Summary of Proposed Lesson:

The focus of this lesson is for my homeschooled children, who are completing their junior high studies (about grade 8), to design a curriculum plan for their high school course work.  This will involve preparing a learning goal, researching various homeschooling techniques, and creating appropriate schedules.  The learning goal should reflect career and secondary/trade educational goals.  The student will research homeschooling techniques used by other homeschoolers through magazines, interviews and online forums.  Throughout their research the learner will document their processes through the use of a Blog.  Their final proposed schedule will be presented through a technology medium such as a spreadsheet.  The schedules should address both long-term and short-term plans that take into consideration extra-curricullar goals and commitments.  This lesson should take about two weeks to finish. 

 

FACTS Design Version II:

 

 

 

Foundations

 

Activities

Contents

Tools

To Do

 

 

Design Challenge 2 

 

 

The Efficiency Model

 

A Learning Design

 

 

Top 10 Principles of the Efficiency Model

10. Hire competent teachers/administrators to create an efficient learning environment.

9. Plan on making everything as standardized as possible.

8. Standardize the conditions such that schools are filled with rooms containing 1 teacher and 25+ students.

7. Standardize operations so that everything is done in the same way every time.

6. Standardize schedules so that students can carry out their days without much thought.

5. Standardize instruction such that everyone learns the same thing at the same time.

4. Standardize records so that students become carbon copies of the established norm.

3. Provide efficiency rewards for students who achieve the aforementioned norm.

2. Discipline those students who fall outside of the established norm.

1. Celebrate the fairness and equality each student enjoys in the quest toward a single, efficient norm.

 

Top 10 Challenges to the Efficiency Model

10. The efficiency model was created by industries that dealt with objects, not people.--Students are real people with individual backgrounds and ideas.

9. The efficiency model focused on using a single set of linear, step-by-step teaching techniques that resulted in identical outcomes.--Students learn in different ways and at different paces.

8. The efficiency model massed "acceptable" knowledge and produced texts that took on the role of the ultimate authority.--Students must be allowed to acquire information from multiple sources for meaningful learning.

7. The efficiency model put teachers in the role of dictator; they dictated what information was learned (texts), how information was learned, and the time given to learn it in.--Students should be able to drive their own learning with the teacher acting as a facilitator.

6. The efficiency model made the regurgitation of facts the ultimate goal.--Students must learn how to interpret and apply information so that they can be creators of new ideas.

5. The efficiency model broke down the desired facts into subjects and taught them in isolation of each other.--Students must be able to see the importance of new information on the big picture not as an isolated event.

4. The efficiency model decided that students "learn" facts better through student-isolated, rote memorization.--Student learning can occasionally take place through memorization, but the learning is made more meaningful through real-world applications.

3. The efficiency model declared that "learning" can and will only take place in a classroom.--Students must understand that learning is a life-long pursuit that gets its foundation in real-world applications.

2. The efficiency model states that all students learn best when learning is approached as an isolated event.--Students need to have opportunities to interact wit their learning whether it be through collaborative group project, interactive technological applications, etc.

1. The efficiency model efficiently created drones and then wondered where all the innovators went.--Students must be active creators of new ideas not passive consumers.

 

Step One: Define a Learn Goal

Students will learn the parts and function of the Excretory System.

 

Step Two: State Objectives

1.  Given a printed diagram of the excretory system, fifth-grade students will be able to label each part of the excretory system with at least 70% accuracy.

2.  Given a multiple-choice paper test over the excretory system, fifth-grade students will be able to choose the correct answer for excretory functions with at least 70% accuracy.

 

Step Three: Sequence Instruction

1. The teacher will introduce the excretory system by directing the students to the appropriate chapter in their science textbook.

2. Students will be instructed to read the chapter on the excretory system and answer the review questions at the end of the chapter.

3. The teacher will review the material from the text and answer student questions.

4. Students will be given a blank copy of the excretory system diagram and instructed to fill in the numbered parts using the diagram in their book.

5. Students will be told to review their chapter review questions and excretory system diagram in preparation for their chapter test.

 

Step Four: Determine Learning Success

Students will be given a test consisting of filling in a diagram of the excretory system and multiple choice questions pertaining to the function of the excretory system and its parts. Students who achieve 70% or above mastery on the test will be considered to have mastered the subject content and passed on. Students who score lower than 70% will be given a subject review sheet and then retested as necessary.

