This week's blog focuses on how my project(s) can increase a student's problem solving/critical thinking skills.
I think studying the Nazi Volksgemeinschaft can certainly increase students ability to think about history critically. Students often get a very one-sided (albeit accurate) interpretation of Nazism. Said interpretation often involves focusing on the evil deeds of Nazism and their racist ideology. However, the Volksgemeinschaft provides a very different interpretation of Nazism.
The Volksgemeinschaft shows a Nazism with purpose, not destruction. The Nazis are attempting to create an ideal German utopia that will continue to perpetuate itself generation after generation. Such an ideology shows that the Nazis were not solely rabid street thugs. The Nazis did not view themselves as such, but rather as the bearers of true German history; a history destined for something incredible.
That being said students can view the Volksgemeinschaft itself critically because it will evolve into a vision of genocide and war. However, the students can view the genocide and war with the Volksgemeinschaft in mind. These two conflicting, but true narratives will make students more open to thinking critically about various historical narratives. Once a student thinks critically about historical narratives, they are less likely to take arguments at face value. Seeing both the good and evil intentions of Nazism can open students to seeing such intentions in numerous arguments. The most important skill we can impart on students is being able to think for themselves.
Additionally, the project that involves students taking on a role in Nazi Germany can open their eyes to how any person can be compelled to accept evil if enough good is presented to cover it. Responsible citizens should be able to realize the good and bad of any decision they make. Ultimate History is a catalog of good and bad decisions made with arguments that had both good and bad intentions. If a generation of students can think critically and use history as a tool for their own decision making, then I think we Historians have done our jobs. I think my project(s) operate within this spirit.
Until Next Time!
Derrick Angermeier
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Blog #8: Information Literacy
This weeks blog is supposed to reflect on how my present project will help with information literacy.
I fear my project may not be the best for encouraging Information Literacy. I am providing students with a great deal of the material, as opposed to having them hunt down the information themselves. As such, they are certainly gaining a more sophisticated knowledge of Nazism, but they are not finding the material themselves.
Now, I have been thinking about developing the project I will theoretically implement with Dr. Soper and develop the parameters of the role playing project for my citizens project. I can forsee the role playing project definitely increasing the information literacy of the students. Each student, having been given a goal, will have to do research on their own. I can provide them with a few places to look, but they will have to find sources, both primary and secondary, separate from my suggestions. In this way they can get familiar with scouring the web, libraries, archives, etc.
In my own course on European history or Nazism, I would definitely implement both the flipped Volksgemeinschaft classroom and the role playing (reacting to history). I feel both have the potential of reaching out to students, engaging them in a different way with controversial and complex material, and hopefully create responsible citizens in the process- not to mention boost their Information Literacy....
Until Next Time,
Derrick Angermeier
I fear my project may not be the best for encouraging Information Literacy. I am providing students with a great deal of the material, as opposed to having them hunt down the information themselves. As such, they are certainly gaining a more sophisticated knowledge of Nazism, but they are not finding the material themselves.
Now, I have been thinking about developing the project I will theoretically implement with Dr. Soper and develop the parameters of the role playing project for my citizens project. I can forsee the role playing project definitely increasing the information literacy of the students. Each student, having been given a goal, will have to do research on their own. I can provide them with a few places to look, but they will have to find sources, both primary and secondary, separate from my suggestions. In this way they can get familiar with scouring the web, libraries, archives, etc.
In my own course on European history or Nazism, I would definitely implement both the flipped Volksgemeinschaft classroom and the role playing (reacting to history). I feel both have the potential of reaching out to students, engaging them in a different way with controversial and complex material, and hopefully create responsible citizens in the process- not to mention boost their Information Literacy....
Until Next Time,
Derrick Angermeier
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Reflective Blog #7: Process vs. Content vs. Face to Face v. Independence vs. Control vs. EVERYTHING
For this blog we were to read a chapter of Supporting Learning with Technology and reflect on whether it would benefit our project.
To update briefly on my project, it has changed format after my initial proposal to Dr. Soper. The original parameters of the project, Dr. Soper pointed out, run like a full-blown reacting to the past. Such a format would exceed the parameters of HIST 2302 ad put an undue burden on the students. Thus, we have modified the project to still incorporate posts on ELC and a video to maintain the flipped format. Dr. Soper is also interested in using some of the documents I have assembled. Thus, students will enter the breakout with a considerable amount of knowledge ahead of time making discussion that much richer.
