Creating Meaningful Learning Experiences - Worksheet

Creating Meaningful Learning Experiences - Worksheet

• 1.
  Worksheet  for  Developing  a  Meaningful  Learning  Experience     WE15  Session  -­‐  Creating  Meaningful  Learning  Experiences   Dr.  Jacquelyn  K.  Nagel  –  [email protected]   Title  of  Experience:  ___________________________________________________   Ideally  each  experience  has  all  elements.  Aim  to  have  at  least  the  first  four.   Design   Considerations   Pedagogical  Design  Elements  and   Function  in  Learning   Experience  Element   1.  Appropriate   to  participant’s   abilities  and   needs?   The  content  is  appropriate  to  level  of   thinking  and  present  knowledge  of   participants.  Connects  with  existing   knowledge  and  perceptions  to  enable   building  rather  than  confusion.     2.  Carries  an   affective   “hook”?   Conveys  relevance,  worth,  and  links   to  personal  interest  or  experience.   Engages  participants  desire  to  learn.     3.  Makes  use   of  interactive   engagement?   Working  with  others  or  whole  group   summarization.  Requires  listening   and  speaking,  which  develops   confidence  and  sense  of  being   supported  in  learning.     4.  Encourages   visualization?   Explanation  of  ideas  or  concepts   through  diagrams,  mind  maps,  flow   charts,  etc.  Builds  and  stabilizes   mental  picture  of  information.     5.  Requires   writing  and   encourages   revision?   Explanation  of  concepts  and  problem   solving  through  writing.  Builds  and   stabilizes  information  through   repeated  editing,  reorganizing,  and   polishing.     6.  Requires   metacognitive   reflection?   The  mind’s  ability  to  monitor  and   control  its  own  activities.  What   learning  resulted?  Builds  and   stabilizes  information  through  review   of  content,  process,  and  self   assessment.     7.  Possesses  an   effective   rubric?   Conveys  specific  meaning  of  high   quality  achievement.  The  product  or   performance  required  relates  clearly   to  the  outcome  intended.     Table  adapted  from  Nuhfer,  E.  B.  (2010)  Cooperative  learning  in  geological  science.  In  Cooperative  Learning  in  Higher  Education:  Across  Disciplines,  Across   the  Academy.  Mills,  B.  J.  (editor).  Stylus  Press,  pp.  181-­‐200.    
• 2.
  Worksheet  for  Developing  a  Meaningful  Learning  Experience     WE15  Session  -­‐  Creating  Meaningful  Learning  Experiences   Dr.  Jacquelyn  K.  Nagel  –  [email protected]   Example  Experience:  Lunar  Lander  Assignment  (1  week)–Senior  systems  analysis  course     Assignment  can  be  found  here:  Nagel,  J.K.S.  (2015)  “Development  of  an  Innovative  Multidisciplinary   Course  in  Systems  Analysis,”  Proceedings  of  ASEE  Conference  2015,  Seattle,  WA.   Design   Considerations   Pedagogical  Design  Elements  and   Function  in  Learning   Experience  Element   1.  Appropriate   to  participant’s   abilities  and   needs?   The  content  is  appropriate  to  level  of   thinking  and  present  knowledge  of   participants.  Connects  with  existing   knowledge  and  perceptions  to  enable   building  rather  than  confusion.   System  response  characterization  is  a  necessary   skill  for  systems  analysis  and  builds  off  of  junior   level  core  engineering  courses.   2.  Carries  an   affective   “hook”?   Conveys  relevance,  worth,  and  links   to  personal  interest  or  experience.   Engages  participants  desire  to  learn.   Stereotypes  -­‐  What  are  some  stereotypes  of   engineers  and  the  discipline  of  engineering?  What   do  stereotypes  impact?  We  can  stereotype  a   system  based  on  its  response  –  we  call  this   characterization.   3.  Makes  use   of  interactive   engagement?   Working  with  others  or  whole  group   summarization.  Requires  listening   and  speaking,  which  develops   confidence  and  sense  of  being   supported  in  learning.   Students  work  in  teams  of  two  to  complete  the   assignment.   4.  Encourages   visualization?   Explanation  of  ideas  or  concepts   through  diagrams,  mind  maps,  flow   charts,  etc.  Builds  and  stabilizes   mental  picture  of  information.   Students  must  create  a  schematic  representation   of  the  system  in  order  to  generate  equations  that   describe  the  dynamics.    Matlab  is  used  to  evaluate   the  equations  and  create  response  graphs.   5.  Requires   writing  and   encourages   revision?   Explanation  of  concepts  and  problem   solving  through  writing.  Builds  and   stabilizes  information  through   repeated  editing,  reorganizing,  and   polishing.   