Inquiry Project - Annotated Bibliography

Joyce and Sonya's Inquiry project!

Revised question:

How do you design differentiated lessons for students of various abilities in the high school science classroom?

Annotated Bibliography

Cornelius, K. E. (2013). Formative assessment made easy: Templates for collecting daily data in inclusive classrooms. Teaching exceptional children, 45(5), 14-21.

Some ideas for how to implement formative assessment for differentiated learning in classrooms. Focuses mostly on how to analyze students abilities and behavior individually during everyday classroom activities.

Daley, D., & Birchwood, J. (2010). ADHD and academic performance: why does ADHD impact on academic performance and what can be done to support ADHD children in the classroom?. Child: care, health and development, 36(4), 455-464. DOI 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2009.01046.x

Looks into why ADHD students have poor academic outcomes and recommends tools and methods for improving learning outcomes in students with ADHD.

DuPaul, G. J., Ervin, R. A., Hook, C. L., & McGoey, K. E. (1998). Peer tutoring for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Effects on classroom behavior and academic performance. Journal of applied behavior analysis, 31(4), 579-592. DOI: 10.1901/jaba.1998.31-579

Studied effects of Classroom Wide Peer Tutoring on the behavior and learning outcomes of students with ADHD, and it was found to be beneficial in both areas.

Gamoran, A., & Weinstein, M. (1998). Differentiation and opportunity in restructured schools. American Journal of Education, 106(3), 385-415.

Schools are getting rid of different “tracks” for students of varying disabilities. This paper examines what is best for students in these “restructured” schools and what methods to use in classrooms of varying abilities that are most successful for students.

Mastropieri, M. A., Scruggs, T. E., Norland, J. J., Berkeley, S., & al, e. (2006). Differentiated curriculum enhancement in inclusive middle school science: Effects on classroom and high-stakes tests. The Journal of Special Education, 40(3), 130-137. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/194702752?accountid=14656

Experiment testing the effectiveness of differentiated activities and peer tutoring in classroom with mixed abilities and language abilities. Applied to a grade 8 science classroom.

Moon, N. W., Todd, R. L., Morton, D. L., & Ivey, E. (2012). Accommodating students with disabilities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Atlanta, GA: Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access, Georgia Institute of Technology.
Chicago

Pg 70-84. Suggests ways to accommodate students with disability in STEM subjects and looks at the reason they are not well represented in STEM fields.

Mutch-Jones, K., Puttick, G. and Minner, D. (2012), Lesson study for accessible science: Building expertise to improve practice in inclusive science classrooms. J. Res. Sci. Teach., 49: 1012–1034. doi:10.1002/tea.21034

Good information on how to work with your special education department to develop an inclusive curriculum in science and the challenges involved with it.

Reiss, J. (2012). 120 content strategies for english language learners: Teaching for academic success in secondary school (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

Lots of practical strategies for differentiation methods in classrooms with mixed language abilities.

Teaching all Students to High Standards in Mixed Ability Classrooms (2006). Gates Foundation. Retrieved from https://docs.gatesfoundation.org/documents/diff_instruction_brief.pdf

Good information on why and how to implement differentiation in the classroom. Lots of practical stuff. Has some great resources linked as well.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate in mixed-ability classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.

Describes what differentiated instruction is and isn’t, and how to implement it in the classroom.

Wormeli, R. (2007). Differentiation: From planning to practice, grades 6-12. Westerville, Ohio;Portland, Me;: Stenhouse Publishers.

Book with some practical information on differentiation in classroom. Has information on what differentiation is with lots of examples in different subjects.

Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Success as a Teacher © 2005 by Anthony D. Fredericks. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

https://www.teachervision.com/special-needs/teaching-students-special-needs

Outlines the characteristics and challenges of teaching gifted students and those with disabilities.

Embodied Learning Entrance Slip

I feel like visuals, movement, creation, and manipulable objects really help with learning complicated concepts, though, not being a math major, I still had a difficult time understanding a lot of what was described in the Henderson and Taimina paper. I imagine it would have been easier if I had the objects in front of me, rather than just pictures and descriptions. Things need to be seen in motion to get the full effect. But what actually does embodied learning mean? Is it any physical manipulation of objects in order to learn? If that is the case, geology lends itself to simple activities like scratching minerals and playing with magnets to see what happens. A teacher the other day moved desks around in the classroom to simulate the motion of tectonic plates. Is that embodied learning?

If we want to get into complicated concepts like those in the paper, there must be simpler ways to describe crystal geometry and melting points between solid solutions than what is traditionally done. The mathematical equations, notations, and projections onto a two-dimensional plane are difficult to understand. Can we give students manipulable models to help them understand the concepts? Or, better yet, guide them through building the models themselves?

Inquiry Project Thoughts Exit Slip

I'm still interested in Assessment as a topic, but I think that is way too big and want to wait until we have our course on assessment next session. There seems to be a lot of different philosophies regarding assessment and it comes down to whatever approach you want to take.

I've learned that it is really common for students who struggle with science to take Earth Science classes to get their science credit in order to graduate. So classes have a lot of students who struggle with what we consider "traditional" classroom settings. So how do you plan an earth science class for students with really varied abilities and learning styles? There are going to be such a huge variety of students - some of whom will be on the autism spectrum, or will have ADD or ADHD, or who have just been turned off by science for some reason. How do we create a class that can easily be tailored to each student's strengths, while still helping them improve on their weaknesses? It's going to be so important to learn, and I doubt I will get enough information in that area during my BEd degree. So, inquiry, here I come!

