Proposal+Criteria

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Members
= = = = =Assignment 1 Criteria = 
 * Doug Smith
 * **Peggy Lawson**
 * Dy Chen

Possible remarks for Introduction, other

 * I'll start working on writing something we might use for part of the introduction, concerning the biology bit especially.

Suggested (but not required) Sections for our Project Proposal
>> > It will also be important for your group to think about how you will submit your dynamic objects for evaluation. Will you need a website, a course shell in a learning management system (like WebCT or Moodle), a wiki space, etc.? It will be important for your group to work out with your instructor – ahead of time – what your specific needs are for your project so that you instructor can assist your group. In past offerings of ETEC510, students have drawn upon their own resources at their local institutions as well as those at UBC in order to complete their project work.
 * 1) **Key Frameworks** - What is the focus of your design project? How are you situating your design activities in the academic literature? What/Whose ideas about learning and learning environments are relevant? What/Whose theoretical insights and perspectives frame your thinking about the particular group of learners your project targets? How are you framing the primary educational activities? How are you framing the use of educational media? //approx. 2 pages/approx. 600 word//
 * 2) We propose a unit of study for an online Grade 11 or 12 biology class focusing on human genetics. The unit will be presented to the student through problem-based learning scenarios. The above paper also deals with PBL  (Hoic-Bozic, Mornar, & Boticki, 2009) . As the unit begins, following Jonassen's (1999) concepts of constructive learning environments, students will work to determine what knowledge will be required to investigate the problems and to identify what knowledge they bring with them through the use of guided questions and activities,
 * 3) The module will then be broken down into the critical biological sub-modules. While collaborative work will play a role during these sub-units, each student must be able to demonstrate individual mastery of the topics. Once the critical concepts have been addressed, the problem will be brought to the fore again, to be solved by group effort.
 * 4) The resources would also be available to be used by F2F and blended classes.
 * 5) As the unit will involve collaborative projects to promote constructivist learning, options will be provided for how collaborations may be accomplished in both F2F and online environments. I think we really need to nail this down. f2f, blended or online? I've spent some time searching for literature on LMS and Community of Practice or Practice Fields, and came up with a big blank. I believe if we go the blended or online route, we should set the environment as a Moodle LMS which focuses on discussion forum, wiki and Upload Files Assignments. I have found a relevant paper on blended learning (blended-learning.pdf), and I can mine it and its citations for justifications on why we chose this methodology, if we decide to do blended. I would be good for blended & online. I have lots of experience, including MET papers, on online ed.
 * 1) I see this more as learning through the use of practice fields, as described by Barab and Duffy (2000), rather than a true community of practice.
 * 2) High school students are often poorly motivated, thus it is important to develope scenarios for learning that are designed to engage students by requiring active learning by the student in authentic, real-life activities. Plans are to provide a few scenario options based on real-life cases such as paternity suits or forensic cases. Providing some choice will facilitate student ownership of the problem. Students may chose to come up with their own scenario.
 * 3) For example the unit of study will begin with the scenario (or provide several as options). e.g. "you are a forensic geneticist tasked with proving or disproving paternatity in a major celebrity case." Do we even provide any real "data" at this point? I'd suggest maybe not, and the 1st real activity is to, through guided questions, have students as a class brainstorm what all they need to know in terms of biological concepts, laboratory skills, etc.) in order to solve the problem. From there, the material can be "chunked" in some way, somewhat similar to how classes are often taught but with the teacher acting more as a facilitator for each component. I agree with Doug's google doc comment that too often biology is too much just reading & memorizing, so we need to find other ways for students to get information.
 * 4) Possible scenarios -
 * 5) Paternity (e.g. Jennifer Aniston's baby - is it Brad Pitt's?)
 * 6) Forensic murder mystery
 * 7) Creating a new species of life
 * 8) **Intentions and Positions -** What do you intend to accomplish by means of this design? What does scholarship in Education have to say about placing value on this particular cluster of goals? What might be a counter-argument to placing value on this particular set of outcomes? How do the stated goals of your project fit, or not, with larger sets of goals (e.g., globalization, a School District position paper, and so on…)? What is the predominant technology that you will use? Why this technology? //(approx. 3 pages/approx. 900 words)//
 * 9) The primary method of this approach is to encourage a constructivist approach to learning to assist students in taking control and ownership of their own learning. Students are often willing to sit back and absorb content. But for the 21st century learner memorizing fact after fact or learning how to build a genetic Punnett Square demonstrates little in terms of building knowledge, which requires the ability to synthesis sometimes diverse bits of knowlege. While I (we? thoughts here?) do not fully subscribe to Scardamalia and Bereiter's (1994) knowledge-building focus in it's entirety (elaborate), providing opportunites for students to build their own body of knowledge. One particular challenge is to meet Scardamalia and Bereiter's criteria that "less knowledgeable participants in the discourse play an important role, pointing out what is difficult to understand and, in turn, inadequacies in explanations." (pg. 275). From my (our?) experiences these "less knowledgeable participants" often have a tendency to withdraw from the conversation, rather than request further clarification.
