The Mother of Invention: Involving upper elementary students in the invention process

The Mother of Invention: Involving upper elementary students in the invention process Steve Coxon Assistant professor of gifted education and Director of gifted graduate programs at Maryville University maryville.edu/edgrad stevecoxon.com coxonsteve@hotmail.com Lori Bland, Ph.D. Director of Professional Development and Practice in Gifted Education The Center for Gifted Education at The College of William and Mary cfge.wm.edu lcbland@wm.edu

Today Participants will be engaged in the Problem-based Learning (PBL) process and employ it while receiving an overview of the unit and of the wider applicability of PBL.

Students should be given problems – at levels appropriate to their maturity – that require them to decide what evidence is relevant and to offer their own interpretations of what the evidence means. This puts a premium, just as science does, on careful observations and thoughtful analysis. Students need guidance, encouragement, and practice in collecting, sorting, and analyzing evidence, and in building arguments based on it. However, if such activities are not to be destructively boring, they must lead to some intellectually satisfying payoff that students care about. -- from Science for All Americans, Project 2061 Center for Gifted Education The College of William and Mary

Project Clarion overview Principal investigators: Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Ed.D. and Bruce Bracken, Ph.D. With a federal Javits grant, eight units for primary science were created, field tested, revised, researched in classrooms, disseminated, revised, and published. The units combine the Wheel of Scientific Investigation, the Frayer Model of Vocabulary, concept mapping, pre- and post-assessment, and the macro-concepts systems and change.

Project Clarion research overview Researched with over 3400 K-3 students in 48 classrooms in 6 Title I schools including urban, exurban, and rural in comparison to 43 classrooms using standard curriculum (e.g., Harcourt Brace) over 3 years.

Project Clarion research results Gains were found for all student groups, including gifted students The performance-based assessment results showed significant and educationally important gains for Clarion students in: Macro-concepts Scientific investigation Content mastery The Test of Critical Thinking showed significant and educationally important effects for the third grade students in the treatment group.

Invitation to Invent Concept: Systems Processes: Scientific investigation Problem-based learning (PBL) Higher order questioning Content: Simple machines; force, motion, and energy

What is PBL? Problem-based learning is an instructional strategy (a curricular framework) that, through student and community interests and motivation, provides an appropriate way to “teach” sophisticated content and high-level process… all while building self-efficacy, confidence, and autonomous learner behaviors. Center for Gifted Education The College of William and Mary, 2009

PBL Roles Teacher: Present an ill-structured problem Act as a metacognitive coach Student: Create a precise problem statement Find information to solve the problem Evaluate possible solutions Create a final product Center for Gifted Education The College of William and Mary, 2009

Center for Gifted Education College of William and May History of PBL Medical school model (Barrows) Used in both elementary and secondary classrooms with gifted students Adapted for use with all learners Used to educate school administrators Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

Center for Gifted Education College of William and May Research on PBL Students show significant learning gains in experimental design through a PBL approach (VanTassel-Baska, et al. 2000) Students show enhanced ‘real world’ skills with no loss in content knowledge as a result of using PBL (Gallagher & Stepein, 1996; Gallagher & Gallagher, 2003) Students & teachers are motivated to learn using the PBL approach (VanTassel-Baska, 2000) Students show enhanced higher order skill development using PBL over other approaches to teaching science (Dods,1997) Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

Center for Gifted Education College of William and May Features of PBL Learner-centered Real world problem Teacher as tutor or coach Emphasis on collaborative teams Employs metacognition Uses alternative assessment Embodies scientific process Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

Characteristics of the Gifted Characteristics of PBL Desire for self-directed learning Students are in charge of learning Intense curiosity – what is the ‘real’ issue? Requires problem finding Metacognitive thinkers Have we considered all possibilities? What assumptions are we making? Why is this strategy not working? Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

Characteristics of the Gifted Characteristics of PBL Capacity for learning quickly & absorbing new information Requires students to make connections & create ‘new’ knowledge Tendency to look beyond surface of problem Requires deep thinking Belief that problems have more than one answer There is no single right answer Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

Science Curriculum Framework The Problem Concept Process Understanding “Systems” or “Change” Using and Conducting Scientific Research Content Learning Science Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

Problem Based Learning State the problem Decide what information you need Conduct information quest Complete scientific investigations Review data & summarize findings Communicate problem resolution Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

Lower Primary Wheel of Scientific Investigation and Reasoning Make Observations Ask Questions Learn More Design and Conduct the Experiment Create Meaning Tell Others What Was Found SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION AND REASONING Javits Project Clarion, Center for Gifted Education, College of William and Mary 18

Wheel of Scientific Investigation and Reasoning Use your curiosity Find something of interest to study. Use your senses to learn. Identify all the questions you have. Select ONE question you want to answer. Select an audience. Decide on the best way to communicate. Include data tables. Report conclusions. Make Observations Tell Others What Was Found Ask Questions SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION AND REASONING Organize your data. Analyze data. Make inferences and draw conclusions. Check to see if you answered your question. Think of related questions. Create Meaning Learn More Find what you need to know Find what others know. Learn more through observations. Re-examine your question. Design and Conduct the Experiment Form a hypothesis List experiment steps. Identify materials you need. Conduct experiment. Record data. Javits Project Clarion, Center for Gifted Education, College of William and Mary 19

Center for Gifted Education College of William and May Problem Statement You have been appointed the architectural engineer for a new school. Many teachers and students have suggested that cafeteria noise is a major problem in the schools, making it difficult to converse and to think while eating. You have 2 weeks to draw up plans for a cafeteria in the school that would improve on what currently exists in this school. What will you do? Pg. 68 Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

How is noise muffled in nature? Sample questions from the lesson: How is noise muffled in nature? How will the Wheel of Scientific Investigation help you solve the problem? Pg. 67

Handout directions: At your tables, work in groups to brainstorm examples of the problem as well as 1-3 aspects of the problem (pg. 69). Be prepared to share with the larger group.

Use the chart at the top of pg. 70 to organize your plan of action. Handout directions: Having listened to multiple groups, record what you feel is the top solution (pg. 70). Use the chart at the top of pg. 70 to organize your plan of action.

Handout directions: Finally, restate your top solution as a testable question (bottom of pg. 70). Be prepared to share.

Now that students are involved in the invention process, the unit moves on to simple machines and new possible inventions that employ them. See handout 7A/7B

Students will create an invention as a final project after learning the invention process through PBL and exploring the 6 simple machines hands-on. See rubric, handout 7C

Center for Gifted Education College of William and May PBL Conclusions: engages students' curiosity and initiates learning the subject matter. provides excellent opportunities for students to think critically and analytically, and to find and use appropriate learning resources promotes autonomous learning Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

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Steve Coxon Assistant professor of gifted education and Director of gifted graduate programs at Maryville University maryville.edu/edgrad stevecoxon.com coxonsteve@hotmail.com

Center for Gifted Education http://cfge.wm.edu/ (757) 221-2362 Center for Gifted Education, The College of William and Mary, 2009