my colleagues the dilemmas in implementing my Imagine IT Project, Dilemma #1 How do I create a curriculum that abides by the parameters of the set curriculum and still manage to take take a step further to weave the concept that I want, like imagine IT Project. Finding the right balance is a dilemma. They agreed that finding the right balance of incorporating an additional instructions from the established structured curriculum required both additional time to plan and assess students. My colleagues are very flexible, accommodating and suggested that with my Imagine IT Project can focus on narrower scope for example instead of motion, force, and energy that required several units, I can focus on the unit of force if the product that I wanted for my students is to create a video clip on misconceptions. A suggestion of asking the students to search for a video clip of physics concepts and evaluate if any laws in physics is violated. My ideas was to let students create a video of misconceptions in physics in addition to search for video clip and video tape a commentary if the law of physics is violated or not.
Dilemma #2 Students to achieve a deeper understanding, but now you have to assess them for this deeper understanding while having them progress towards the standardized tests. Some suggestions that I gathered from my colleagues, to embed ACT type questions in our weekly lessons. A brilliant idea from my colleagues to create an ACT Apps packet that covers the ACT type test that can be implemented in 5 minutes (1question/min). Our students are getting better with time but not enough evidence for deep understanding. It is another issue to resolve. Exploration, lab investigations and experiments required both equipment, supplies, and more time however it can provide more avenue for deep understanding. Using available technology can make a big difference in data collection however use of online data to analyze if the instruments are not affordable levels the playing field. So a clear cut answer of what to do is hard to find.
The selected focus group (students) were excited to really use their phone since it has been my policy to keep away their cellphones. However, this year a big change happened, there are times that students can use their cellphones as a tool to learn for example the data collection, taking picture or video of falling object. Students just needed clear and constant reminder from day 1 when is the right time to use cellphone. The product I want my students to demonstrate their learning could be under the multimodal composition as well. Finding multiple pathways to demonstrate their learning is not limited to pencil and paper assessment but with embedded technology, they can express the way they learned in multiple modes. I discovered how my students’ learned by using multimodal composition for example I asked them to describe the lesson in motion by creating a story.
The changes that I need to consider, the narrow down the unit lessons that I had planned and do a gradual release of the concepts and provide a constant feedback along the way. For example, focusing on exploration activities on forces in class and to be able to know what students learn and did not learn within that class period so that the practice work for students can be more meaningful. If students know what to do, they will be motivated to do the work. The concepts that build up will be their foundation in creating their video clip of misconceptions or finding a video clip and analyze whether it obeys or violates the laws in physics.
The assessment of using multiple choice remains to maintain department consistency in data collection of our test result to evaluate our students’ achievement on the concept but I am adding my Imagine IT Project as a validation of students learning not necessary to give grade but just to know. Finding how the multiple choice test vs. Imagine IT Project are correlated can be very informative information.
Conferring with my colleagues the dilemmas in implementing my Imagine IT Project, Dilemma #1 How do I create a curriculum that abides by the parameters of the set curriculum and still manage to take take a step further to weave the concept that I want, like imagine IT Project. Finding the right balance is a dilemma. They agreed that finding the right balance of incorporating an additional instructions from the established structured curriculum required both additional time to plan and assess students. My colleagues are very flexible, accommodating and suggested that with my Imagine IT Project can focus on narrower scope for example instead of motion, force, and energy that required several units, I can focus on the unit of force if the product that I wanted for my students is to create a video clip on misconceptions. A suggestion of asking the students to search for a video clip of physics concepts and evaluate if any laws in physics is violated. My ideas was to let students create a video of misconceptions in physics in addition to search for video clip and video tape a commentary if the law of physics is violated or not.
Dilemma #2 Students to achieve a deeper understanding, but now you have to assess them for this deeper understanding while having them progress towards the standardized tests. Some suggestions that I gathered from my colleagues, to embed ACT type questions in our weekly lessons. A brilliant idea from my colleagues to create an ACT Apps packet that covers the ACT type test that can be implemented in 5 minutes (1question/min). Our students are getting better with time but not enough evidence for deep understanding. It is another issue to resolve. Exploration, lab investigations and experiments required both equipment, supplies, and more time however it can provide more avenue for deep understanding. Using available technology can make a big difference in data collection however use of online data to analyze if the instruments are not affordable levels the playing field. So a clear cut answer of what to do is hard to find.
The selected focus group (students) were excited to really use their phone since it has been my policy to keep away their cellphones. However, this year a big change happened, there are times that students can use their cellphones as a tool to learn for example the data collection, taking picture or video of falling object. Students just needed clear and constant reminder from day 1 when is the right time to use cellphone. The product I want my students to demonstrate their learning could be under the multimodal composition as well. Finding multiple pathways to demonstrate their learning is not limited to pencil and paper assessment but with embedded technology, they can express the way they learned in multiple modes. I discovered how my students’ learned by using multimodal composition for example I asked them to describe the lesson in motion by creating a story.
The changes that I need to consider, the narrow down the unit lessons that I had planned and do a gradual release of the concepts and provide a constant feedback along the way. For example, focusing on exploration activities on forces in class and to be able to know what students learn and did not learn within that class period so that the practice work for students can be more meaningful. If students know what to do, they will be motivated to do the work. The concepts that build up will be their foundation in creating their video clip of misconceptions or finding a video clip and analyze whether it obeys or violates the laws in physics.
The assessment of using multiple choice remains to maintain department consistency in data collection of our test result to evaluate our students’ achievement on the concept but I am adding my Imagine IT Project as a validation of students learning not necessary to give grade but just to know. Finding how the multiple choice test vs. Imagine IT Project are correlated can be very informative information.