The importance of being flexible:Adapting ARMs for varied audiences

GK-12 Project Goals:Goal 1: Improve Fellows’ communication, teaching, and team building skills to prepare them for their role as communicators either in academia or in the broad range of careers open to them beyond academia.*

Goal 2: Enhance high school science teachers’ ability to deliver research-and-inquiry-based instruction to urban students.

Goal 3: Develop high levels of science interest and achievement in high school students, especially in their early high school years, through participation in interdisciplinary ARMS* activities.

Goal 4: Institutionalize the Science Now GK-12 activities within CUNY and the NYC public high schools.

Goal 5: Document and disseminate project outcomes and activities and develop a replicable model for use of authentic research experiences in the secondary school science curriculum.

http://web.gc.cuny.edu/case/gk12/info.htm

Our ARMs were developed in a variety of classrooms:

classes culminating in a Regents exam

research classes

extra-curricular clubs

classes with advanced students

classes with struggling students

classes with mixed ages, abilities, or level of interest

Although the course we develop is intended to be free-standing, we must be aware of our audience’s needs.

Regents classesFamiliarize yourself with the curriculum; ask for your co-teacher’s course outline.

Get a list of important vocabulary terms.

Go through your planned lessons and create a supplemental list of Regent’s vocabulary that is applicable to each lesson.

Emphasize those words while conducting the lesson.

Explicitly state the ideas from the Regents curriculum that are applicable to your lesson/activity.

Research classes

Can be one of the most conducive environments for the intended goals of GK-12 ARMs.

Assess your students’ levels of interest and aptitude.

It is difficult for students to think of a research project; guide them and be prepared to make suggestions

have several questions/ hypotheses they can choose from.

show them how to find papers that identify gaps.

Extra-curricular ClubsMost similar in format to actual College Now courses

Student members have joined willingly; allowing you an interested (not captive) audience.

Longer time per meeting, but fewer meetings per weekharder to learn names! ( labeled photo? name tags?)

important to maintain communication between meetings (blogging? emails?)

Can be difficult to find a teacher who will devote additional time beyond the school day. In this case you must make it as easy for the teacher as possible:

email your lesson plan far in advance and ask for input

handle photocopying and requests for supplies well in advance of meeting.

Classes with Advanced/Struggling

StudentsMost difficult in classes of mixed-ability: requires multiple activities/plans (differentiation).

Identifying who’s who (this may vary with the type of activity/topic of lesson)

Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences.

Students can work on the same concept from different angles and different levels of complexity

Bloom’s taxonomy

Quantity* Time* Level of Support*

Input*

Alternate Goals

Difficulty

Participation*

Output*

Substitute Curriculum

Adapt the way instruction is delivered to the learner.

For example:Use different visual aids, enlarge text, plan more concrete examples, provide hands-on activities, place students in cooperative groups.

Adapt the number of items that the learner is expected to learn or complete.

For example:Reduce the number of social studies terms a learner must learn at any one time.

Adapt the time allotted and allowed for learning, task completion, or testing.

For example:Individualize a timeline for completing a task; pace learning differently (increase or decrease) for some learners.

Increase the amount of personal assistance with a specific learner.

For example:Assign peer buddies, teaching assistants, peer tutors, or cross age tutors.

Adapt the skill level, problem type, or the rules on how the learner may approach the work.

For example:Allow the use of a calculator to figure math problems; simplify task directions; change rules to accommodate learner needs.

Adapt how the student can respond to instruction.

For example:Instead of answering questions in writing, allow a verbal response, use a communication book for some students, allow students to show knowledge with hands on materials.

Adapt the extent to which a learner is actively involved in the task.

For example:In geography, have a student hold the globe, while others point out locations.

Adapt the goals or outcome expectations while using the same materials.

For example:In social studies, expect a student to be able to locate just the states while others learn to locate capitals as well.

Provide different instruction and materials to meet a learner’s individual goals.

For example:During a language test one student is learning computer skills in the computer lab.

Nine Types of Curriculum Adaptations

Estuary Explorers adaptations

Term 1: Living Environment class, grades 8 and 9

Term 2: After-school program, grades 9-11, one disabled person

Term 3: After-school program, grades 4-7, some special needs kids

Activity: Bloom’s taxonomy and your

ARMCreate 6 question or activities that support the overarching goal for your ARM, or the goals for one of your units.

There should be one question/activity for each level of Bloom’s taxonomy

Example from Estuary Explorers ARMGoal: Students develop increased understanding of

local environment and scientific process •Level 1: KnowledgeIdentify 6 plants/ birds/etc… that you see on our nature walk.•Level 2: ComprehensionCompare two of the birds. How are they different? Are they adapted for the same habitat?•Level 3: ApplicationCreate a list of 5 plants and 8 animals that live in the same habitat. Draw lines with captions to show how each of these organisms depend on/ interact with each other•Level 4: AnalysisWhat could negatively impact some of these organisms? Which human activities could help/ hurt these organisms?

•Level 5: SynthesisCreate a hypothesis about your favorite animal. (Suggestions: what influences its population or whereabouts; favorite foods; correlation with other species). Design an experiment to test your hypothesis.

•Level 6: EvaluationWrite a literature review pertaining to your experimental design, citing 10 peer-reviewed journal articles, OR select 5 peer-reviewed journal articles. Write down the hypotheses and conclusions from each. Prepare bibliography.