That being said, the project as it is does not lend itself to very much student autonomy. I still feel that my students will get much more material with this format, but the learning and tasks will be content heavy. Additionally, the students will have to interact with technology in a different way and change up the format of their breakout. In that regard I am very excited about this project.
I would like to give the students more autonomy in this project, but as the course is Dr. Soper's and not my own I will take a back seat. Someday, in a Nazism class I could envision doing the original project and having the students take on the role of a German citizen. In this way they would have to keep up with the information I provide and do research on their own. I would have slight control over how the project goes, but students would shape their own project according to their desire/interest. I envision also canceling a class session or two to set up personal meetings in my office so the students have face to face time to discuss their project with me. I think that in this way I can provide a great deal of content, while not hindering the process that students need in order to learn.
In a way I think the process will be more important to me than the content. In studying something as controversial as Nazism I want students to search through the complexities on their own, with occasional guidance and information from me. I think a student that comes across something on their own and forms their own interpretation of that item will internalize the information much better than something I tell them. In this way students can do their own research (with a content foundation I provide) that will hopefully stick with them long after my class.
Those are my thoughts for now. Over the break I am going to work on my Cool Tools demos and prep all of the materials for the Flipped Breakout to show Dr. Soper the following week...who said Spring Break was about a break?
Until next time!
Derrick
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Reflective Blog #6: Subtle Changes
Today we are asked to reflect on how we might change the project to encourage creativity and innovation. Briefly, my project calls for a flipped classroom in which students will get a brief video lecture as background to the concept of the National Community (Volksgemeinschaft).
Now, I had also been toying around with the notion of assigning students roles as people within Germany and have them follow themselves from 1920 to 1939. However, today I had kind of a breakthrough with the project and think I have something much easier for college students to interact with than my previous model.
Under this new idea each student will still be assigned a role, but I will not change that role. Before I had intended on demonstrating a transition from Worker to Communist Worker to Nazi Worker....and other along these lines. Instead, I want to leave this more free form. Instead of tying the students hands, I want them to be more open with their interpretations of the evidence they are provided. Say a student gets "Farmer" as a role. That student should read my blurbs (sent everyday that correspond to a specific date range) with their person in mind. I will make sure to reference every role within my blurbs so they have an idea of how their particular person fared during the Inter-war and Third Reich time periods.
After five days of blurbs that take the students from 1920 to 1934, I will share a link to a video lecture that discusses the stabilization era of the Third Reich that saw the Nazis implement their vision of the Volksgemeinschaft. Following that vid and their interpretations of the blurbs, I would like them to use the two-page response essay they are required to write to reflect on how they think their person might have fared from 1920 to 1934.
Changing from strict role transitions to a more open-ended analysis I think is much better. Not only does it put a burden on the students to do the leg and mental work of thinking about their person across time, but it leaves the students free to make a more personal interaction with the history. Hopefully, through this project, they will come to have a much stronger grasp on the circumstances that allowed the Nazis to rise, what the Nazis did once in power, and how both of those concepts impacted Germans on an individual level. If this project accomplishes all of those things, I think I have created more responsible citizens, in which case I will be very happy.
Until next time!
Derrick Angermeier
Now, I had also been toying around with the notion of assigning students roles as people within Germany and have them follow themselves from 1920 to 1939. However, today I had kind of a breakthrough with the project and think I have something much easier for college students to interact with than my previous model.
Under this new idea each student will still be assigned a role, but I will not change that role. Before I had intended on demonstrating a transition from Worker to Communist Worker to Nazi Worker....and other along these lines. Instead, I want to leave this more free form. Instead of tying the students hands, I want them to be more open with their interpretations of the evidence they are provided. Say a student gets "Farmer" as a role. That student should read my blurbs (sent everyday that correspond to a specific date range) with their person in mind. I will make sure to reference every role within my blurbs so they have an idea of how their particular person fared during the Inter-war and Third Reich time periods.