Discussion: Are marks accurate? (Sonya, Ashley, Leah, Brianna, Erika)

Marking from 1-100% is maybe too large a scale. Is there really a difference from 95% and 96%? And each mark should have some kind of meaning - comments associated with it.

Tests are also testing time management during tests. Is that really necessary to do in a test format? If you're going to test time management, shouldn't you teach it first? Is this really something that should be taught in a format that is already stressful?

How many questions would be a good number for a test? Having 10 questions on the same subject seems unnecessary.

Are multiple choice good for helping students who are easily confused? Maybe mixed types of questions in a test would be good - some multiple choice, some short answer, some long form problem. Should we drop their worst section from the grade since that is really testing their ability to test in that format?

Can we do some form of dynamic assessment that responds to the students needs and abilities? Change the tests based on how they perform?

How can we make a test that is helpful for students with different language and learning abilities?

Should students be required to show their work for math questions? Should they get full marks for just getting the correct answer and we assume they know the method? How much should we require?

How do we as teachers know if our assessment is accurate? How can we judge if we are getting an accurate representation of the abilities of our students?

Are tests appropriate in all subjects? Should there be tests in subjects like English?

Grades and Learning Entrance Slip

I read the Sarte and Hughes article and it really spoke to me. I never really felt that grades were that useful when I was in school - a lot of it was luck and had more to do with whether or not what you studied was even on the test. In spite of the fact that I knew grades didn't really reflect my learning, I still was very stressed about them. I wanted to get into a good university, and for that I would need the grades. This only got worse in University when I started stressing about grades to get my degree and get a job. There were some classes I barely made it through - they were mostly sources of stress in trying to get the required grades than anything else, and I have no idea what practical application they would have had.

The idea of grade competition as a motivator has me a little worried. If some people feel that good grades are just that important, what will happen to those who can't get those good grades? Who are "losing" in this competition?

When I was in high school, I took whatever classes I could. I wanted to learn pretty much everything and took more classes than could technically even fit in my schedule. But I always did well and was never too stressed about grades or tests. Other students chose classes based on what they thought would get them the grades they needed. What if we just did away with grading altogether? As long as students were required to be at school with a full course load, what would students do? Clearly, it would be strange at first, and it's not likely to happen any time soon since grades are still required for things like entrance into post-secondary institutions, but what if we were in some distant future where none of that mattered and it was just normal to go to school all day and not be graded. How would students react? How would teachers react?

It was fascinating during the reflections at the end of the paper where they said that even though they no longer felt that grading was so important, they felt they had no choice but to continue doing it. Because that is the world we are living in and that is what students are expecting. Why is this "the only way to get students attention" as they put it? How could we change that crucial part of the system?

I was a little sad that they didn't have a control group for this study. I would have loved to see what the difference was between the classes that de-emphasized tests and grades and a regular class. Clearly there is still much more work to be done in this area! 

Role Models Exit Slip

We all need role models to encourage us. When I was working in Geology, it was the experienced women who took me under their wing and guided me in the industry - they understood what I was going through. Even when I wasn't working with them, knowing that there were women in the industry was encouraging for me. It's not just women who need role models, but people from different cultures, with different abilities, learning styles, and different classes as well.
I'm not great with media, but I can see how much potential there could be to make a more welcoming class. I visited the Emerging Media lab in the Scarfe basement and they had great educational VR programs with little to know language involved - it's super accessible to anyone comfortable with the VR system. I also really love the idea of having skype meetings with people all over the world, including geologists in the field, or scientists in other countries to discuss their work. We could invite people to speak who don't fit the stereotypical characteristics of anyone in the field. I would even love to "share" a classroom with another group somewhere else - having the students around the world teach and learn from one another. Not sure how realistic any of this is, but I would love to see connections like that made - make the world feel just a little bit smaller for my students.

Students should be encouraged to add their own personalities to their projects and work - make it their own and relevant to themselves somehow. Everything from their personal style to their learning style should be made as personalized as possible

Overall, I think we as teachers have an obligation to examine our classroom in every way to be sure it is accessible and welcoming to as many different students as possible. 

Tolerance Vs Embracing in Earth and Space Science/General Science

I was always encouraged to study science in my home and never overtly made to feel unwelcome, but there were few women role models for me in the field of geology. The big names were always men - not just men, but white men. It made me feel out of place. There seems to be a preference for celebrating white men in science fields, and it would help students feel more welcome to have a variety of role models. For example, I only learned about Watson and Crick when we were studying the structure of DNA in biology, never Rosalind Franklin. I try now, when discussing space exploration with students, to show and discuss work being done all over the world, by people of diverse backgrounds. There are interesting astronauts and space scientists from all over the world, but few people in Canada know of the amazing work being done in places like India, China, or the United Arab Emirates.

I also think that teaching in ways that are accessible to people from different backgrounds and cultures is very important, but I still have a lot to learn in this area. I was raised and educated in Canada, and school has always been a familiar and relatively comfortable environment for me. I see now that maybe it wasn't so for everyone in my classes. So how can I make a science class welcoming for everyone? Role models are definitely not enough. Clearly not putting them down is important, and listening to their concerns, but how can I be more proactive? The students should have agency and choice in how they learn, but how can I support that kind of diversity in a large classroom?