ECE 7706 Bonus Blog: Math/Technology/Science

      It is evident in articles posted for this class, and articles I have found on my own that in traditional education all the subjects were taught completely separate of one another. However, since the initiation of integrated STEM education, it is especially evident that these subjects are so closely related that it is vital they be taught together to ensure a deeper understanding. 

      At the base of technology you will find scientific and mathematical influences. All technology works off of patterns and algorithms (math), but science determines how the machine will work. New Science and Math concepts both come first from hypothesis and then work through trial and error until the desired results are discovered. When conducting Science experiments, there is always some sort of math involved such as measurement, or problem solving capabilities. Also during Science experiments, scientists and students a like will use technology to further their understanding of the results of the tests by helping to analyze and process them. Technology also gives us various tools to complete mathematical computations. 

ECE 7706 Module 5: Article Four

Elementary and Middle School Engineering Outreach: Building a STEM Pipeline 

Gary J. Rivoli, Patricia A. S. Ralston

Synopsis: 

      The J. B. Speed School of Engineering is partnering with schools to create a STEM education pipeline that encourages students' interests in fields such as engineering, Science and technology. The "Speed School specifically implements four of the six published ASEE guidelines: 1) working with hands-on projects at the elementary level, 2) engaging young science teachers by providing them with good curriculum, materials, training and mentoring, 3) targeting minorities and females, and 4) strengthening the existing partnership between higher education (Speed) , K-12 (JCPS), and to an important community partner, the Louisville Science Center (LSC) who would provide important guidance on teacher training". The "Engineering in Elementary" (EIE) is a program supported by the Speed School that focuses on getting K-5 students headed towards STEM related studies in college. Throughout the "Engineering in Elementary" program, students would learn through modules that  allow students to take part in finding the solution to hands-on, real-world problems. At the beginning of each unit before specific content is address, the students are posed a problem and expected to use their recourse and experiments to determine an appropriate solution. EIE does not expect the students to get every problem 100% correct. Actually, the purpose of the program is to encourage group collaborations, understanding failure and be willing to try again. The curriculum within the program is not any different than anything we are learning in our schools today, EIE simply extends the curriculum with an emphasis on the STEM subjects. Soon after completing a few of the modules, students soon figure out that and begin to learn more about the important connections between Science, Math and engineering. "Their research has shown it not only improves elementary students’ understanding of science concepts, but their understanding of technology and of engineers and why their job is important.". 

Rivoli, G., & Ralston, P. (2009). Elementary and middle school engineering outreach: Building a stem pipeline. Retrieved from http://icee.usm.edu/icee/conferences/ASEE-SE-2010/Conference Files/ASEE2009/papers/P2009035RAL.PDF

Reflection:

      This was an extremely interesting article that went more in-depth and gave more specifics regarding the STEM education. It really seems like such a wonderful program that excites students for a potential career in Science, Math or engineering. After reading this article and thinking back to my third graders, it is vital that we spend time teaching the STEM education or Engineering in Elemetary programs because our students do not understand the importance of careers in these specific subjects. I love the fact that the students are given some sort of real-world problem at the beginning of every unit to spark their curiosity. Understanding that the students are learning the same things that are expected in the curriculum, but they are just being pushed further leads me to believe that this is definitely something that is do-able within the classroom. I do believe that this is a great concept, but since beginning to understand STEM education, I always find myself going back to the same questions I have had all along with inquiry-based instruction and constructivism techniques- do we have time for this find of teaching in the classroom? It all comes back to time management. Is it possible for true in-depth inquiry-based STEM learning  to take place in such a short amount of time? For instance, we are "allotted" 30 minutes for Science and Social Studies, so my thinking is if we do not get down to business with learning specific aspects of the curriculum we will not be able to get everything in before it is time to move on to something else.