After five days of blurbs that take the students from 1920 to 1934, I will share a link to a video lecture that discusses the stabilization era of the Third Reich that saw the Nazis implement their vision of the Volksgemeinschaft. Following that vid and their interpretations of the blurbs, I would like them to use the two-page response essay they are required to write to reflect on how they think their person might have fared from 1920 to 1934.
Changing from strict role transitions to a more open-ended analysis I think is much better. Not only does it put a burden on the students to do the leg and mental work of thinking about their person across time, but it leaves the students free to make a more personal interaction with the history. Hopefully, through this project, they will come to have a much stronger grasp on the circumstances that allowed the Nazis to rise, what the Nazis did once in power, and how both of those concepts impacted Germans on an individual level. If this project accomplishes all of those things, I think I have created more responsible citizens, in which case I will be very happy.
Until next time!
Derrick Angermeier
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Reflective Blog #5: Project Thoughts
For my project I feel a bit powerless. Unlike some of my
other colleagues who have their own classrooms, I am in a subordinate position.
Thus, I feel limited in what I can do. That being said, limited at this stage
may not be a bad thing.
I once applied for a position with a company that had professionals make 10 to 15 minute videos of lessons students could quickly digest and learn from. These types of video lessons are steadily increasing. I have a friend that purchases and listens to advanced lectures on Itunes. For the collegiate student busy with so many things I think keeping the project small at their end could be more worthwhile for them.
That being said, I am thinking of doing a ten minute video lecture on the National Community, Volksgemeinschaft. I would have the students watch the video before coming into the breakout. Typically, they have to read documents and write a response essay. So, as this class is not my own I feel I need to come up with options that utilize this format in addition to options that do not.
Format 1: Video and Documents Essay
Students read the documents and watch the video.
Students write a response essay answering one of the four
questions Dr. Soper gives them. (standard procedure)
When answering, the students need to include one fact or
topic from the video.
Format 2: Video and Documents-Essay with Extra Question
Students read documents and watch the video.
Students write a response essay just on their documents.
Students bring in a question for discussion based on the video.
Format 3: Video Essay and Documents Essay
Students read documents and watch the video.
Students write a response essay, but in addition to the four
questions, a fifth question exists that they can choose to answer based on the
video.
I think one of these three options will help match the flipped classroom model, the use of technology, and the standards of Dr. Soper’s class.
I am now thinking I could attach a survey monkey that corresponds to the video in which students respond to the survey outside of the classroom and we discuss their responses in the breakout….I like that a lot. I may work that in as an option…..hmmmm…..
Well, as far as the citizen project goes, I was thinking about doing a mass-email system with my students. I think I will assign them a role: SA member, Standard German Citizen, Communist politician, Social-Democratic sympathizer, Woman, child, veteran, Jewish merchant. Every day I will email the students with an assessment of Nazism at a certain timeframe. As they read the emails they can track their person across the span of the Third Reich (or as far as they make it). In this way they have a more personal interaction and con understand how Nazism rose to prominence, a valuable lesson for any responsible citizens.
These are my two ideas, so I think I am going to email Dr.
Soper by Friday to hear his thoughts on the project and see what he will agree
to. Ultimately it is his course, so his say will be final. Either way, some of
the things I am discussing here will be things I implement in future courses.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Reflective Blog #4: Assessment
For this weeks blog we needed to read more in-depth readings on Project-Based learning that focused on Assessment (and a Seattle High School Geometry project that was pretty cool).
A problem that pops up with project-based learning is that it almost always involves group work. In my previous post I discussed my reluctance at the college level to assign group work because it does not result in the social benefits parameters of project based learning. Students are so physically disconnected from there fellow classmates that group projects become emails and facebook messages with maybe one face to face meeting independent of class time. This scenario leaves a lot of room for slacking off and only doing your very small part of the project, missing the big picture of the assignment.
However, the readings today presented different models for assessing group projects. Of particular interest to me was evaluating individuals within a group. It is easy for one student who is really motivated and interested in the project to carry the others on their coattails to a solid grade. However, the criticism with project-based learning in this regard is that while one student has benefited from the project, the others have failed to gain much of anything from the assignment. However, the readings today demonstrated to me two valuable ways in which assessment can help alleviate this concern.
