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
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
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
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