      

      

ECE 7706 Module 5: Article Three

STEM, STEM Education, STEMmania

Mark Sanders

Synopsis: 

      In the 1990's, the program started out as Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology, or SMET; however, there were some complaints that this acronym sounded too much like "smut", it changed to STEM. This concept was first introduced in college graduate programs, but the acronym led people to believe the program was about Stem Cell Research, but in actuality it was an Integrated STEM Education graduate program. STEM is not something that needs to be said on its own; it needs to be said with something attached to it such as STEM education or STEM teachers/teaching.  It was also stated that STEM education is different than integrated STEM education because the subjects need to be combined and integrated in order to create a deeper understanding of the content areas. Even in a STEM education environment, students can become uninterested in subjects such as Math and Science, so it is important to keep the students interests with the integration of the technology aspect of the STEM pedagogy. However, teachers need to keep up with the change in content and times, so teachers need to be taught and prepared with the proper pedagogical teaching skills to effectively teach in a STEM integrative classroom. Also, within the original graduate programs the teacher-students are required to reflect upon integrative practices throughout their semesters and are able to collaborate across disciplines with other teachers. It is vital that if STEM education is started in younger grades that it is continued throughout the students education in order to ensure their overall interests in these specific fields.

Sanders, M. (2009). Stem, stem education, stemmania. The Technology Teacher, Retrieved from http://esdstem.pbworks.com/f/TTT+STEM+Article_1.pdf

Reflection: 

      Initially coming into this course, I did not know what a STEM program was, so I truly enjoyed reading the background information on this type of educational program. I have not heard anything about this program in terms of implementation in my school, but I do think that it would be a great way to get our students ready for their future. This article mentioned that students, even in elementary school, loose interest in subjects like Math and Science, but from what I experienced this year in my third grade classroom, my students loved both of these subjects. Therefore, if we were able to further their interests by incorporating technology in to the curriculum, then students will be more motivated to continue their education in these content areas. However, I don't think that an integrated STEM program is the only thing that is going to motivate our students. If we build of any our lessons off of the students interests, then the students are bound to become interested in the content they are learning. This also goes back to a constructivist or inquiry based classroom- as long as students are fully engaged in their learning then they will become more and more interested in the content. Just as in the STEM education program, we need to be giving students real-world problems so that they can experience real-world content application. 

ECE 7706 Module 5: Assignments

Project Based Learning

S3L2. Students will recognize the effects of pollution and humans on the environment.
       a. Explain the effects of pollution (such as littering) to the habitats of plants and animals.
       b. Identify ways to protect the environment.
           • Conservation of resources
           • Recycling of materials

Problem: 
      I have been informed by a few different types of animals that their watery-environment is getting extremely hard to live in due to the overwhelming amount of water pollution. These animals live in rivers/streams, oceans and lakes. This is where you come in! I need your help to determine the source of the pollution in one of the aquatic environments. You are going to choose an animal that would live in one of these environments and research from that animal's point of view how the water is being polluted and what can be done to stop it.

Authentic Assessment
     
      Students will use the internet and any other forms of research they find viable in order to gather information regarding the source of water pollution and determine real-world solutions to the pollution. Once the students have chosen a specific animal with a specific aquatic environment being polluted, they will create a visually appealing, well organized project using whatever means they find appropriate such as (but not limited to) a PowerPoint, Prezi, Glogster,  or even create a video presentation.

	4	3	2	1
Resource Use	Research resources were used responsibly with ease.	Research resources were used responsibly, but with some assistance.	Research resources were used semi-responsibly with frequent assistance.	Research resources were not used responsibly, and needed continuous supervision.
Project Creativity/ Visual Appeal	Unique, organized, and  contains enticing colors/graphics	Organized and contains a few enticing colors/graphics	Somewhat organized, and contains colors/graphics	Lack of an organizational structure and colors/graphics
Quality of Information	Information has a clear focus with plenty of supporting details.	Information has a clear focus with few supporting details.	Information has a clear focus with little or no supporting details.	Information has no clear focus and little or no supporting details.
Mechanics	No misspellings, punctuation or grammatical errors.	Three or fewer misspellings, punctuation and/or mechanical errors.	Four misspellings, punctuation and/or grammatical errors.	More than 4 errors in spelling, punctuation or grammar.