 

A Reflection and Critique of the Design

At first glance the Excretory System design seems to be a strong lesson (if I may say so myself). However, it is important to mentally carry the lesson out to completion and look at the implications of its processes.  This design can be easily carried out either in a classroom setting or one-on-one. Students will be able to easily access their textbooks and most of them will be able to turn directly to the appropriate chapter. The teacher will be able to neatly schedule a week consisting of instruction, reading, testing and if needed, review and retesting. There is no confusion on what will be tested and how. The outcomes are set. The time for learning is set. The steps are cut and dry. The end results will ultimately be the same for each learner (some learners might achieve the desired outcome while repeating the grade).

 

Returning to the mental exercise of caring out the lesson to completion, it is important to look at the end result. What have the students ultimately learned? Sure they have memorized a diagram and some basic definitions, but do they have a functioning, applicable understanding of the excretory system? Can they move from their basic learning of definitions to a real-world situation of what happens when we get food poisoning? More than likely, no. All the students have learned is how to access information as instructed by their teacher, place that information into short-term memory, and regurgitate that information on demand during test time. And for those students who might have excelled in their understanding of the excretory system, they will be kindly patted on the back for their enthusiasm and then brushed aside as the next topic from the list of "need to knows" is introduced.

 

Although technology's place in education is evolving, the present stage leads a lot to be desired. To apply technology, by today's standards, to the Excretory System design it would be important to take that path of least resistance in order to back-up the textbook learning with the technology. This would mean using the internet to provide a diagram of the excretory system and maybe even an animated clip of its processes. In order for our technology usage to evolve into a more meaningful process to support learning the focus of our learning should change from rote memorization to application. When children ask "Why do we fart?" (sorry for being so blunt, but hey, that's the kinds of questions they ask) teachers need to guide students in their quest for the answer. While they search for the answer to the question that drives their curiosity they will learn the parts of the excretory system and its processes. Students will come away with a sense of control over their own learning and see that learning is a part of life that will allow them to make since of the world around them.

 

The steps of the Excretory System design using the Efficiency Model of instruction provide a basic guide for information acquisition. Students know that when asked to learn something new, they are to go to a reliable source where they can acquire the information. These are helpful steps students can adapt for learning outside of school. Life outside and after school, however, does not come with required TAKS nor is it supported by textbooks (like "So Your Teenager Just Told You to 'Shut Up!'"). Life outside of a classroom is constantly changing and often-times confusing. Real people have to go in search of answers that are meaningful to them and their situation. To do so they must drudge through massive amounts of information. This requires critical thinking skills which the Efficiency Model of learning does not provide.

 

Because the Efficiency Model discourages skills such as critical thinking it conflicts sharply with constructivist learning theories. Generally, constructivists view learners as individual, unique beings who react in various ways to their environment. As mentioned earlier, the Efficiency Model was first designed to improve industrial assembly lines. Constructivist learning focuses on the processes a learner uses (hence the learner). Efficiency learning focuses on the most efficient way to achieve an end result (can we say "Achievement Tests").

 

Technology has allowed for the accumulation and easy access of massive amounts of information from around the world. This change in our culture from a print-based system to a electronic system requires us to re-assess our current educational needs. It is imperative that we address the DEficiencies of the Efficiency Model in order to provide our students with the skills to become life-long learners in this emerging electronic age.

 

 

Design Challenge 3

 

 

The FACTS Model of Design

 

 

Teachers as Designers: A Cinquain Poem 

Teacher

Expert learner

Imparts puposive skills

Patiently persevering

Designer

 

Teachers as Designers: A Diamente Poem

Designer

Persistantly Active

Planning, Strategizing, Creating

Contriver, Conceiver, Consultant, Facilitator

Coaching, Advising, Preparing

Enlightened, Imparted

Teacher

 

The FACTS Model: A Summary

The FACTS Model uses six simple questions to guide a teacher in designing the best learning experiences based on the needs of his/her students.

 

The F is for Foundations

For today's student the foundation of learning rests on how to learn. The purpose of schooling is to model the various processes of learning.

 

The A is for Activity

In order to make learning meaningful, real-world interactive problem-based activities must be designed. They must promote authenticity, knowledge building, construction and sharing.

 

The C is for Content

To model life-long learning skills, students must practice applying ABCS strategies to meaningful situations. Grouped together, these real-world situations create the educational content.

 

The T is for Tools

To be active learners students must physically interact with their environment by knowing how to effectively use available tools or when to create new ones.

 

The S is for Systems of Assessment

To determine successful student learning, designers must use various assessment formats for establishing student background knowledge, development, and changes in self-efficacy.