Mission IIS An Interdisciplinary Independent Study A new, personalized learning opportunity Sponsored by NASA, CCSSO, powered by CASLS

What? Mission IIS builds on a concept from an earlier NASA grant, the VLM (Virtual Learning Magnet) physics course, administered by CCSSO. The VLM Physics was designed as a performance-based, stand-alone course while Mission IIS represents a next phase concept.

What? Mission IIS (MIIS) is an opportunity for learners to identify appropriate Common Core Standards in mathematics 1 and/or learning targets from the VLM Physics course 1

What? Once a learner has identified an appropriate goal, resources such as problem sets, video clips, articles, etc. are provided. When a learner thinks the goal is understood with adequate depth, evidence of the learning is put into the learner’s unique e-portfolio.

What? Mission IIS is an INDEPENDENT Interdisciplinary Study. It is not a traditional course that a student works through independently.

What? Mission IIS is an opportunity-based learning experience, not a school-based program. Mission IIS does not give credits or even grades. Mission IIS provides powerful evidence of “learning to standards” that some students may furnish to their teachers, schools, or districts to provide evidence for performance-based learning opportunities.

What? Mission IIS is designed to be very flexible It may be accessed by an individual learner already enrolled in a traditional course who wants some help on a particular learning objective. It may be used by a teacher who wants to provide supplemental learning options to students whose passions include space or aviation. It may be used by a student who wants to earn a high school credit in a performance-based environment.

What? Mission IIS encourages interdisciplinary learning by linking physics and mathematics learning through a unique “tagging” system. Students can easily opt to have evidence of their learning apply to both math and physics. No need to complete separate problems, etc. for each different course.

What? Under the auspices of the NASA grant, Mission IIS uses existing NASA resources, focusing particularly on The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the GPS satellite system.

Who? Mission IIS is designed specifically for learners who have a passion for space, space exploration, aviation, and related areas.

Who? Mission IIS is appropriate for a wide variety of learners. High School students will find it to be useful for mastering concepts that relate to a rigorous precollege physics course and Common Core math standards that assume previous success with Algebra 2.

Who? Middle level learners who are “rocket kids” will find an increasing number of CCSS math standards that help learning occur through their passion for space. MS learners may also find that they are ready to begin offering evidence of mastery of some physics concepts.

Who? Elementary school learners (K-5)who are interested in space and aviation will also find an increasing number of CCSS K-5 math standards that they can target.

Who? Though “independent” is in the name, Mission IIS is designed as a collaborative learning experience. Learners are encouraged to collaborate with anyone, anywhere to help them meet their personal learning targets. Other learners will provide the first feedback on whether evidence of learning is sufficient to submit for review by a mentor.

Who? The “Team” behind Mission IIS is made up of individuals from CCSSO (The Council of Chief State School Officers), recipient of the NASA grant CASLS (Center for Applied Second Language Studies), designers of the software that stores leaner portfolios and shows progress on the learning targets

When? In September and October CCSSO and partners will host a co-design process where experts, educators, and students will provide feedback on the concept and design of Mission IIS.

After the completion of the NASA grant period in October, 2011, CCSSO will work with partners to promote the use of tools as freely available instructional resources for educators and learners.

When? Mission IIS will start inviting learners to use its resources in September 2011

Where? Mission IIS is designed to break the bonds of earth’s geography. Learners from everywhere are invited to join the Mission.

Where? Mission IIS is “cloud based”. It was designed with the intent that learners, mentors and other professionals could work and learn, mentor and teach together. With MIIS, every learner with a passion for space and aviation has the opportunity to learn in a “magnet” environment with others who share the same passion.

Why? Many students find much of their school work is disconnected from their interests, their passions, their technologies. Mission IIS is an early attempt to provide learners with a highly customized and personalized learning environment.

How? Mission IIS learners use the CASLS “Starfolio” platform to log in, create a “passport”, access the learning quests and provide evidence of their learning.

Signing in Point your browser (Chrome, Firefox or Safari) to Use Registration Code: IQ8209VW17 Create your learner account and password Activate your learner account after you receive the confirmation .

Sign in as directed

Proceed to the Home Page

“Passport” contains background info (these could be “live” shortly)

The “Hobbies” and “Career Aspirations” sections help with reflection about current interests

“Encounters”

Progress – indicate what math and science courses have been taken or are currently being taken

The Learning Tree Currently oriented from Physics, but this will change in later versions. There is a loose progression reflected in the tree Branch 1 before Branch 2 then Branch 3 OR Branch 4 before Branches 5,6,7,8 (in any order)

Concepts, Work, Can-do’s

Click “view” to open up learning areas