Learning activities Research Paper
Learning activities Research Paper
Order Instructions:
Steps:
1. Choose two preselected activities from the Demonstration of Content Knowledge area of your ePortfolio.
2. Review your specialization program information on the Walden website. The “Emphasis on Practical Strategies” section summarizes the key concepts presented in your program and the knowledge and skills you should have gained during your studies at Walden. Use this information to help you complete the reflective essay.
To view this site, follow the directions below (Adolescent Literacy and Technology see last bullet under #2):
• Paste the following link in your web browser. http://www.waldenu.edu/masters/ms-in- education.
• Select your specialization by clicking on the Curriculum Tab at the top of the page.
• Read the Emphasis on Practical Strategies section towards the top of the screen.
• ALT specialization “Emphasis on Practical Strategies”:
• Integrate writing strategies into the design of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to enhance student learning.
• Design lessons using research-based instructional models to develop higher levels of student literacy.
• Learn and use research-based strategies to help improve students’ critical reading skills.
3. Write a reflective essay, in APA format, that includes the following:
A. Background Information/Setting the Stage for the Reader:
o Describe the purpose and provide a description of the two preselected activities you chose. This information gives your reader background information about the activities.
o Include course numbers, course titles, and dates for when the preselected activities were completed. (Remember, this was a requirement when you uploaded your preselected activity to your ePortfolio.)
o List the identified professional standards tagged with the preselected activities. (Remember, this was a requirement in the course when you uploaded your preselected activity to your ePortfolio.)
B. Self-assessment of content knowledge growth:
o Give evidence of how you have gained the content knowledge and skills of your specialization as listed on Walden’s website under the “Emphasis on Practical Strategies” (see Step 2 above). You will use examples from your preselected activities, professional standards, and other Walden course experiences to provide this evidence.
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o Discuss how this new knowledge has transformed your teaching and impacted student learning. Give specific examples that demonstrate growth.
4. Suggested length is 3 to 5 pages, not including title and reference pages. Upload your essay as an attachment to the Demonstration of Content Knowledge Major Assessment.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Introduction
Learning activities have been of crucial essence since the beginning of pedagogy; not only in sciences or practical subject, but also since the time philosophical thinking and/or arguments were the main sources of teaching information. This is attributable to the fact that such learning activities are involved in making sure that students at all levels of education develop the ability to apply what they learn on day to day basis either theoretically in classrooms or through their own individual observations (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007). Thus, since the introduction of mathematics subject in education system, learning activities aimed at practically engaging students have constituted a vital component of the syllabus and such practical sessions may range from conventionally based to technology based learning activities. November (2008) notes that internet based learning activities have also become essentially crucial as methods of demonstration or illustration in mathematical classrooms. As a result, this reflective essay will focus of two preselected learning activities that were undertaken by the students in order to teach and/or evaluate their levels of comprehension, understanding, and retention.
- Background Information
The main purpose of the preselected learning activities was to make sure that students developed the ability to practically solve real life problems that involved one-step, two steps as well as multi-step equations. For instance, in the two preselected learning activities whereby one was conventional involving practical application of geometric solids (in terms of volume and surface areas) while the second involved practical application of internet-based game learning. This means that the central purpose of the two preselected learning activities was to integrate technology (internet and associated technological devices) for subsequent practical application to solve practical life problems while bringing in the aspect of fun in learning. This is greatly motivated by the fact that leaning continue to become more liberalized due to rapid advancements in technology since gaming is becoming an integral part of students today and group working is also encouraged as a learning support method by providing scaffolding to slow learners while making sure that all members of the entire group are at par by the end of the learning activity.
