EdTech 542 - Key Principles of Assessments

This week we focused on planning assessments for our PBL projects. According to McTighe, there are seven principles for developing performance assessments. How my PBL project addresses these principles are described below.

1. Establish Clear Performance Targets. The assessments I have planned for PBL: A Nuclear World are based on specific TN state standards. Each lesson has a clear target presented to the students in student-friendly terms.
2. Strive for Authenticity in Products and Performances. The assessments are student-centered and for the most part students are not confined to only one way of showing mastery of content. Student choice provides motivation for the student to show mastery in the way they feel most comfortable, giving them confidence in the task. However, to motivate the student to try a more than one method, the project rubric gives top scores for variety.  
3. Publicize Criteria and Performance Standards. Students should have no questions as to what the criteria and performance standards consist of. Rubrics are constructed for all performance assessments and are provided online for all students to access at the beginning of the project. 
4. Provide Models of Excellence. In order for students to perform at a high level, they should be given examples of project assessments that show the same. 
5. Teach Strategies Explicitly. As we go through each lesson involved with the project, I will teach strategies that will assist students such as researching, writing, webpage design, brainstorming, as well as reflection.  
6. Use On-Going Assessments for Feedback and Adjustment. Students will be provided feedback by both teacher and peers throughout the project. Students will also be given opportunity to reflect and improve upon their project tasks.  
7. Document and Celebrate Success. As students complete their project tasks, students that have demonstrated exemplary work shall have their work posted and commendations given. Students that may not have demonstrated exemplary work, but great improvement will also be given praise for their effort. At the end of the project students will also have a finished product they can call their own; an accomplishment that is tangible and that they may use again in the future if they wish. 

Driving Questions

This week we learned about the characteristics of good driving questions for Project-Based Learning. Through various resources such as BIE and TechForLearning.org, I was able to put together a good idea of what a good driving question should look like. My project has to do with "A Nuclear World" in which students investigate the roles nuclear weapons have played in our history and how they affect our world today. With the recent Iran deal it has become even more relevant. I also created 10 sub-questions that students would have to answer in order to answer the driving question. The most important characteristic to me for a good driving question would be the real world aspect. Students in our society have not lived in fear of nuclear weapons, mostly due to the Mutual Assured Destruction concept. However, that threat does still exist. Their eyes start to open when we begin playing with NUKEMAP (online nuclear blast simulation) and I tell them that there are likely a few warheads aimed at the nearby base at this very moment. Their eyes get really big. I explain to them the M.A.D. concept but they are caught up in the fact that there is a legitimate danger and they are close to a valuable military target. Having that real world connection, something that makes it personal, is invaluable in getting students involved in a project such as this. I'm looking forward to implementing this project into my course this upcoming year.

EdTech 542: PBL Project Research

This week we researched various Problem-based Learning projects to gain familiarity with what we are going to be constructing for our own course project. I found that most PBL projects were very student-oriented, hands-on, and very in-depth regarding their scope. I have found in projects such as creative writing that I have had students work on in the past that if they can "make the topic their own" and connect to it on a personal level that they have a much better grasp of the content.

After researching various projects I discovered a project on researching local history in the community. I could easily adapt this to my classroom. My students could conduct research on various sites of historical significance in Tennessee. As we live in a military community they could do research on Ft. Campbell, individual unit histories, the role of the city itself. In doing this the students not only gain in-depth knowledge but hopefully also gain a greater respect and sense of connection for the community they live in. If they research a military unit that a family member is/was involved in, they could also gain a closer relationship with them as well.