the mother of invention: involving upper elementary students in the invention process
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The Mother of Invention: Involving upper elementary students in the invention process. The Mother of Invention: Involving upper elementary students in the invention process. Steve Coxon Assistant professor of gifted education and Director of gifted graduate programs at - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
The Mother of Invention:
Involving upper elementary students
in the invention process
The Mother of Invention:
Involving upper elementary students in the invention process
Steve Coxon
Assistant professor of gifted education and
Director of gifted graduate programs at
Maryville Universitymaryville.edu/edgrad
Lori Bland, Ph.D.
Director of Professional Development and Practice in Gifted Education
The Center for Gifted Educationat
The College of William and Marycfge.wm.edu
Today
Participants will be engaged in the Problem-based Learning (PBL) process and employ it while receiving an overview of the unit and of the wider applicability of PBL.
Center for Gifted EducationThe College of William and Mary
Students should be given problems – at levels appropriate to their maturity – that require them to decide what evidence is relevant and to offer their own interpretations of what the evidence means. This puts a premium, just as science does, on careful observations and thoughtful analysis. Students need guidance, encouragement, and practice in collecting, sorting, and analyzing evidence, and in building arguments based on it. However, if such activities are not to be destructively boring, they must lead to some intellectually satisfying payoff that students care about.
-- from Science for All Americans, Project 2061
Project Clarion overview• Principal investigators: Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Ed.D.
and Bruce Bracken, Ph.D.• With a federal Javits grant, eight units for primary
science were created, field tested, revised, researched in classrooms, disseminated, revised, and published.
• The units combine the Wheel of Scientific Investigation, the Frayer Model of Vocabulary, concept mapping, pre- and post-assessment, and the macro-concepts systems and change.
Project Clarion research overview
• Researched with over 3400 K-3 students in 48 classrooms in 6 Title I schools including urban, exurban, and rural in comparison to 43 classrooms using standard curriculum (e.g., Harcourt Brace) over 3 years.
• Gains were found for all student groups, including gifted students
• The performance-based assessment results showed significant and educationally important gains for Clarion students in:– Macro-concepts– Scientific investigation– Content mastery
• The Test of Critical Thinking showed significant and educationally important effects for the third grade students in the treatment group.
Project Clarion research results
Invitation to Invent
• Concept: Systems• Processes: Scientific investigation Problem-based learning (PBL) Higher order questioning• Content: Simple machines; force, motion, and
energy
What is PBL?
Problem-based learning is an instructional strategy (a curricular framework) that, through student and community interests and motivation, provides an appropriate way to “teach” sophisticated content and high-level process… all while building self-efficacy, confidence, and autonomous learner behaviors.
Center for Gifted EducationThe College of William and Mary, 2009
PBL Roles
Teacher:• Present an ill-structured
problem• Act as a metacognitive
coach
Student:• Create a precise
problem statement• Find information to
solve the problem• Evaluate possible
solutions• Create a final product
Center for Gifted EducationCenter for Gifted EducationThe College of William and Mary, 2009The College of William and Mary, 2009
Center for Gifted Education College of William and May
History of PBL
• Medical school model (Barrows)• Used in both elementary and secondary
classrooms with gifted students• Adapted for use with all learners• Used to educate school administrators
Center for Gifted Education College of William and May
Research on PBL
• Students show significant learning gains in experimental design through a PBL approach (VanTassel-Baska, et al. 2000)
• Students show enhanced ‘real world’ skills with no loss in content knowledge as a result of using PBL (Gallagher & Stepein, 1996; Gallagher & Gallagher, 2003)
• Students & teachers are motivated to learn using the PBL approach (VanTassel-Baska, 2000)
• Students show enhanced higher order skill development using PBL over other approaches to teaching science (Dods,1997)
Center for Gifted Education College of William and May
Features of PBL• Learner-centered• Real world problem• Teacher as tutor or coach• Emphasis on collaborative
teams• Employs metacognition• Uses alternative assessment• Embodies scientific process
Center for Gifted Education Center for Gifted Education College of William and May College of William and May
Characteristics of the Characteristics of the GiftedGifted
Characteristics of PBLCharacteristics of PBL
Desire for self-directed Desire for self-directed learninglearning
Students are in charge of Students are in charge of learning learning
Intense curiosity Intense curiosity –– what is what is the the ‘‘realreal’’ issue? issue?
