Description of Implementation
I began phase one with a project entitled “Hot Dogs Sweetened by the Sun.” Students designed and built hot dog cookers based on parabolic structures; the intent, a fun mathematics project that gave me an opportunity to evaluate students abilities to collaborate. Upon the completion of the project, each student was given a feedback form where they scored themselves and each member of their group on engagement and cooperation. The feedback forms provide a way to analyze student participation during collaborative activities and assessments. Furthermore, these forms allow me to compare each students individual score with what I have observed in my journal. I found that students were engaged during this hands-on activity and a summary of the data for the hot dog project is provided below.
I began phase one with a project entitled “Hot Dogs Sweetened by the Sun.” Students designed and built hot dog cookers based on parabolic structures; the intent, a fun mathematics project that gave me an opportunity to evaluate students abilities to collaborate. Upon the completion of the project, each student was given a feedback form where they scored themselves and each member of their group on engagement and cooperation. The feedback forms provide a way to analyze student participation during collaborative activities and assessments. Furthermore, these forms allow me to compare each students individual score with what I have observed in my journal. I found that students were engaged during this hands-on activity and a summary of the data for the hot dog project is provided below.
hot_dog_project_students.docx | |
File Size: | 41 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Following the hot dog project, we began a new unit on exponents and logarithms. During this unit, I planned to model several exploration activities; similar, to the in-depth collaborative performance task assessment that would be given to the students. In addition, students were shown technological resources available to them; in particular, functions of the TI-83 calculator that would allow them to create exponential models. As part of phase one, I also began to introduce online resources available for learning mathematics. Students have access to netbooks but these were unreliable and access for students was not 1:1. Therefore, I adjusted the implementation of phase one to focus more on classroom resources available to all students, like the TI-83 calculator.
During the first two weeks of phase one, I modeled three explorations for the students (explorations are provided below). I was not planning on modeling three activities but because of student difficulty with the first exploration I decided that more than one modeling session was needed. The first exploration activity I modeled was “I Am Interested.” This was a real-world exploration activity that was intended to familiarize students with the multi-step procedures needed for their collaborative assessment. Following this activity, I modeled another exploration entitled “Which Scholarship do you Choose?” After these guided practice explorations the students were given an hour to complete an activity, similar to the previous two, on fictitious population rates in Arizona. Students were given the solutions at the end of the hour when they had completed the activity in order to reinforce their understanding of the concepts. My reasoning for modeling three activities similar to the collaborative assessment was so students could have a series of scaffolded sessions before they embarked on their own assessment activity.
During the first two weeks of phase one, I modeled three explorations for the students (explorations are provided below). I was not planning on modeling three activities but because of student difficulty with the first exploration I decided that more than one modeling session was needed. The first exploration activity I modeled was “I Am Interested.” This was a real-world exploration activity that was intended to familiarize students with the multi-step procedures needed for their collaborative assessment. Following this activity, I modeled another exploration entitled “Which Scholarship do you Choose?” After these guided practice explorations the students were given an hour to complete an activity, similar to the previous two, on fictitious population rates in Arizona. Students were given the solutions at the end of the hour when they had completed the activity in order to reinforce their understanding of the concepts. My reasoning for modeling three activities similar to the collaborative assessment was so students could have a series of scaffolded sessions before they embarked on their own assessment activity.
explorations.docx | |
File Size: | 45 kb |
File Type: | docx |
After all three activities were modeled, students were given a collaborative assessment intended to measure their learning; “Pick A Car, Any Car.” I simply read the assignment to the students and then let them get to work. My involvement was intentionally limited on this assessment because I wanted to be able to monitor student attitudes and engagement. During my observations I recorded notes in my personal journal and l I could hear students saying things like "we put this in the calculator and then we can find our graph." I also noticed that students were still struggling to create their scatterplots and put their data in lists in the TI-83 calculator. When I was modeling the first activity I noticed that students were struggling with these concepts and their struggles are why I decided to model two more problems. However, students were still struggling when they were given this task on their own. Overall, students performed well on the collaborative assessment; however, student engagement among the struggling students was limited. The chart below shows each student’s score and self-assessment evaluation.