 * 10) Goals - metacognition - get the students to start understanding that there are steps to achieve a goal, including a learning goal. There are often different paths that one may use to reach the ultimate goal but there are still steps that have to be built or achieved before reaching the final goal. This project is designed to assist students in identifying what gaps are present in their knowlege and helping them identify approaches that help them fill these gaps.
 * 11) I would like to tie in the specific biological goals from the curriculum (find the outcomes in one of our biology curriculums) with the foundations of scientific literacy (see the Miscellanous page). So there are specific learning outcomes to achieve, but also a "way of knowing" in science, or the literacies of science. There may be cross-curricular opportunities in the interactivities (ie biology + chemistry) - I like this; English Language Arts perhaps as well
 * 12) Key foci of Saskatchewan science curricula, including the new senior science curricula currently in development
 * 13) STSE, Skills, Knowledge, Attitudes (see graphic on the Miscellaneous page)
 * 14) Evidence-based explanations
 * 15) Driving questions to guide inquiry
 * 16) Field work / laboratory work
 * 17) Technology for data collection / analysis
 * 18) Project-based learning / case studies
 * 19) Interdisciplinary connections
 * 20) Career exploration
 * 21) Saskatchewan biology curriculum, as well as all other senior sciences, will soon be undergoing major revisions. Proposed changes in the Biology 30 (typically grade 12) curriculum will involve the following units. Our project will cover much of the genetics unit as well as independent study/career exploration
 * 22) Genetic Continuity (30%) - Molecular genetics, biotechnology
 * 23) Evolution, Change, and Diversity (30%) - Fossil record, evolutionary mechanisms, classification
 * 24) Maintaining Dynamic Equilibrium (30%) - Homeostasis, plant and animal systems
 * 25) Independent Study / Career Exploration (10%)
 * 26) School Districts in BC are looking for pilot projects in distance and blended learning, as a gradual change to 21st Century Learning
 * 27) 900 words - I think we need to focus on 3 to 5 (?) goals that we're trying to accomplish with the design.
 * 28) can be used as a pilot project for existing f2f classrooms - refer to our research on using blended learning and fields of practice (answers "why use this technology?") - Depends on whether we suggest this as primarily online class, or F2F. My own division, and province, is well into online education so I wouldn't think it needs to be a pilot.
 * 29) metacognition - do we have scholarship on this? does this partially refer to Knowledge Building? (I have no info on this - I'd suggest we omit)
 * 30) constructivism - I think this is central. In the past, including my own previous online classes, the focus was very cognitive-behaviourist (see the Anderson paper I just added today, and am still just reading myself. In the past, online ed was still very much teacher-focused, download & read/listen to the material. The social constructivist online pedagogy is very much focused on collaboration between students. I think this might be the main area of focus of our project - transitioning between teacher-focused and learner-centered, constructivist.
 * 31) meaningful learning - mind maps, student interest - this ties in well with constructivist pedagogy
 * 32) choice as a motivator and as a way to provide learner-centered instruction
 * 33) **Key Concepts and Contexts**– What is the knowledge (both conceptual “know that”, and procedural “know how”, that is the focus of your design project? What academic scholarship is relevant to thinking about this particular knowledge focus? What is the context for your design project? What academic scholarship is relevant to thinking about this particular context? Who are the learners who will be the target of the learning experience you are planning? What are the relevant academic literatures that address the kinds of learners your design targets? What are the most important perspectives on the group of learners your design targets? What are the points of contention in the academic literature regarding this group of learners, and kinds of educational design? What is your position regarding these discussions of point of view regarding this group of learners? How will this affect the design? //(approx. 2 pages/approx. 600 words)//
 * 34) List the biology outcomes here for high school biology (see Biology Concepts page)
 * 35) design targets motivation (Araz & Sungur, 2007; Hmelo-Silver, 2004) - can you expand Doug, in our context? Sounds good.