The first is regular self-reporting. Each member of a group is provided some form of self-assessment be it a survey, free-response, or simple form that asks various questions. These self-assessments can also ask students to evaluate their fellow group mates work. Theoretically, this would allow the instructor to gain an understanding of who is doing the work/understanding the intentions and concepts of the project. Doing these assessments regularly can help head off any problematic group cooperation early, before lack of cohesion leads to catastrophic results. Also, knowing that they will be evaluated by peers will help motivate students to work harder and dedicate themselves more to the project.
Now, there are problems with this self-assessment. For instance, it is a major time consumer. Teachers already have so much to do that evaluating these assessments will take time away from other pursuits. Also, students can "prisoner's dilemma" themselves around the confines of an assessment and undermine the entire goal of assessment. The solution however is to create simple assessments that differ each time. If students are given the same big form every time, they will either report less and less each time or figure out what is the least they have to do to succeed with the report. However, in changing up a simple report every time, you not only keep the students on their toes, but you also force the students to reflect on different aspects of their project throughout. Such ever-changing evaluation can only help direct the students to their project's needs and keeping the reports simple should minimize the time they toll on the teacher.
The other method of assessment comes from the outside observer. Bringing in a professional in the field of the assigned project (for instance in the videos we watched actual architects were brought in to evaluate architectural projects) allows students the opportunity to see if the skills they learned and applied could be of use outside of their school-life. If this project has been well planned and monitored, there should be little reason to doubt that a student would not walk away feeling they had done valuable work. Outside assessment also allows a student the benefit of seeing practical evaluation of their work, as opposed to grading of their work. As far as individual assessment within this model, a professional will be able to provide sophisticated analysis of the project that will often involve the work of individuals within the group, allowing those students to know the specific good and bad things they did on the project. Outside, professional evaluation seems very valuable to me.
As far as my stance on group-work, I think I still stand on the side of no group-work, but given some of these individual assessment tools I think I will keep an open mind.
As far as my flipped-classroom project goes, I am compiling notes now for a potential video to have my breakout students watch in front of coming to the sessions. We shall see how everything looks.
I also really enjoyed setting up a website and think I will setup my own website shortly. I intend on putting all kinds of material on the site such as my Conference Papers, Thesis, Syllabi, Teaching Portfolio, etc. on the site. Having something nice and organized could only help come time for my Job Hunt.
Until Next Time...stay warm,
Derrick Angermeier
A problem that pops up with project-based learning is that it almost always involves group work. In my previous post I discussed my reluctance at the college level to assign group work because it does not result in the social benefits parameters of project based learning. Students are so physically disconnected from there fellow classmates that group projects become emails and facebook messages with maybe one face to face meeting independent of class time. This scenario leaves a lot of room for slacking off and only doing your very small part of the project, missing the big picture of the assignment.
However, the readings today presented different models for assessing group projects. Of particular interest to me was evaluating individuals within a group. It is easy for one student who is really motivated and interested in the project to carry the others on their coattails to a solid grade. However, the criticism with project-based learning in this regard is that while one student has benefited from the project, the others have failed to gain much of anything from the assignment. However, the readings today demonstrated to me two valuable ways in which assessment can help alleviate this concern.
The first is regular self-reporting. Each member of a group is provided some form of self-assessment be it a survey, free-response, or simple form that asks various questions. These self-assessments can also ask students to evaluate their fellow group mates work. Theoretically, this would allow the instructor to gain an understanding of who is doing the work/understanding the intentions and concepts of the project. Doing these assessments regularly can help head off any problematic group cooperation early, before lack of cohesion leads to catastrophic results. Also, knowing that they will be evaluated by peers will help motivate students to work harder and dedicate themselves more to the project.
Now, there are problems with this self-assessment. For instance, it is a major time consumer. Teachers already have so much to do that evaluating these assessments will take time away from other pursuits. Also, students can "prisoner's dilemma" themselves around the confines of an assessment and undermine the entire goal of assessment. The solution however is to create simple assessments that differ each time. If students are given the same big form every time, they will either report less and less each time or figure out what is the least they have to do to succeed with the report. However, in changing up a simple report every time, you not only keep the students on their toes, but you also force the students to reflect on different aspects of their project throughout. Such ever-changing evaluation can only help direct the students to their project's needs and keeping the reports simple should minimize the time they toll on the teacher.
