Our group chose to review a video lesson on central tendency and range presented by a Dowell Middle School teacher using a flipped classroom model. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01IdPDBHoDk
Identify what your team think which contributes most to the effectiveness and appeal of the lesson.
There are several factors that contribute to the effectiveness and appeal of the lesson. First, the lesson is well organized with information presented in clear chunks. The vocabulary is defined, procedures explained, and a sample problem worked for each topic in the lesson. Second, the lesson is presented as a video on YouTube. This allows the students to access the lesson on any device that has an Internet connection. Because it is a video the learner can pause when needed to take notes, process information or seek clarification from others. They can also view the video as many times as they need to for full comprehension of the material. Third, the students are given a Cornell Notes graphic organizer to use as they complete the lesson. Besides being a visual to frame the lesson it includes an essential question to focus their learning and practice problems to apply the learning.
For each tactic you identify, think up a different way that tactic could have been implemented, and discuss it. For example, should Wiki, Blog, Video, or any multimedia instruction be implemented?
The lesson was well-organized; however, the teacher did work the example problems on a small dry erase board. The same problems could be presented using a Smart, Star or Promethean board. The teacher would still be able to work the problems using a stylus or colored digital pen and it may have enabled her to have a larger white space in which to work. Because the delivery method was a YouTube video I don’t think that it should be changed. Today’s learners are familiar with the medium and I think that it was an excellent choice for this lesson. According to Beck (2009) video has the potential to foster deeper learning and increase memorization and understanding of content. Students are able to access the Cornell Notes graphic organizer via a Google docs link in the description of the video. Asking students to print out the graphic to use while watching the video is the best way to utilize it during the lesson. Since the teacher is using the flipped classroom model a class blog or wiki where students can post questions, concerns or reflections as they complete assignments away from school is an option that should be considered. The teacher will be able to see if several students are encountering difficulty, offer feedback, intervene if needed and students will have a place to encourage and help each other or ask for assistance.
Refer to Figure 3.1. Kinds of Knowledge. How does each tactic apply to the Particulars and Generalities based on the type of knowledge your team identify?
In the central tendency and range lesson the mean, median, mode and range are the descriptive generalities. Students need to be able to explain the terms and explain their relationships to each other in order to apply the concepts in a new situation. The graphic organizer that the students use will help facilitate this. The productive generalities would be the steps we take or procedures we follow to calculate the mean, median, mode and range from a data set.
Reference
Berk, R. A. (2009). Multimedia teaching with video clips: TV, movies, YouTube, and mtvU in the college classroom. International Journal of Technology in Teaching & Learning, 5(1), 1-21.
I agree that an interactive whiteboard may have been more useful than the small white dry-erase boards. However, if the teacher had limited access to technology, it's commendable that she turned the lesson into a video that the students could view repeatedly, as you mentioned. It was obvious to me that the video was shot on a consumer-grade camera without a tripod. The editing was done in a program that provided templates - so useful for teachers! It's a great time-saver, and it was perfect for integrating the places she wanted the students to pause.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with incorporating a blog or wiki so that the teacher can receive feedback from the students. That is so important! She needs to know if the students are grasping the information as soon as possible. The Cornell Notes are great, but with just a video, the teacher cannot adjust the lesson to meet the needs of the learners.