 * 36) some people argue against constructivism - always good to include counter-views
 * 37) **InterActivities** – What kinds of dynamic objects will you create for carrying out your designs in a specific context. The possibilities are endless, and include: website, podcast, animation, simulation, game, unit plan, layout for media lab, workshop plan and activities etc… What are the main steps you need to take to produce the materials that will support InterActivity? How will the /objects/learning materials be produced?
 * 1) **InterActivities** – What kinds of dynamic objects will you create for carrying out your designs in a specific context. The possibilities are endless, and include: website, podcast, animation, simulation, game, unit plan, layout for media lab, workshop plan and activities etc… What are the main steps you need to take to produce the materials that will support InterActivity? How will the /objects/learning materials be produced?
 * 1) Some suggestions -
 * 2) Having students use mind-mapping software (such as Inspiration) to help develop their own (group) learning paths - what knowledge is needed to solve the problem?
 * 3) Collaborative web 2.0 tools to help with group work, such as Google docs & wikis; skype; prezi, voice thread. Many things are available, and I would recommend providing options.
 * 4) Discussion Forums
 * 5) Online simulations to provide background on key genetic information (start to list)
 * 6) Mendelian genetics
 * 7) **Online Learning Pedagogy**
 * 8) (There are many reasons why online education might be offered, but I don't know if we need to go into all of that for our proposal. Thoughts?)
 * 9) Online learning, which is often web-based although other methods of delivery may be used, has seen tremendous growth in recent years and has seen significant change from it's paper-and-pencil ancestor, the correspondance school. Whereas correspondance school involved minimal teacher-student interaction other than the exchange of assignments, and little to no student-to-student interaction, well-designed online courses, whether delivered synchronously or asynchronously, recognize that online instruction must provide a constructivist and collaborative environment for learning.
 * 10) Some quotes from my own papers for other classes - just getting down some key thoughts that have relevance here -
 * 11) The Canadian Council of Learning (2009; cited in Barbour, 2009, p. 7) made clear the importance of effective course delivery and instruction by stating that the “delivery of resources . . . does not guarantee learning.” Relevant factors to consider in designing and managing an effective distance education program can be narrowed down to several areas (Cavanaugh and Clark, 2007) – recognition of intrinsic student characteristics, instructional factors, course design, technology, and administrative practices. Watson and Gemin (2009) provide recommendations for managing and operating online programs in the categories of curriculum development and course quality, teacher management, student support, technology management, and program evaluation
 * 12) In his review Conrad (2007) noted several key roles and attributes of successful online teachers – a constructivist, learner-centered pedagogy, strong planning and management skills, technological skills, and the ability to engage students in collaborative and social learning. Online teachers need particularly effective communication skills. Davis and Rose (2007, citing Kearsley and Blomeyer, 2003) provide specifics that are useful when evaluating online teachers – providing timely and meaningful feedback, creating engaging learning activities, the ability to keep students motivated and interested, promoting effective interactions between students, and encouraging critical and reflective skills in students.
 * 13) What course design features promote student success? Some factors directly relate pedagogy to design. Clear expectations, concrete deadlines with some flexibility, strategies to aid student such as time sheets and study guides, and outlines of course requirements are all critical (Cavanaugh and Clark, 2007). The SREB (2006c) categorizes course design standards into course content, instructional design, student assessment, technology, and course evaluation and management. A recent meta-analysis by Menchaca and Bekele (2008) noted one limitation in that individual studies only considered a limited number of success factors which reduces their holistic usefulness. Grouping their findings into five interdependent categories - technology-related, user characteristics, course-related, learning approach, and support services – the authors noted that studies suggest that clear expectations and structure and courses that adopted appropriate learning views are among the course-related factors that promote success for students.
 * 14) There are several publications by the SREB(b) and iNacol, two organizations that focus on quality online education, that highlight critical features of successful online programs. I'll post summaries of some key findings tomorrow. Some, from SREB(b) are:
 * 15) **Instructional Design **
 * 16) **Standard **: The course uses learning activities that engage students in active learning; provides students with multiple learning paths to master the content based on student needs; reflects multicultural education and is accurate, current and free of bias; and provides ample opportunities for interaction and communication student to student, student to instructor and instructor to student. Indicators are provided for the following categories:
 * Instructional and Audience Analysis
 * Course, Unit and Lesson Design
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Instructional Strategies and Activities
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Communication and Interaction
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Resources and Materials
 * 1) **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Student Assessment **
 * 2) **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Standard **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">: The course uses multiple strategies and activities to assess student readiness for and progress in course content and provides students with feedback on their progress. Indicators are provided for the following categories:
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Evaluation Strategies
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Feedback
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Assessment Resources and Materials