The other method of assessment comes from the outside observer. Bringing in a professional in the field of the assigned project (for instance in the videos we watched actual architects were brought in to evaluate architectural projects) allows students the opportunity to see if the skills they learned and applied could be of use outside of their school-life. If this project has been well planned and monitored, there should be little reason to doubt that a student would not walk away feeling they had done valuable work. Outside assessment also allows a student the benefit of seeing practical evaluation of their work, as opposed to grading of their work. As far as individual assessment within this model, a professional will be able to provide sophisticated analysis of the project that will often involve the work of individuals within the group, allowing those students to know the specific good and bad things they did on the project. Outside, professional evaluation seems very valuable to me.
As far as my stance on group-work, I think I still stand on the side of no group-work, but given some of these individual assessment tools I think I will keep an open mind.
As far as my flipped-classroom project goes, I am compiling notes now for a potential video to have my breakout students watch in front of coming to the sessions. We shall see how everything looks.
I also really enjoyed setting up a website and think I will setup my own website shortly. I intend on putting all kinds of material on the site such as my Conference Papers, Thesis, Syllabi, Teaching Portfolio, etc. on the site. Having something nice and organized could only help come time for my Job Hunt.
Until Next Time...stay warm,
Derrick Angermeier
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Reflection Blog #3: Project Based Learning
This week for EDIT 7500 we had readings on Project Based Learning which were intriguing. The idea behind Project Based Learning (PBL) is that giving students projects as oppossed to standard classroom time can help them cultivate a deeper understanding of not only topics, but practical problem solving techniques that they could use beyond the classroom.
I should say that these readings did not stress the applications beyond life in the classroom, but that is what I thought of immediately.
Many different options were proposed for doing projects, but I was most drawn to two types. The first, that has little application to my present teaching scenario, is to do a project that ties in with something happening in the community. Projects under this heading could be anything from developing a petition for city council, designing a play ground, helping with a city beautification project, and any other action which can get a student involved with the greater world around them. In getting students involved with out-of-the-classroom activities-that are still relevant to their classwork- they will learn a more personal and hands-on lesson than what general curriculum will allow. Such projects will also help create responsible citizens, which I consider a primary goal of education.
The other type of projects that PBL calls for are research projects. This has numerous application to my field, history. These projects typically start by teachers providing students with a question and them finding their own way of answering that within the confines of a research project. As with the Civic option previously mentioned, guidelines are particularly important for the research project. Students need to know to what extent they need to answer the question, the nature of their answer (paper, display, performance, presentation), and they need to be bound by the subject matter of the course. In the same vein that the Civic project teaches a student practical aspects of civic responsibility, the research project can provide students with the tools they will need at various levels, collegiate and professional.
There are shared characteristics of the two types that PBL really emphasizes. The first is that these project should be group based. I agree to a certain extent because group projects can foster social skills and teach students lessons about teamwork. However, the lesson I often learned from teamwork on group projects was that you cannot depend on people to do all of their work. A bit cynical sure, but that lesson was very practical in the real world when I had goals set in my profession. I knew never to take on anything I could not finish by myself and that lesson has served me well. PBL obviously wants to encourage other lessons from groupwork, which I would hope may be the case in many projects. However, from my personal experience groupwork can lead to harsher lessons than a teacher might intend. That being said, I would certainly assign a group project in High School or grade school as these offer social opportunities for students that operate in a closer social environment. Therefore, the project could be more fun for them and by extension allow for involved interaction with the subject matter.
For College, I would not do a group project. College students in a class are often very disconnected from one another (unlike students who share a dorm or are on a team together). Every college group project I have done has not resulted in cooperation and teamwork, but rather each person splitting up a piece of the project and then meeting up shortly before the due date to paste it all together. That, in my mind, misses the point of PBL.
In college, I would assign a research project on an individual basis, likely a paper, but give the students some flexibility when it came to the topic. The best example of this from my perspective came in my British History course in undergrad when our Professor handed each of us a picture of some topic from the class. He said we had to write a paper based off of something in or related to that picture. I was given a picture of the Crystal Palace at the World's Fair in London which stood for the height of industrial achievement. I decided to do my paper on the Liverpool-Manchester Railway as it was one of the first in England and study how impactful it was on England's industrialism. The project gave me my first taste of college-level history work and because it was on a topic of my choosing I was more enthused to do the work and involve myself with the material. The professor won out as well because by bounding my work within the confines of a related course topic, he assured I would work on something course relevant.