ECE 7706 Module 4: Constructivism

      Constructivism is something we talked about a lot in my undergraduate degree, even in our prerequisite classes before entering the early childhood cohort. When first learning about this concept, I knew it made sense, but did not know that there was much research behind it. However, after beginning to learn more about the brain and how people learn, it all started to come together for me. I believe, especially after exploring my own learning, that using constructivism techniques within the classroom is vital to student long-term learning and true understanding. In class whenever we learn new vocabulary or new concepts, I  always ask the students to think of something it reminds them of or a way that is going to help them remember the term or phrase. This was something I quickly learned really helped my students with remembering information. We would always discuss the various tricks the students mentioned to ensure that their was something that would stick with each of the students. However, something I want to get better at within the classroom, is allow the students to reflect more on their learning. I know that reflecting is very important to turning learned information into knowledge, but it was not something at the forefront of my mind when planning lessons. Therefore, in my upcoming year I plan to require my students to have a "Science Journal". This is not a journal where I give writing prompts, it is a journal strictly for the students to write down their thoughts on the day's lessons, pros/cons to the lesson as far as reaching their learning style, relating the current content to previous material, etc. Constructivism techniques go hand-in-hand with inquiry-based learning because they both want the student to figure out the information for themselves rather than the teacher provide the students will all the answers. I would incorporate constructivism into Science by allowing the students to participate in more Science experiments. This is something I became more comfortable with at the end of the year, and realized that this was something my students gathered the most information/understanding. Along with Science experiments, I could also allow my students to participate in various forms of research and project-based learning. I feel as though by differentiating the product in which students show what they have learned allows the students to make their own connections by trying to determine the best form or presentation. The students would also need to take the facts they gathered through research and put it in their own words.

7 E's:
S3E1. Students will investigate the physical attributes of rocks and soils

Excite:

• bring the students to the Science Lab to observe the different types of soil and rocks 
• discuss similarities and differences 

Explore:

• allow students to explore their yards at home to determine the different types of rocks found in the different areas of our school district
• watch a video showing how each type of rock is formed

Explain:

• create visuals describing their observations
• participate in group discussions
• think-pair-share
• reflect on lessons

Expand:

• research information on the rock cycle
• research plant life specific to certain types of soils

Extend:

• experiment with plant growth in sand, clay and potting soil

Exchange:

• create a class rock museum for other classes to come and explore
• create group blogs to share with peers 
• create a class magazine
• participate in graffiti walls/concept maps

Examine:

• classmates' projects
• webquests, turboquests, etc. 

Bonus Blog: Homework

Homework has always been something I struggled with with my students because I agree that the purpose of homework is invalid if the student does not understand what they are doing to begin with. However, as far as my parents are concerned, they had a huge problem when I would not assign homework. Therefore, I decided that when I gave homework it would be something that I review with my students before I sent it home. There would always be an example of how to complete the assignment at the top of the page and I would also take questions from students. I also informed the parents that if your student is really struggling with the content I did not want them to complete the homework until I was able to talk to them about the content. I did not want the students to learn something wrong or make up their own way of doing it that may not always work. I never graded homework, because it was strictly to give students extra practice or determine specifically what aspects of the content the students were struggling with.

ECE 7706 Module 2: President Obama Video

If I were to leave a comment...

      I am extremely impressed with the speech I just heard from President Obama regarding educational reform. He hit the nail on the head- reform is not something a school can do on its own, it is something that is everyone's responsibility. Obama stated that more and more jobs require more than a high school degree, so in order to truly create jobs we need to change the educational statistics. In order to do that schools need reform and more money. The things that he was suggesting that would aid in this reform were beyond truthful. He understands that we are living in an age where technology is key in just about every aspect of life, so it is vital that we meet these children on their stomping ground. We have to teach them through their interests and at this moment in time their interest is embedded in technology. So for Obama to say that he is going to give schools more flexibility to accommodate students through digital tutors and educational software definitely takes steps in a direction we need to go. I know from experience that my students love playing competitive computers games, so when I introduced a review software called Study Island my students were playing it constantly. They were asking to play it in their free time, and at home. Education always seems to be on the back burner and receives monetary cuts constantly, so knowing that he is willing to make cuts in other areas to get education more money is going to make huge changes in the way we are able to teach our children. I loved his comparison of national budget cuts to budget cuts within a family. When a family is struggling with money, do the parents ever take educational items/opportunities away from their children? No. That is the last thing they would ever think to touch, so why would we be cutting funding to schools and education on a national level?