Author: Brittany (Page 6 of 9)

Blog Prompts addressed 

1. How will your interactive learning resource specifically ensure that the needs of all learners can be met?
2. Choose one (or more) of your planned learning activities from your Blueprint and identify any barriers for student success. How can you alter or adjust your current plan to reduce those barriers?

For our Interactive Learning Resource, we decided to follow a “Learning Station Method” in order for students to learn the water cycle. This approach to learning helps all students learn based on their individual needs and strengths. As such it fosters a student-cerntered approach whereby the student is able to apply their skills through experiential learning. Our various activities will allow all students to explore and discover elements about the water cycle. The hands-on approach assists students to be engaged and learn by doing. However, it also supports all other senses as well as there are a variety of activities. The following resource (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292054960_Learning_station_method_in_special_education_programs_for_students_with_learning_disabilities) supports how the learning station model is beneficial for students with exceptionalities and as said in the readings this is extended to the entire classroom as everyone has individual needs. Some of our activities include:

” Activity 1 – Solar Still: water, bowls, heat, lamp, plastic wrap, rock/weight

Activity 2 – Vocabulary: Vocabulary cards

Activity 3 -Evaporation: Thick paintbrush, water dropper, lamp, timer, buddha board, ruler, pencil,

Activity 4 – Condensation: Teacher Made model, Water,  Student graphic organizer, Zip-Lock baggies, Sharpie markers

Activity 5 – Precipitation: Glass Jar, Water, Eye dropper, Shaving Cream, Blue food coloring, Student graphic organizer

Activity 6 – Collection: Plastic bottle, Water, Rocks, Sand, Clay, Bin/bucket

Activity 7 – Water cycle model: Tea kettle, piece of cardboard, beaker, oven mitts, pencil, recording sheet,

Activity 8 – Water molecule game: Water cycle environment signs, 6-8 premade die, Water cycle record sheet

Activity 9 – Water wheel: Pre-Cut blank water wheels, Pre Cut water wheel covers, Colour pencils, Brass fasteners.”

Therefore, if we evaluate some of the barriers this could include reading difficulty, writing difficulty as such providing various levels within one activity could be beneficial in order to support all student’s needs. For example, in the vocabulary activity, there could be an online version. This online version could make it easier for children as it may have the ability to read the terms for the student.  As such scaffolding and providing options within all activities will allow more students to succeed. Notably another key example is the use of this site https://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle-kids-adv.html as it allows students to work at their own level. This approach of providing various levels and resources to all students also promotes engagement and desire to learn more.

All in all, I believe in providing all students with resources in order to support their needs. Whether that is providing activities with multiple levels and scaffolding tasks or having options for flexible seating and educational tools (noise canceling headphones or bike). Accordingly, we need to “teach to identity and to the difference” in order to support diversity as Shelley Moore would say. The following video describes uses a metaphor of bowling to describe how we as educators can shift our mindset to be more inclusive and how supports are useful for all students.

https://xuyaohan.opened.ca/learning-design-ii-inquiry-based-learning-method/

This week I have decided to respond to Xuyao blog post on Inquiry based learning. I also wrote about this instructional approach and value the things that Xuyao brought forward. In regards to their blog post, Xuyao emphasized some of the benefits notably student engagement which is derived from the fun and personal ways that Inquiry fosters. As well an Inquiry based model, helps develop  life skills notably communication and critical thinking. This makes me further understand the benefits of this instructional approach as it supports an inclusive model and allows student to be self motivated in their learning. Reading Xuyao blog post, made me make some connections to one of my previous classes ED-D 301, as engagement  can extend into what is known as the circle of courage and the four drivers of motivation. These underline a students ability to learn therefore are very important factors to consider. Furthermore, I thought it was beneficial how Xuyao’s post included a research article that demonstrated the effectiveness of inquiry related to science. I found this to be a great comparison with their chosen group topic as it showcases how students scored higher using this approach.

Inquiry-based learning

Characteristics

An Inquiry based approach to learning is one where a teacher uses the students’ strengths and creates a plan in order to follow a student-centered approach. According to Ireland et al., (2014), there are 3 categories of inquiry the experience-centered approaches, the problem centered approaches and the question centered approaches. Under each of these categories there are subareas. As such please see the following diagram that explains the structure of inquiry categories imposed by Ireland et al., (2014):

Some other examples include the following photo which describes the various levels of inquiry as described by Trevor Mackenzie in the following photo:

Personalized Learning Using the Types of Student Inquiry

Here are some known Inquiry educators amongst Vancouver Island.

– Rebecca Bathurst, http://rebeccabathursthunt.com, she works in a Kindergarten classroom and follows this approach. Her Inquiry Mindset book which was written with Trevor Mackenzie is a very valuable resource. As well as her Instagram page.

– As well as PSII follows an Inquiry based approach (my brother actually attends PSII). To learn more about their approach, you can search Jeff Hopkins and listen to his TedTalks. Jeff also provides a fantastic diagram that shows us how to start an inquiry project. Here is a great resources for students and teachers to begin an inquiry project.

(photo retrieved from: http://learningstorm.org/inquiry-tools/)

All in all,    “Inquiry … requires more than simply answering questions or getting a right answer. It espouses investigation, exploration, search, quest, research, pursuit, and study. It is enhanced by involvement with a community of learners, each learning from the other in social interaction.” (Kuklthau, Maniotes & Caspari, 2007, p. 2). As such, this approach helps expand the learning to go beyond the curriculum. It also engages student to value their strengths and work at their own pace. An Inquiry approach supports the diversity of student learners as it allows each individual to prosper at their own level and explore in more of a personable and in-depth manner. The following video addresses some of the key aspects to building an inquiry mindset and teaching approach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICi2o0VfPl8. 