The final aspect of PBL I am going to discuss presently is the need for Projects, both Civic and Research, to be presented to a non-classroom audience. By subjecting the completion and execution of the project to review of someone outside the classroom, you force a student to evaluate what they think is acceptable to present to others, as opposed to what they think is acceptable in order to earn a certain grade (that may not be an A). I like this idea because it gets students used to doing work that has merits/consequences outside of the classroom structure as well as giving them a practical deadline outside of the teacher-student relationship. Students know they have to have something they would be proud of presenting ready by a certain date. Doing projects with this guideline can only help.
I certainly have felt the pressure to succeed on projects and papers I had to present to others. Consequently, in my classroom I intend to almost always give some form of course-related research project. When I can I would like to have my students present said project to others. These readings were very helpful and made me think a great deal more on projects than I ever had before.
As far as my own project, I have designed a website which I will likely post on the next blog. For now I just have a brief blurb on what is and ten links to lesson plans on Nazi Germany (my field of study). Hopefully I can turn this website into a model of my potential flipped classroom idea. Only time will tell.
Until next time,
Derrick
I should say that these readings did not stress the applications beyond life in the classroom, but that is what I thought of immediately.
Many different options were proposed for doing projects, but I was most drawn to two types. The first, that has little application to my present teaching scenario, is to do a project that ties in with something happening in the community. Projects under this heading could be anything from developing a petition for city council, designing a play ground, helping with a city beautification project, and any other action which can get a student involved with the greater world around them. In getting students involved with out-of-the-classroom activities-that are still relevant to their classwork- they will learn a more personal and hands-on lesson than what general curriculum will allow. Such projects will also help create responsible citizens, which I consider a primary goal of education.
The other type of projects that PBL calls for are research projects. This has numerous application to my field, history. These projects typically start by teachers providing students with a question and them finding their own way of answering that within the confines of a research project. As with the Civic option previously mentioned, guidelines are particularly important for the research project. Students need to know to what extent they need to answer the question, the nature of their answer (paper, display, performance, presentation), and they need to be bound by the subject matter of the course. In the same vein that the Civic project teaches a student practical aspects of civic responsibility, the research project can provide students with the tools they will need at various levels, collegiate and professional.
There are shared characteristics of the two types that PBL really emphasizes. The first is that these project should be group based. I agree to a certain extent because group projects can foster social skills and teach students lessons about teamwork. However, the lesson I often learned from teamwork on group projects was that you cannot depend on people to do all of their work. A bit cynical sure, but that lesson was very practical in the real world when I had goals set in my profession. I knew never to take on anything I could not finish by myself and that lesson has served me well. PBL obviously wants to encourage other lessons from groupwork, which I would hope may be the case in many projects. However, from my personal experience groupwork can lead to harsher lessons than a teacher might intend. That being said, I would certainly assign a group project in High School or grade school as these offer social opportunities for students that operate in a closer social environment. Therefore, the project could be more fun for them and by extension allow for involved interaction with the subject matter.
For College, I would not do a group project. College students in a class are often very disconnected from one another (unlike students who share a dorm or are on a team together). Every college group project I have done has not resulted in cooperation and teamwork, but rather each person splitting up a piece of the project and then meeting up shortly before the due date to paste it all together. That, in my mind, misses the point of PBL.
In college, I would assign a research project on an individual basis, likely a paper, but give the students some flexibility when it came to the topic. The best example of this from my perspective came in my British History course in undergrad when our Professor handed each of us a picture of some topic from the class. He said we had to write a paper based off of something in or related to that picture. I was given a picture of the Crystal Palace at the World's Fair in London which stood for the height of industrial achievement. I decided to do my paper on the Liverpool-Manchester Railway as it was one of the first in England and study how impactful it was on England's industrialism. The project gave me my first taste of college-level history work and because it was on a topic of my choosing I was more enthused to do the work and involve myself with the material. The professor won out as well because by bounding my work within the confines of a related course topic, he assured I would work on something course relevant.
