Mary Jo Grdina, Ph.D. EDUC 775 Drexel University September 16, 2014

Getting on the Same Page Who am I? Who are you? What do you need to know about teaching?

Learning about and from Chocolate Chip Cookies

Is this a good cookie? What grade would you give it?

Before we can assess anything, we have to know what we were hoping to achieve!

Think about your last class with Drexel students. What were you hoping to accomplish? Write down an objective you had for the session. At the end of this class (session), the students will... At the end of this class (session), the students will be able to... Note: underline the Verbs in your objective.

Working Backwards When designing a lesson, a unit, a course, really any curricular activity, we must start “backwards.” In education today this model is known as “Understanding by Design” (UbD).

Three Stages of Backward Design 1. Identify desired results 2. Determine acceptable evidence 3. Plan learning experiences and instruction.

When formulating lesson goals ~ You must have a very clear vision of what you want: the Content you want the student to know, and the Level of Thought you are hoping they will have achieved. We must be familiar with Bloom’s Taxonomy.

What do we mean by “taxonomy?” We usually hear about it in science. 1. The classification of organisms in an ordered system that indicates natural relationships. 2. The science, laws, or principles of classification; systematics. 3. Division into ordered groups or categories:

Domains of Educational Activities A committee of colleges, led by Benjamin Bloom (1956), identified three domains of educational activities. Cognitive: mental skills (Knowledge) Affective: growth in feelings or emotional areas (Attitudes) Psychomotor: manual or physical skills (Skills)

The Cognitive Domain Involves knowledge and the development of intellectual skills. Is divided into six major categories by degrees of difficulty. Before we define these categories, we will engage in a few activities that will help you understand the distinctions.

Activity 1: Memorizing Capitals CountryCapital LatviaRiga NigeriaAbuja SerbiaBelgrade VenezuelaCaracas GuyanaGeorgetown

Activity 1: Memorizing Capitals CountryCapital Latvia Nigeria Serbia Venezuela Guyana

Activity 2: Writing Sentences Compose a sentence that includes the following terms: Nanotechnology Conflict Constipation

Activity 3: Solving a Problem What is the area in of a right triangle with a base of 40 cm. and a height of 30 cm? What is the length of the hypotenuse of this triangle?

Activity 3: Solving a Problem What is the area in of a right triangle with a base of 40 cm. and a height of 30 cm? 600 sq.cm. What is the length of the hypotenuse of this triangle? 50 cm.

Challenge yourself further by: Identifying the structural flaws in this architectural design; Designing an energy efficient motorized skateboard; Critiquing a company business plan.

Bloom’s Taxonomy – Cognitive Domain Knowledge Level: Learn the information. Comprehension Level: Understand the information. Application Level: Use the information. Analysis Level: Break the information down into component parts. Synthesis Level: Put information together in new and different ways. Evaluation Level: Judge the information.

Bloom Verbs Knowledge Level: define, identify, quote, match; Comprehension Level: classify, explain, review, predict; Application Level: compute, demonstrate, produce, report; Analysis Level: diagram, illustrate, outline, relate; Synthesis Level: formulate, integrate, model, organize; Evaluation Level: appraise, critique, evaluate, interpret.

Let’s Sort our Objectives!

Formulating Goals in the Affective & Psychomotor Domains

2. Determine acceptable evidence ( How will we know that we have arrived?) A teacher must know before s/he starts a lesson/unit how s/he will assess that the students have achieved the goals of the lesson/unit. It is not easy to design a good assessment. A variety of assessments should be used. Both the content of the lesson and the level of critical thought desired in the goals must be considered when designing the assessment.

An Example Label the mitochondria in this cell. If the mitochondria is removed from the cell, how will the cell activity be altered? These two test questions address teaching goals on two different cognitive levels.

3. Plan learning experiences and instruction. (What do we need to do to get ready for the trip?) After we have set goals and determined how we will identified results, now we begin to plan all learning activities that will prepare our students for the assessment.

Remember A lesson design, not a lesson plan: Design ~ The arrangement of details which make up a work of art! Your lessons must prepare your students for the assessment that informs you that you have accomplished your objectives. All pieces must work together. When you accomplish this, you have created a “work of art!”