This week in CEP 812 we researched a learning need and how technology can assist students with that specific need. I chose to research how technology can help students with Autism communicate with others anxiety-free in my German classes. This assignment helped me expand my view of what it means to communicate and discover a new tool, Voki. I created my own Voki avatar (featured in the picture on the left) and made a sample recording to show how I would use this in my classroom to support students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Read my white paper to learn more about Autism Spectrum Disorder and Voki. I hope this speaks to you and is something new you can try in your classroom.
MAET
Maker Experiment #1
For this week’s CEP 811 assignment, I have developed an activity for my classroom that combines my Squishy Circuits Kit with a learning theory. I decided to combine the kit with Bloom’s Taxonomy theory in my Introductory Psychology class.
As I described in my last post, the Squishy Circuits Kit uses conductive and/or insulated dough to create a circuit. LED lights, two buzzers, and a motor are included in the kit, and it is up to the inventor to decide how these materials are to be used. Something I like about the Squishy Kit is that there are endless possibilities for the creator. For more details on the kit and pictures of it in action, read my previous blog post.
In my Psychology class, I place a high value on critical thinking, creativity, and mastery of concepts. I would rather have my students be able to apply Millgram’s research on authority to today’s world than rattle off the date Freud was born. I like to incorporate a lot of projects for that reason, I find that they remember the material more when they can connect it to their own lives and do more than just memorize facts.
This approach fits into Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. According to Bloom (1956), there are several levels of knowledge and understanding of content. At the lower levels of the taxonomy, students learn for short-term retention and basic understanding of the concepts. As students move to the higher levels of the taxonomy, they are evaluating the content, making connections, and creating their own work based on the content. This will lead to a mastery of the content and long-term retention. This is depicted in the infographic below created by Stobaugh (2013).
In the first quarter of the school year, I teach a unit on experimental methods. Experimenting in the field of Psychology is different from other scientific fields. In the past, I have directly instructed students through lecture on experimental methods, introduced some well-known psychological experiments to demonstrate those methods, and then given a test at the end of the unit. Students were minimally interested in this topic, so I thought the best approach would be to teach it and move on. They also generally did not score very well on the test. I thought this was because they were not interested in the content.
I realize that part of the reason students were disengaged and unsuccessful is how I taught this unit. As I mentioned earlier, I want my Psychology class to be a place for students to be creative, connect to their interests, and master the content. The way I used to teach experimental methods could not be further from those goals. In their article about implementing Bloom’s Taxonomy in the science class, Lord and Baviskar (2007) write:
Along with creating more challenging test items, instructors should also challenge the way students think during class. Instructors must move from covering course information for students through lecturing to helping students discover information through inquiry. Contemporary students want to be active, rather than passive in the assimilation of information.
I realize that I was stuck in the ‘Remember’ stage in Bloom’s Taxonomy. I was asking students to memorize the information, and spit it back out. I was not engaging them. My students were passive, not active learners. There is certainly a time and place for this type of learning, but this stage does not help students develop critical thinking skills that they will need in their futures. It also does not help them develop long-term mastery of the content. I see now that this unit needed a major overhaul. This week I have adapted this unit using my Squishy Circuit Kit in a way that allows students to reach the Understand, Analyze, and Create stages of Bloom’s taxonomy.
I would still begin the unit by introducing the experimental methods in Psychology, and include existing experiments in Psychology as examples. However, I would include the students more in the lecture by asking them to share examples that they have learned in other classes, or in their own life experiences.
Where this unit really changes is in the summative assessment. I will no longer give a multiple-choice, true/false test on experimental methods. I will have students develop their own psychological experiments using the Squishy Circuit Kit. Instead of recalling the different types of experiments and variables in a multiple-choice question, they will be required to move to the more advanced stages in the taxonomy; understand, analyze, and create. They will become active learners and take ownership of their learning.
In this summative assessment, they will be required to create their own research question and hypothesis. They will create their own psychological experiment using the Squishy Circuits Kit. They will have to evaluate which experimental method fits best with their research question. They will have to analyze their results and decide if their data supports or does not support their hypothesis.
I am excited to see what my Psychology students create in the fall. I am, in a way, creating my own experiment within this class. My hypothesis is this: By encouraging students to become more active learners via the Squishy Circuits Kit, and by moving them into the more advanced levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, students will find more meaning in the experimental methods unit, develop a deeper understanding, and come closer to mastery-level of the content. I will report back in the fall with my findings!
Citations:
Bloom. (1968). Learning for mastery . Retrieved May 23, 2013 from http://ruby.fgcu.edu/courses/ikohn/summer/PDFfiles/LearnMastery2.pdf
Lord, T., & Baviskar, S. (2007, March). Moving students from information recitation to information understanding: Exploiting bloom’s taxonomy in creating science questions. Journal of College Science Teaching, 36(5), 40-44. Retrieved May 23, 2013, from http://www.eos.ubc.ca/research/cwsei/resources/Lord%26Baviskar-Blooms.pdf
Stobaugh, R. (2013). Assessing critical thinking in middle and high schools: Meeting the common core. Retrieved May 22, 2013
Flipped Classroom Remix
This week for my CEP 811 class, we created a ‘remix’ video about educational buzzwords using Mozilla PopcornMaker. I chose the buzzword “Flipped Classroom” since I am curious about incorporating this technique more into my own classroom. What is the Flipped classroom? Well, you’ll just have to watch my remix video to find out! Here is the link: What is the Flipped Classroom? Remix video
I enjoyed learning how to use PopcornMaker this week. I had to remind myself frequently to follow my own ‘KISS’ rule (Keep It Simple Silly). Since I am new to this website, I had to remind myself to take it easy, and not get too frustrated when my first remix attempt did not work the way I wanted.
I am looking forward to trying PopcornMaker again. Any ideas for how to use this in a lesson? Perhaps I could use it in a flipped lesson?
**Creating the proper APA citation formatting in a blog is more difficult that I anticipated. I apologize for any formatting errors.
Sources for Remix video:
Inslee, Jay. (2011). Jay at the classroom board. [Digital image]. Retrieved May 11, 2013 from Flickr Commons: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/3475417696/
Sharon hines-ice. (2012, July 13). Huckelberry Run 2012. [Video file]. Retrieved from
Skip via. (2011, May 16). One Transformed Classroom. [Video file]. Retrieved from
Sprocket Doggingsworth. (2012, June 7). Homework Blues – Sprocket (feat. YourEnigma) Pony Jazz. [Video file].
Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB5irm43fIg
Yourdon, Ed. (2009). Bryant Park, late April 2009 – 21. [Digital image]. Retrieved May 11, 2013 from Flickr Commons: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/3475417696/
The Language of Educational Technology 