graphic organisers ireland - newcastle...

StudentsasAssessors:UsingGraphicOrganisers FaSMEd

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Subject: Maths/ScienceAgeofstudents: 12-13yearsHardware: iPads/SurfacesSoftware: PoppletFunctionalities: SendinganddisplayingTime:Two40minuteclassesFaSMEdpartner: MaynoothUniversityShortAbstract: Studentsdevelopgraphicorganisersonatopicand thensharedthemwiththeclass.Thesewerethen peerassessedusingsuccesscriteriadevelopedbythe group.

FaSMEdRaisingAchievementthroughFormativeAssessmentinScienceandMathematicsEducation

StudentsasAssessors:UsingGraphicOrganisers


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1. ContentInthisexamplethecontentwaschosenbythestudents.

2. Activity2.1 AimsLearningOutcomes:Process:

• Studentswilldevelopselfandpeerassessmentskills• Studentswilldevelopskillsinhowtocriticallyanalysethequalityofwork

Skills:

• Informationprocessing-recording,presentinginformation.• Communicating• Workingwithothers

2.2 Structure/MethodologyQuestionsduringActivity(optional):

• Whatdidyouthinkaboutthispieceofwork?• Whatdidyouthinkofthemethodstheychose?• Whichmethoddidyoulikebest?Whywasthis?• Didyoufindanymistakesintheirwork?• Doyouagreewiththeirconclusions?• Whatadvicewouldyougivetothestudenttoimprovetheirwork

Introduction:Thislessonunitisstructuredinthefollowingway:Class1:

• Studentswillbedividedintogroupsandtheteacherwillexplaintherulesofgroupwork.

• StudentswillworkingroupscreatingagraphicorganisereitherontheiriPadorSurfaceoronhardcopy

• Studentswillselfassesstheirroleingroupworkusingthetemplateprovided• Teacherwillanalysestudentresponsestothistaskanduseittoplanforclass2.

Class2:

• Studentswillbedividedintotheirgroupsoncemore• Studentswillpeerassessgraphicorganisers• Teacherwillanalysestudentresponsestothetask.• Studentswillonceagainselfassesstheirroleingroupwork


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BeforetheLesson:

• Ensurethatyouhavetheappsrequiredforthisactivityinstalledonthetabletswellinadvancetoavoidtechnicaldifficultiesinclass(optional).

• Familiariseyourselfwiththetechnologybeforeintroducingittotheclass.• Printhandouts.• Organisegroupssothatthereisarangeofabilitiesineachgroup.• Decideonwhattopicsyouwantthestudentstorevise.

Class1outline:

• BegintheclassbyexplainingtothestudentsthatthisisaFaSMEdclassandtheyaregoingtobeworkingasassessorsforthenext2clas-ses.

• Explaintostudentshowgraphicorganisersworkandshowexamples.

• Explainthecriteriaforsuccess• Givestudentstimetoaskquestionsregarding

theactivity.• Organisethestudentsintogroupsandassignarevisionto-

pictoeachgroup.• Studentswillworkoncompletingtheirgraphicorganisersintheirgroups.• Teacherwillaidthisprocessbyaskingprobingquestionswhilethestudentsare

working.• StudentwillsubmitthegraphicorganiserstotheteachereitherviaSchoologyorin

hardcopy.• Students’willselfassesshowtheyworkedduringtheactivity.• Teacherwillreflectonthisclassandplanforthenextclassusingtheworkthestu-

dentssubmitted.Class2outline:

• Begintheclassbyinformingstudentsthatthisisthesecondclassinthestudentsasassessorstask.

Askstudentstoreflectonwhattheywroteontheirself-assessmenthandoutsandtellthemtotrytoimproveonthisduringtoday’sgroupwork.

• Teacherwillhandoutgraphicorganisersfortheotherscience/mathsclassorfromdifferentgroupsintheclass.Teachersreportedthattheyfeltitwasimportanttokeepthegraphicorganisersanonymous.

• Studentswillworkonpeerassessingthispieceofwork.Itisimportantastheteacherheretogetthestudentstocriticallyanalysethework,theques-tionsatthebeginningofthislessonplanshouldhelpyouandthestudentstocarryoutpeer-assessmenteffectively.

• Teacherwillaidthisprocessbyaskingprobingquestionswhilethestudentsareworking.