Students  must  characterize  the  system  response   and  explain  the  system  performance  before   (baseline)  and  after  changes  (improvements)  are   made.    They  must  describe  trade-­‐offs  in  the   design,  changes  in  the  context  of  the  physical   system,  explain  if  changes  are  realistic,  and   provide  justification  for  answers.   6.  Requires   metacognitive   reflection?   The  mind’s  ability  to  monitor  and   control  its  own  activities.  What   learning  resulted?  Builds  and   stabilizes  information  through  review   of  content,  process,  and  self   assessment.   Students  must  reflect  on  their  problem  solving   process  by  discussing  the  thought  process  taken   when  analyzing  the  lunar  lander  system,  and   elaborating  on  steps  taken  and  how  decisions   were  made.         7.  Possesses  an   effective   rubric?   Conveys  specific  meaning  of  high   quality  achievement.  The  product  or   performance  required  relates  clearly   to  the  outcome  intended.   Students  know  the  evaluation  breakdown  for  the   assignment  components.    Emphasis  is  placed  on   justification  of  choices  made  during  analysis.     Professionalism  is  graded.   Table  adapted  from  Nuhfer,  E.  B.  (2010)  Cooperative  learning  in  geological  science.  In  Cooperative  Learning  in  Higher  Education:  Across  Disciplines,  Across   the  Academy.  Mills,  B.  J.  (editor).  Stylus  Press,  pp.  181-­‐200.      
• 3.
  Worksheet  for  Developing  a  Meaningful  Learning  Experience     WE15  Session  -­‐  Creating  Meaningful  Learning  Experiences   Dr.  Jacquelyn  K.  Nagel  –  [email protected]   Example  Experience:    Engineering  Candy  Bridges  Outreach  activity  (50  min)   Activity  description  can  be  found  here:    https://www.jmu.edu/mathstat/eyh/workshop-­‐ descriptions/student-­‐workshops%20.shtml     Design   Considerations   Pedagogical  Design  Elements  and   Function  in  Learning   Experience  Element   1.  Appropriate   to  participant’s   abilities  and   needs?   The  content  is  appropriate  to  level  of   thinking  and  present  knowledge  of   participants.  Connects  with  existing   knowledge  and  perceptions  to  enable   building  rather  than  confusion.   Strength  of  different  shapes  and  geometry  are   appropriate  for  6-­‐11th  grade  girls.   2.  Carries  an   affective   “hook”?   Conveys  relevance,  worth,  and  links   to  personal  interest  or  experience.   Engages  participants  desire  to  learn.   Bridges  are  familiar  and  are  recognizable  in   everyday  life.  Understanding  why  bridges  are   made  of  certain  shapes  and  how  they  distribute   load  gives  value  to  math.  Building  bridges  out  of   candy  is  exciting!       3.  Makes  use   of  interactive   engagement?   Working  with  others  or  whole  group   summarization.  Requires  listening   and  speaking,  which  develops   confidence  and  sense  of  being   supported  in  learning.   Girls  work  in  teams  of  two  (three  if  there  is  an  odd   number)  to  design  and  build  a  bridge  that  can   span  an  8  inch  gap.   4.  Encourages   visualization?   Explanation  of  ideas  or  concepts   through  diagrams,  mind  maps,  flow   charts,  etc.  Builds  and  stabilizes   mental  picture  of  information.   Girls  must  individually  draw  their  bridge  design  on   paper  to  visualize  the  shapes,  and  then  share  with   their  sketches  with  their  teammate.   5.  Requires   writing  and   encourages   revision?   Explanation  of  concepts  and  problem   solving  through  writing.  Builds  and   stabilizes  information  through   repeated  editing,  reorganizing,  and   polishing.   None.   6.  Requires   metacognitive   reflection?   The  mind’s  ability  to  monitor  and   control  its  own  activities.  What   learning  resulted?  Builds  and   stabilizes  information  through  review   of  content,  process,  and  self   assessment.   After  testing  the  candy  bridges  we  have  a  group   discussion  on  what  was  learned  about  the  roles   geometry  and  weight  distribution  play  in  bridge   design  (and  failure).   7.  Possesses  an   effective   rubric?   Conveys  specific  meaning  of  high   quality  achievement.  The  product  or   performance  required  relates  clearly   to  the  outcome  intended.   Bridge  can  span  an  8  inch  gap  and  hold  a  load  of   full  size  candy  bars.   Table  adapted  from  Nuhfer,  E.  B.  (2010)  Cooperative  learning  in  geological  science.  In  Cooperative  Learning  in  Higher  Education:  Across  Disciplines,  Across   the  Academy.  Mills,  B.  J.  (editor).  Stylus  Press,  pp.  181-­‐200.