The final aspect of PBL I am going to discuss presently is the need for Projects, both Civic and Research, to be presented to a non-classroom audience. By subjecting the completion and execution of the project to review of someone outside the classroom, you force a student to evaluate what they think is acceptable to present to others, as opposed to what they think is acceptable in order to earn a certain grade (that may not be an A). I like this idea because it gets students used to doing work that has merits/consequences outside of the classroom structure as well as giving them a practical deadline outside of the teacher-student relationship. Students know they have to have something they would be proud of presenting ready by a certain date. Doing projects with this guideline can only help.
I certainly have felt the pressure to succeed on projects and papers I had to present to others. Consequently, in my classroom I intend to almost always give some form of course-related research project. When I can I would like to have my students present said project to others. These readings were very helpful and made me think a great deal more on projects than I ever had before.
As far as my own project, I have designed a website which I will likely post on the next blog. For now I just have a brief blurb on what is and ten links to lesson plans on Nazi Germany (my field of study). Hopefully I can turn this website into a model of my potential flipped classroom idea. Only time will tell.
Until next time,
Derrick
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Levels of Technology Implementation
Howdy!
So for this EDIT 7500 class we had to read an article on Levels of Technology Implementation. It was pretty interesting. I instruct at a collegiate level and wonder to what extent technology will be helpful to my future instruction. I love using technology, but generally I use it as an extension of my existing lesson plan. I typically setup a lecture/discussion outline. With the outline in place I develop a powerpoint and bookmark a few relevant images and videos that may help. I am interested to see what is out there, but am comfortable with my current technology use. In the article it mentioned research that technology availability in addition to professional development helped enrich classrooms. Thus, I am happy to be part of this class because UGA's technology is phenomenal.
As far as the survey, I was not surprised by the results....well at least the broken down results. The bar graph was something....different....
That surprised me, but once I checked the results on the side I was much more encouraged.
For LoTI I was a Level 2 Exploration with sounds about right. I really only use technology to support my existing lesson plan, but I am interested in learning./applying more. Here was my printout result for that section.
For Personal Use I kind of felt I would blow this one out of the water. I have had a computer since I was 9 and subsequently learned very early how to fix my cpus. I have learned a lot about cpus over the years culminating in a two year stint working on an IT Helpdesk saving up for Grad School. While I applied my existing knowledge to fixing one set of problems, my base grew and I became very knowledgeable. I was level 7. Here is its printout.
Current Instructional Practices placed me with Level 5, which evidently indicates I focus on student's being involved in the learning process. I think that is very true. I think a student learns best by doing and being involved. Such a process is particularly beneficial to the discussion sections I currently work with. Here is its printout.
So, I have had a few things about myself confirmed which is always valuable to see. I am looking forward to taking this survey at the end of this course to see if anything has changed.
As far as my project is concerned I am still leaning towards a Flipped Classroom with a special youtube video students can watch outside of the class so I do not have to provide a bunch of background. I just need to set aside some time to make a rudimentary outline and discuss the item with Dr. Soper. We'll See. Until next time....
Angermeier Out!
So for this EDIT 7500 class we had to read an article on Levels of Technology Implementation. It was pretty interesting. I instruct at a collegiate level and wonder to what extent technology will be helpful to my future instruction. I love using technology, but generally I use it as an extension of my existing lesson plan. I typically setup a lecture/discussion outline. With the outline in place I develop a powerpoint and bookmark a few relevant images and videos that may help. I am interested to see what is out there, but am comfortable with my current technology use. In the article it mentioned research that technology availability in addition to professional development helped enrich classrooms. Thus, I am happy to be part of this class because UGA's technology is phenomenal.
As far as the survey, I was not surprised by the results....well at least the broken down results. The bar graph was something....different....
For LoTI I was a Level 2 Exploration with sounds about right. I really only use technology to support my existing lesson plan, but I am interested in learning./applying more. Here was my printout result for that section.
For Personal Use I kind of felt I would blow this one out of the water. I have had a computer since I was 9 and subsequently learned very early how to fix my cpus. I have learned a lot about cpus over the years culminating in a two year stint working on an IT Helpdesk saving up for Grad School. While I applied my existing knowledge to fixing one set of problems, my base grew and I became very knowledgeable. I was level 7. Here is its printout.