• Awholegroupdiscussionwillallowforreflectionontheactivity.

StudentworkingwithPopplet


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• Teacherwillhandouttheself-assessmenthandoutstothestudentsoncemore.• Theteacherwillcollectthissetofself-assessmenthandouts.

Afterthelesson:Theteachershouldanalysetheresponsestothesecondself-assessmenthandoutsandmakenoteofwhatworkedwellandwhatdidnotworkwellintheFaSMEdclasses.SampleGraphicOrganiser(createdonPopplet):

2.3 Technology

• iPads/Surfaces(optional)withPoppletapplication• GraphicOrganisers(hardcopyorPowerPoint)• Schoologyforuploadinggraphicorganisers(optional)

Schoologyisanonlinelearningenvironmentthatallowsteacherstocreateandmanageacademiccoursesfortheirstudents.Itprovidesteacherswithamethodofmanagingles-sons,engagingstudents,sharingcontent,andconnectingwithothereducators.FormoreinformationseetheBeginnersGuidetoUsingSchoology.2.4 AspectsofFormativeAssessmentThroughusingco-operativelearningtechniquesinthisclass,theabilitytoactivatestudentsasinstructionalresourcesforoneanotherwasheightened.ThisfitsintotheFAframeworkwherebythetechnologyfunctionedinsendinganddisplayingandprovidingstudentswithaninteractiveenvironmentinwhichtowork.


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3. FurtherInformationTwoforty-minuteclasseswererequiredforthislesson.Itwasimportantthattherewasabreakbetweentheclassesinorderforstudentstohavetimetoreflectonthefirstclassbe-foreattemptingthesecondactivity.TheiPadapplicationPoppletwasessentialinthisactivi-tyasitallowedforstudentstocreategraphicorganisers(ormindmaps)ontheiriPads.Thishelpedthemtothinkandlearnvisually,allwhileorganisingtheirthoughtsandcreatingrela-tionshipsbetweendifferentsciencetopics.Thisallowedstudentstorepresenttheirlearningpictorially.Studentscouldmakeuseofimagesandvideoswithinthisapplicationthatwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithapenandpapergraphicorganiser.ThepoppletscreatedbythestudentswereuploadedtotheclassSchoologypage(orwhenthiswasnotapossibility,emailedtotheteachertoupload)wheretheyweretobepeerassessedbyotherstudentsintheclass.Thisdemonstratedthesendinganddisplayingfunctionalityofthetechnologyinthisactivity.Fieldnotesgatheredfromthelessondirectlyprecedingtheactivitydemonstra-tehowstudentswereprovidedwiththeopportunitytorethinkanswersthatmayhavebeenincorrect.Theteacherfacilitatedthisbyprovidingthestudentswiththinkingtimeinclassandusinghigherorderquestioningtoprobeforunderstanding.StudentsmadeuseofSchoo-logy,aninteractivewebbasedlearningenvironment.Thistechnologyprovidesteachersandstudentswithasafeplacetointeractandconnectbothinandoutofschool.Thefunctionali-tyofthistechnologywasincreatingininteractivelearningenvironmentforstudentstoworkon.ItsstructureissimilartoFacebookwherebythoseenrolledinaclasscanpostcommentsandresourcesontheclasswall.Thereisalsothefacilitywherebytheteachercanuploaddifferentresourcesincludingmarkingrubrics,assessmentsandvideolinks,forthestudentstomakeuseof.StudentshadaccesstotheirSchoologyaccountsviatheclasssetofiPads.Inthislessonwherestudentswereusinggraphicorganiserstoassessboththemselvesandeachother,fieldnotesillustratedthattheteacherwasmakinguseofquestioningrepeatedlytogivefeedbackonanswersandtoscaffoldstudentstoproblemsolveandfindthesolution.Scaffoldingisespeciallyimportantforlowachieversasitallowsforthemtobuildontheirpreviousknowledgeandnotbecomeoverwhelmedbyproblemsolving.Throughusingco-operativelearningtechniquesinthisclass,theabilitytoactivatestudentsasinstructionalresourcesforoneanotherwasheightened.ThisfitsintotheFAframeworkwherebythetechnologyfunctionedinsendinganddisplayingandprovidingstudentswithaninteractiveenvironmentinwhichtowork.Duringtheprojecttheteacherimprovedherco-operativelearningpracticesandnotonlyaccomplishedthestudentsworkingasteams,butusedthisgroupworktopromotepeerassessmentwithinclass.Duringlessonswheretheteacherwasworkingonpromotingstu-dentsasassessors,theteachermadeuseoftechnologicallyenhancedco-operativelearningtodevelopstudent’steamworkandpeerassessmentskills.TheteachermadeuseoftheiPadapplicationPopplettoincorporatetechnologyinthelesson,thecompletedpoppletsweresharedanddisplayedamongstudentssothattheycouldpeerassesseachother’sworkonSchoology.Priortothelesson,theteacherhadorganisedthestudentsintomixedabilitygroups.Atthebeginningoftheclassthestudentswereassignedgrouproles,howevertheteacherdidnottellthemwhattheseroleswereandtheyhadtoassignthemselvesaletter,A,B,CorD.Thistackledtheissueofstudentschoosingrolesbasedontheirabilitylevels,forexample,stron-gerstudentsbeingthereporterandweakerstudentsbeingthetimekeeper.Thismethodofgroupdesignhadnotbeenexploredduringsessionswithteachersanddemonstratesthe