The two preselected learning activities are: use of internet by students to identify five common geometric solids and subsequently grouping them to solve real life problems associated with volume and surface area and the second learning activity is using game software to give students unlimited access to their accounts for monitoring of their gaming prowess. For instance, in the first preselected learning activity, the students confirmed if they have ever used internet before to search information online by raising their hands upon completion of searching five common geometric solids and determining the volume as well as the surface area of a cylindrical soda can. The students individually or in pairs used the smart board to practically demonstrate how they conducted search on their preferred topic, and the teacher subsequently demonstrated to them how the search could have been effectively conducted using the smart board. The second activity involved creating accounts for each student through game-based learning software at Mangahigh.com and the students were given unlimited access to the software. The student were directed to Algebra meltdown game involved in solving one variable linear equation once they logged in and required to solve the provided problems within the allocated time since the games are always timed. The progress of students within the game was tracked and analyzed through the teacher’s dashboard in order to use observation (note taking) as well as statistics from the dashboard to determine the number of students that struggled with content and also the number of students that demonstrated quick mastery of content at any given level of the game. This helped in planning and implementing lessons that targeted the areas where most of the students portrayed weaknesses while giving ideas for intervention plans to struggling students and formulating of more challenging problems for more advanced students.
The course numbers of the units where the preselected learning activities were chosen from are: EDUC 6712 and EDUC 6715 and their respective course titles are Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom and changing the game at my school respectively. Furthermore, the first preselected learning activity from EDUC 6712 was completed on 18th August 2013; whereas the second preselected learning activity from EDUC 6715 was completed on 15th December 2014. Even though the first learning was not fully implemented due to lack of a sufficient group of student to work with, homework activity was devised to deliver the same objectives through a considerable extent of students’ scaffolding. However, the second learning activity was effectively implemented and showed the potential in emerging game-based learning method which has been newly introduced in many schools to teach mathematics and sciences since it allows students have unlimited access to their game accounts. This means that the identified professional standards tagged with the preselected learning activities were: enhanced capacity to integrate technology in developing lesson plans; improved potential in implementing lessons that utilize emerging technologies (i.e. game-based learning activities); improved ability to track and analyze student progress in a learning activity; and enhanced development of alternative methods using teaching aids or technology interventions for struggling students (scaffolding).
- Self-assessment of Content Knowledge Growth
As a mathematics teacher, I can undoubtedly affirm that I gained considerable content knowledge and skills in my area of specialization which requires adoption of emerging technologies to address various day to day life challenges through innovative application of the solutions inherent in them to problems we often face in our lives. For example, the preselected activities clearly indicate that I was able to advance my knowledge on how to demonstrate or explain various methods used in searching a particular concept, especially concerning various common geometric solids and how to calculate their volumes and surface areas using different methods that are available. The other preselected learning activity (i.e. game-based learning activity) significantly enhanced my knowledge and skills on emerging technology methods of tracking and analyzing students’ progress through a learning activity.
The integration of the content knowledge growth through the preselected activities to my specific professional standards show that I definitely enhanced my knowledge since I am now able to apply various methods that are technology based (e.g. the learning game on software Mangahigh.com) to appropriately teach a mathematics classroom a new concept subsequent to practical application as well as effective tracking of the learning progress. This new knowledge has considerably transformed my teaching and impacted student learning because nowadays I have incorporated continuous assessment of the progress of my students’ learning at all levels of a unit or course to determine the struggling ones and those have the ability to quickly master the learning content. As a result, I have also adopted scaffolding as an intervention plan to help struggling students, while at the same time developing new challenges to students who have portrayed content mastery. Through these strategies I have ensured that there is significant reduction in the performance difference between students in mathematics tests which is vital in making sure that I always achieve the unit learning objectives and/or outcomes.
Conclusion
Throughout this reflective essay, it is clearly evident that appropriate teaching strategies mostly through practical learning activities, especially those adopting emerging technologies have proved to be highly effective in making learning and evaluation easier. For instance, internet and learning games were used to ensure students solved various real life problems while effectively mastering the involved concepts.
References
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Games-based-learning and g-Learning blog: 21st Century Skills and Games Based Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.games-based-learning.com/2012/11/21st-century-skills-and-games-based.html
Mixing it Up with Mangahigh: Using Games to Differentiate Instruction. (2014, January 1). Retrieved December 8, 2014, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/mangahigh-games-to- differentiate-instruction-kristof-mueller.
November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
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