My opinions on Inquiry-based Learning

In regards to inquiry based learning, I am a firm believer as I have found that inquiry allows students to seek and explore subjects more in depth it also allows students to be at the centre of their learning as they create their plan related to their interests and strengths. Furthermore, it fosters creativity and engagement. When seeing my brother’s projects and the process (he attends PSII), I truly value how the students are experiencing and using tools. As such, it is a very hands-on and cross curricular approach which helps support ALL students through a very inclusive and personalized approach.

Finally, here is another useful video as it shows an Inquiry model in the classroom and it addresses various perspectives around the benefits of this model for both students and teachers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAYh4nWUkU0

Association to blueprint and final assignment topic 

Furthermore, an inquiry approach does align with our project topic as our project focuses on center-based learning; where students will learn about the water cycle through various centre activities. Students will be able to explore and make connections, thus allowing them to follow a “Structured Inquiry model”.

Place in your final Interactive Learning Design

I believe Inquiry has a place in every design as it supports students to engage and explore subjects more in-depth. However, I do think that the experiential and collaborative models are more in line with our designed lesson plan as the children are learning from each other within the stations and trying out things to see what works and what does not. As such, I have included a resource that discusses some of the differences between Inquiry and Experiential approaches (https://nifa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/resource/Inquiry%20Based%20Learning%20Methods.pdf)

References 

Ireland, J., Watters, J. J., Brownlee, J. L., & Lupton, M. (2014). Approaches to Inquiry Teaching: Elementary teacher’s perspectives. International Journal of Science Education, 36(10), 1733–1750. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2013.877618

Other Useful Teaching Resources 

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/cbs_inquirybased.pdf

https://nifa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/resource/Inquiry%20Based%20Learning%20Methods.pdf

Inquiry Tools

https://codie.opened.ca/2020/05/17/learning-motivation-and-theory-edci335/ 

Hi Codie,

I really like the analysis of your teaching styles. I appreciate how you recognize that you teach using a mixture of styles as I believe that is important as all students will show success differently and each situation may be different (as you indicated above). I also value that you addressed the importance of facilitating in a student-focused learning environment and how the constructivism style can lead to mastery and strong learning environments. Facilitating is powerful as it means that it is a two way process that the teacher is not only teaching but also learning and so are the learners. Therefore it demonstrates a collaborative model that supports diversity in learning.

Share a story about your best learning experience (could be a formal course or something more personal). Why did you enjoy it?

My best learning experience would have to be anytime I was learning at the dance studio. This took place in various forms as I was both a student and instructor. As a student I was learning new choreography and dances, whereas a dance instructor I was sharing my knowledge and passion for dance with younger students. Therefore, I was able to learn through my own dance classes as well as by adapting and learning from the diversity of students within the dance studio. There are multiple reasons for why I enjoyed this, and I believe one of which is that we were all motivated through a shared passion (dance), as such in the teacher role I acted as a role model to the students. As a result, students are practicing and enticed to learn, and that drive, and passion is something I strive to support in my future classroom. Learning is all about the journey it takes to get there and I believe this created steps and enticed students to practice skills to improve.

In relation to the reading around behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism

• Behaviourism is deemed to have learning be derived by a “stimulus and a response” such as a reward and punishment model. Behaviourism, however, has shaped our understanding as it allows us to understand the importance of the context of learning and how past experiences motivate or demotivate us to learn.
• Similarly, cognitivism focuses on the role of what happens within the black box and how it influences behaviour and learning. However, this theory “moves the idea of manipulating stimulus (behaviourism) towards a focus on the idea of thinking and mental processing”.
• Finally, constructivism is” learner centred” and generates the idea that the classroom is a collaborative model where we can all learn from each other as we each share diverse experiences and opinions.

Below are some key theorists in regard to the previously mentioned learning theories.

• Behaviourism: Pavlov (classical), Thorndike (classical), Watson (classical) and Skinner (operant conditioning)
• Constructivism: Piaget (individual) and Vygotsky (social).

In summary, I believe that the reason dance was my best learning experience is because it was not only my passion but also it was “student centered”; where the students are able to explore and be creative all while learning. As a result, I think this model is important to strive for as it motivates students by putting learning in their own hands. Similarly, this model could be used in regard to an inquiry project as the teacher guides and learns alongside the students. As such facilitating this model can help foster a dynamic and collaborative classroom. Also in order to motivate all students each student can then have an individual and more specific goal related to that lesson, thus making the learning more personal.

All in all, I believe that a mixture of various styles of teaching and learning is beneficial as all students are different and one situation or one student may result in using one style over another.

References

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. (2018) Behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design persepctive. In R. E. West, Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology: The Past, Present, and Future of Learning and Instructional Design Technology. EdTechBooks. https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/behaviorism_cognitivism_constructivism

ED-D 301 Class notes

James , H. N.  (2020a, May 13). Learning theories. EDCI 335 Learning Design. https://edtechuvic.ca/edci335/learning-theories/

James, H. N. (2020b, May 13). Motivation and learning. EDCI 335 Learning Design. https://edtechuvic.ca/edci335/motivation/

Hello,

I am so excited that I am enrolled in this class ! Last term when I completed EDCI 336, I really learned to value the importance of technology in the classroom. As such, I am looking forward to continue to blog all while deepening my knowledge around technology and cannot wait to start this learning journey.  As an education major, I am looking forward to learning with and from others! Some of my interests include dance, gymnastics and performing. I am lucky to be able to teach dance and help grow a small local dance studio. The following is the website I created for the dance studio using Wix site template https://epicdancestudio.wixsite.com/website