Requires problem finding Requires problem finding
Metacognitive thinkersMetacognitive thinkers Have we considered all Have we considered all possibilities?possibilities?
What assumptions are we What assumptions are we making?making?
Why is this strategy not Why is this strategy not working?working?
Center for Gifted Education Center for Gifted Education College of William and May College of William and May
Characteristics of the Characteristics of the GiftedGifted
Characteristics of PBLCharacteristics of PBL
Capacity for learning quickly Capacity for learning quickly & absorbing new information& absorbing new information
Requires students to make Requires students to make connections & create connections & create ‘‘newnew’’ knowledgeknowledge
Tendency to look beyond Tendency to look beyond surface of problem surface of problem
Requires deep thinking Requires deep thinking
Belief that problems have Belief that problems have
more than one answermore than one answer There is no single right There is no single right answeranswer
Center for Gifted Education Center for Gifted Education College of William and May College of William and May
Science Curriculum Framework
The Problem
Understanding“Systems” or “Change”
Learning Science
Using and Conducting Scientific Research
Concept
Content
Process
Center for Gifted Education Center for Gifted Education College of William and May College of William and May
Problem Based Learning
• State the problem• Decide what information you need• Conduct information quest • Complete scientific investigations• Review data & summarize findings• Communicate problem resolution
Lower Primary Wheel of Scientific
Investigation and Reasoning
Javits Project Clarion, Center for Gifted Education, College of William and Mary
SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION AND
REASONING
Make Observations
Ask Questions
Learn More
Design and Conduct the Experiment
Create Meaning
Tell Others What Was
Found SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION AND
REASONING
Wheel ofScientific
Investigationand
Reasoning
Javits Project Clarion, Center for Gifted Education, College of William and Mary
Use your curiosityFind something of interest to study.Use your senses to learn.
Make Observations
Ask Questions
Learn MoreFind what you need to knowFind what others know.Learn more through observations.Re-examine your question.
Design and Conduct the Experiment
Form a hypothesisList experiment steps.Identify materials you need.Conduct experiment.Record data.
Organize your data.Analyze data.Make inferences and draw conclusions.Check to see if you answered your question.Think of related questions.
Select an audience.Decide on the best way to communicate.Include data tables.Report conclusions.
SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION AND
REASONING
Identify all the questions you have.Select ONE question you want to answer.
Create Meaning
Tell Others What Was
Found
Center for Gifted Education Center for Gifted Education College of William and May College of William and May
Problem Statement You have been appointed the architectural engineer for a new school. Many teachers and students have suggested that cafeteria noise is a major problem in the schools, making it difficult to converse and to think while eating. You have 2 weeks to draw up plans for a cafeteria in the school that would improve on what currently exists in this school. What will you do? Pg. 68
•How is noise muffled in nature?
•How will the Wheel of Scientific Investigation help you solve the problem? Pg. 67
Sample questions from the lesson:
•At your tables, work in groups to brainstorm examples of the problem as well as 1-3 aspects of the problem (pg. 69). Be prepared to share with the larger group.
Handout directions:
•Having listened to multiple groups, record what you feel is the top solution (pg. 70).•Use the chart at the top of pg. 70 to organize your plan of action.
Handout directions:
•Finally, restate your top solution as a testable question (bottom of pg. 70).•Be prepared to share.
Handout directions:
•See handout 7A/7B
Now that students are involved in the invention process, the unit moves on to simple machines and new possible inventions that employ them.
•See rubric, handout 7C
Students will create an invention as a final project after learning the invention process through PBL and exploring the 6 simple machines hands-on.
Center for Gifted Education College of William and May
PBL Conclusions:
• engages students' curiosity and initiates learning the subject matter.
• provides excellent opportunities for students to think critically and analytically, and to find and use appropriate learning resources
• promotes autonomous learning
Steve Coxon
Assistant professor of gifted education and Director of gifted
graduate programs at
Maryville University
maryville.edu/edgrad
stevecoxon.com
Center for Gifted Education, The College of William and Mary, 2009
Center for Gifted Educationhttp://cfge.wm.edu/
(757) 221-2362