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teachertakingtheinitiativetopushherco-operativelearningplanningtoahigherlevelandbeingparticularlymindfuloflow-achievingstudents.Videoanalysisofthisclassillustratedstudentengagementintheactivitythroughoutthelesson.Thisengagementwassupportedbytheteacherwhowasseentobeconstantlymoni-toringgroupwork,probingstudentsforunderstandingthroughquestioningandengagingindiscussionswithstudentsabouttheirwork.Theteacherwasseentokeepthestudentsontaskduringgroupworkbyprovidingthemwiththecriteriaforsuccessforthegraphicorgai-seratthebeginningofthelesson.Duringtheco-operativelearningactivityitwasoservedthattheteacherrepeatedlyreferredbacktothesuccesscriteriaformakingthegraphicoga-nisers.Itwasnoticeablethatthishelpedtokeepthestudentsfocusedontheirgrouptaskandtoselfapplysuccesscriteriatoit.Oncestudentshadcompletedtheirgraphicorganisersingroups,theyweretouploadthemtotheclassSchoologypageforthemtobepeerassessedinthenextlesson.Thisallowedforthesendinganddisplayingfunctionalityofthetechnologywherebythegraphicorganiserscouldbesharedamongallthestudentsinthefollowinglesson.Duringthesubsequentles-sontheclassmadeuseofthesuccesscriteriauploadedonSchoologyforpeerassessmentoftheirgraphicorganisers.Teacherreflectionsgatheredafterthelessonexplainedhowthestudentsenjoyedthislesson.Inparticularthyenjoyedbothgivingadvicetoandreceivingfeedbackfromtheirpeers.Theteacheralsonotedhowthetechnologyhadanimpactonthelessonasthestudentscommunicatedtoherthattheywishedtousetheapplicationinothersubjectsinschool.

Figure3:SampleSchoologypage


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3.1 SampleGraphicOrganizers


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4. References

PleaseInsertlinkstotheusedtechnology(howto/wheretogetthetechnology)

Bell,B.,&Cowie,B.(2001).Thecharacteristicsofformativeassessmentinscienceeduca-tion.ScienceEducation,85(5),536-533.

Black,P.,&Wiliam,D.(1998).Assessmentandclassroomlearning.Assessmentineducation,5(1),7-74.

Poppletwww.popplet.com

Anydevicewithamodernwebbrowser–smartphones,tablets,PC’s,laptopsetc.(availableasaniPadapp)

Allowsstudenttocreategraphicor-ganisers(ormindmaps).Thishelpsthemtothinkandlearnvisually,allwhileorganisingtheirthoughtsandcreatingrelationshipsbetweendiffer-enttopics.


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StudentSelf-AssessmentandReflections

Giveabriefdescriptionoftheactivi-tyyouhavecompleted.

Whatdidyoulikeaboutthisactivity?Whatwereyouabletodowell?

Whatdidyounotlikeaboutthisacti-vity?Whatproblemsdidyouhave?Why?

Whatdidyoulearnaboutyourself?Strengths,interests,preferences,andneeds.

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