Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Academic Integrity
I agree with Leslie that we need a uniform policy on academic integrity. I'm am hoping for it to be very specific and with consequences. I don't think they need to be dire like failing the class. I prefer the approach in which students have an opportunity to make up for their poor choices. For example, re-doing the project, writing an apology letter, appearing before a formal student-teacher academic integrity committee...things that are uncomfortable enough (yes, a little shame never hurt anybody...ha ha ha) to be a strong deterrent. I think we need to be tougher on them much sooner, before they make mistakes when it really counts (like in college) that could negatively affect their futures.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Thing 9 - Bill Nye On Demand
I had heard that SPPS had United Streaming some time ago. But it is hard to find time to sit down and learn a new application or explore a new resource with all the seemingly important immediate demands on our time. So I really appreciated looking at US at our last meeting and digging into it enough to make it useful. Soon after that meeting, Marcia and I downloaded some videos and burnt them to CD's. Once you walk through the process, it makes it so much easier in the future. My goal is to run through as many videos as I can looking for videos to support our Science 9 and Chem curriculum, then burn it on to CD's for our video library. (I don't want to depend on actual streaming for our core curriculum.) So the trick will be finding time to do this. Hmmm...maybe my TA can help with the downloading and burning process. I look forward to reporting back on our progress.
Thing 7 - The Proof is in the Planning
More on the Harding Science Fair...
I didn't use the RPC exactly, but I did lay out a schedule of due dates from the day the project was assigned. We had a due date for each of the following:
* Brainstorm of possible topics
* Final research question
* Procedure
* Background research write-up with references
* Preliminary data
* Final data
* Draft layout of poster board
I had students turn in a copy of each of the above. I started a spreadsheet to track their progress, but I didn't keep up with it as much as I would like. I had a hard time tracking my 165 students. So I didn't chase down students who were behind as much as I would like. I reminded students of due dates and most kept themselves on track. But some were still running experiments the day before it was due.
I reserved the computer lab ahead of time and put all those dates on their due date calendar. That helped quite a bit. It also kept my stress down, so that I was not scrabbling for computer time at the last minute. I also felt like I gave my students access to the resources they need. On our first trip to the computer lab, I directed their research to the Grolier Encyclopedia Americana. I spent some time exploring all of SPPS's on-line learning resources the night before and found that Grolier gave the most appropriate information at the appropriate level for the background info on their science projects.
I didn't use the RPC exactly, but I did lay out a schedule of due dates from the day the project was assigned. We had a due date for each of the following:
* Brainstorm of possible topics
* Final research question
* Procedure
* Background research write-up with references
* Preliminary data
* Final data
* Draft layout of poster board
I had students turn in a copy of each of the above. I started a spreadsheet to track their progress, but I didn't keep up with it as much as I would like. I had a hard time tracking my 165 students. So I didn't chase down students who were behind as much as I would like. I reminded students of due dates and most kept themselves on track. But some were still running experiments the day before it was due.
I reserved the computer lab ahead of time and put all those dates on their due date calendar. That helped quite a bit. It also kept my stress down, so that I was not scrabbling for computer time at the last minute. I also felt like I gave my students access to the resources they need. On our first trip to the computer lab, I directed their research to the Grolier Encyclopedia Americana. I spent some time exploring all of SPPS's on-line learning resources the night before and found that Grolier gave the most appropriate information at the appropriate level for the background info on their science projects.
Thing 6 - Harding Science Fair
All 9th graders at Harding are required to complete a science fair project. I've guided non-IB students through this process in the past. I've also guided 11th & 12th grade IB chemistry students through their "Group 4" science projects. This year I have pre-IB chem 9th graders. My goal was to keep the requirements for my 9th graders as close to the requirements for the full IB "Group 4" project as possible. The biggest difference was pushing them to investigate more challenging questions (no product comparisons or taste tests), to make the questions quantitative and objective, do a more in-depth job on the background research, and to complete a proper bibliography.
My students have done a great job selecting both challenging and quantitative questions. With few exceptions, their questions are as good as the questions by my full IB chem students. Ex:
* What is the relationship between the dissolved oxygen content in various samples of lake water and the amount of bacteria contained in the water?
* How does the quench temperature affect the strength of an iron rod after heat-treatment?
* How does the % sugar in a water solution affect the index of refraction of the solution?
A few things I did at the beginning of the project:
* Showed them past projects from the 11th/12th gr IB students, not 9th graders.
* Gave them a limited list of well-written quantitative questions. (If the list is too long, they tend to choose questions right off the list, rather than come up with their own questions.)
* Insisted that I would not accept any product comparisons or tests that rely on human subjects or opinions.
* Listed some of the cooler equipment at Harding they could use: vacuum chamber, UV lights, ovens, incubators, chromatography paper, Vernier LabPro detectors (motion, sound, light, pH), etc.
For students that struggled with coming up with questions, I gave them the list of science fair web sites. That helped some students. Eventually, I started just talking with the students about their hobbies: skateboarding, dance, music, food, etc., and we would go from there. Some questions that came out of these conversations:
* From an interest in Chinese lanterns -> What is the effect of % starch in a water solution on the amount of light transmitted through the solution?
* From an interest in music -> How does the length of a wind chime affect the frequency of the sound produced?
I hadn't read the RPC in detail until now, but I appreciated the emphasis on the front end...developing good questions. I think emphasizing the front end helped my students the most.
My students have done a great job selecting both challenging and quantitative questions. With few exceptions, their questions are as good as the questions by my full IB chem students. Ex:
* What is the relationship between the dissolved oxygen content in various samples of lake water and the amount of bacteria contained in the water?
* How does the quench temperature affect the strength of an iron rod after heat-treatment?
* How does the % sugar in a water solution affect the index of refraction of the solution?
A few things I did at the beginning of the project:
* Showed them past projects from the 11th/12th gr IB students, not 9th graders.
* Gave them a limited list of well-written quantitative questions. (If the list is too long, they tend to choose questions right off the list, rather than come up with their own questions.)
* Insisted that I would not accept any product comparisons or tests that rely on human subjects or opinions.
* Listed some of the cooler equipment at Harding they could use: vacuum chamber, UV lights, ovens, incubators, chromatography paper, Vernier LabPro detectors (motion, sound, light, pH), etc.
For students that struggled with coming up with questions, I gave them the list of science fair web sites. That helped some students. Eventually, I started just talking with the students about their hobbies: skateboarding, dance, music, food, etc., and we would go from there. Some questions that came out of these conversations:
* From an interest in Chinese lanterns -> What is the effect of % starch in a water solution on the amount of light transmitted through the solution?
* From an interest in music -> How does the length of a wind chime affect the frequency of the sound produced?
I hadn't read the RPC in detail until now, but I appreciated the emphasis on the front end...developing good questions. I think emphasizing the front end helped my students the most.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