Current Instructional Practices placed me with Level 5, which evidently indicates I focus on student's being involved in the learning process. I think that is very true. I think a student learns best by doing and being involved. Such a process is particularly beneficial to the discussion sections I currently work with. Here is its printout.
So, I have had a few things about myself confirmed which is always valuable to see. I am looking forward to taking this survey at the end of this course to see if anything has changed.
As far as my project is concerned I am still leaning towards a Flipped Classroom with a special youtube video students can watch outside of the class so I do not have to provide a bunch of background. I just need to set aside some time to make a rudimentary outline and discuss the item with Dr. Soper. We'll See. Until next time....
Angermeier Out!
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Reflective Blog 1: Flipped classroom?
So, I had never heard of a flipped classroom until one of my classmates in EDIT 7500 mentioned it as a potential project idea. I went and looked it up shortly after that and was intrigued. Here is a link to a wikipedia article on the flipped classroom(which is ironic because I would never recommend wikipedia in my classroom) Flipped Teaching.
For those who are not interested in reading the article a flipped classroom involves providing students with video lectures to watch as homework. After watching the videos the students bring questions to class and then do their "homework" assignments in the class with the instructor. Theoretically, the teacher gets more hands-on time with students to develop the application phases of learning.
Coincidentally, I watched the local news at home this weekend that discussed a school doing the flipped class. The science teachers all got together and did video lectures, then did experiments and homework in the class. It seemed very rewarding in the short story.
I am intrigued and wondering how this could possibly be applied to my own breakout sessions. For example, I have to lead one session of life in Nazi Germany. As my specialty is Nazi Germany I could provide A LOT of background information on this topic. I could provide so much background I would likely eat up critical discussion time just prattling on about any number of things. So, I am wondering if I did a brief online lecture with background, what benefits it would have....
Benefits:
1. Give students more background with an intricate topic.
2. Take up less class time with background knowledge
3. Allow students to get more in-depth with reading materials as they will be armed with new background info.
4. Students can have more information with which to debate/discuss the lecture material.
Cons:
1. Does such a video overstep my role as a TA?
2. Does such material contradict the value of the main lectures?
3. Can/should these students be obligated to view this video?
What is encouraging about my initial thoughts on this matter is that all my cons are questions, not definitive negatives. I will just need to ask these questions and if those answers turn out favorably...
I am intrigued by the idea of a flipped breakout section and will be thinking of this idea for quite sometime.
So....I was going to sign off like Doogie Howser does in his blog, but as it turns out Howser never signed off....so....in homage to that cult classic show.....
For those who are not interested in reading the article a flipped classroom involves providing students with video lectures to watch as homework. After watching the videos the students bring questions to class and then do their "homework" assignments in the class with the instructor. Theoretically, the teacher gets more hands-on time with students to develop the application phases of learning.
Coincidentally, I watched the local news at home this weekend that discussed a school doing the flipped class. The science teachers all got together and did video lectures, then did experiments and homework in the class. It seemed very rewarding in the short story.
I am intrigued and wondering how this could possibly be applied to my own breakout sessions. For example, I have to lead one session of life in Nazi Germany. As my specialty is Nazi Germany I could provide A LOT of background information on this topic. I could provide so much background I would likely eat up critical discussion time just prattling on about any number of things. So, I am wondering if I did a brief online lecture with background, what benefits it would have....
Benefits:
1. Give students more background with an intricate topic.
2. Take up less class time with background knowledge
3. Allow students to get more in-depth with reading materials as they will be armed with new background info.
4. Students can have more information with which to debate/discuss the lecture material.
Cons:
1. Does such a video overstep my role as a TA?
2. Does such material contradict the value of the main lectures?
3. Can/should these students be obligated to view this video?
What is encouraging about my initial thoughts on this matter is that all my cons are questions, not definitive negatives. I will just need to ask these questions and if those answers turn out favorably...
I am intrigued by the idea of a flipped breakout section and will be thinking of this idea for quite sometime.
So....I was going to sign off like Doogie Howser does in his blog, but as it turns out Howser never signed off....so....in homage to that cult classic show.....
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
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