A proposal Connect the Dots: Curriculum Dashboard for STEM Careers Theodore Frick Associate Professor School of Education Indiana University Bloomington 1

Ted who??? R547 online course intro in Same online course intro now at:now – My website: – Why am I at the APPLY/STAR Academy at Manual? – Propose a new idea that will help students, teachers and administrators to see the connectedness of their curriculum, instruction, and student learning to STEM careers 2

Challenge in American Education National Center on Education and the Economy (2007): – Highly concerned about inadequate preparation of students for U.S. jobs – If we do not improve education, the “American standard of living will steadily fall relative to those other nations, rich and poor, that are doing a better job.” (p. 8) – Problem is relevant to P-16 education—not just P-12 3

College Students Ill-Prepared American Institutes for Research (Baer, Cook & Baldi, 2006) assessment of college student literacy: – 1,826 students assessed in 80 institutions randomly selected nationwide, both 2- and 4-year colleges – Used National Assessment of Adult Literacy (2003) – Assessment done by outside examiners, not professors 4

College Students Ill-Prepared (cont’d) Baer, Cook & Baldi (2006) measured proficiency levels of college students nearing graduation: At 2-year colleges, more than 77 % scored less than proficiency levels, and more than 60 % scored less than proficiency levels in 4-year colleges. Yikes! Literacy2-year colleges4-year colleges Prose23 %38 % Document23 %40 % Quantitative18 %34 % 5

National Study of High School Student Engagement done by IU 81,499 students in 110 high schools across 26 states were surveyed (Yazzie-Mintz, 2007) – 9 out of 10 students are engaged less than 1 hour per day in school learning activities outside of class. – 2 out of 3 students reported being bored in class every day – top reasons: learning materials uninteresting, irrelevant and not challenging enough. 6

National Study of High School Student Engagement done by IU Why go to school? – 7 out of 10 students say they engage in school work “Because I want to get a degree and go to college.” Students who consider dropping out: – Dislike school and teachers; and – Do not “see the value in the work they are asked to do.” (from Yazzie-Mintz, 2007, p. 4-5) 7

ALT: Academic Learning Time Research has repeatedly found that: – The more students are engaged successfully in learning activities that are relevant to academic standards (ALT), – The better they perform on assessments of those standards (Kuh et al., 2007; Berliner, 1991; Fisher et al., 1978) So how do we get students to be more engaged, and engaged successfully? How do we motivate students to want to learn? This is the key challenge for all of us. 8

First Principles of Instruction: (David Merrill, 2002; 2008) 9

Research: First Principles of Instruction Merrill (2002) claims that “there will be a decrement in learning and performance when a given instructional program or practice violates or fails to implement one or more of these first principles.” (p. 44) Frick et al. (2008) found in a study of over 450 college students that they were nearly 4 times more likely to be rated as high masters of course objectives by their instructors, when students independently agreed that their instructors used First Principles and students experienced ALT in the course. When students did not agree that instructors used First Principles and they did not experience ALT, they were about 23 times as likely to be rated as low masters of course objectives by their instructors. 10

Need to Change the Curriculum Much of P-12 curriculum is not organized around real-world problems, projects or tasks. The APPLY/STAR Academy should be commended for attempting to implement project-based learning. How will you know if project-based learning is connected to Indiana academic standards and STEM professions? 11

MAPSAT Curriculum Dashboard We propose to help the APPLY/STAR Academy “connect the dots” between academic standards, instructional units (projects and other learning activities), student learning, and STEM careers. – What is this Curriculum Dashboard idea? – What is MAPSAT: Map & Analyze Patterns & Structures Across Time? – How would we develop this new Dashboard together? – What would you need to do? – What would we need to do? 12

Indiana’s Academic Standards: High School Mathematics Algebra IAlgebra IIGeometry Discrete Mathematics Probability & Statistics Pre-calculus/ Trigonometry Calculus AP Integrated Mathematics I Integrated Mathematics II Integrated Mathematics III An Example 13

Indiana’s Academic Standards: High School Mathematics 14

Indiana’s Academic Standards: High School Mathematics 15

Indiana’s Academic Standards: High School Mathematics 16

Indiana’s Academic Standards: High School Mathematics 17

Indiana’s Academic Standards: High School Mathematics 18

Indiana’s Academic Standards: High School Mathematics 19

Indiana’s Academic Standards: High School Mathematics 20

Indiana’s Academic Standards: High School Mathematics 21

Indiana’s Academic Standards: High School Mathematics 22

Indiana’s Academic Standards: High School Mathematics 23

Indiana’s Academic Standards: High School Mathematics 24

What will the MAPSAT Curriculum Dashboard Do? Measure properties of connectedness: – Strongness – Flexibility – Interdependence – Wholeness – Vulnerability Allow different views of connections: – For an individual student – For a class – For a school 25

Dashboard Maps for Two Years 26

Dashboard Map for a Single Student 27

Dashboard Map for a Single Student 28

Dashboard Map for a Class 29

Types of Connectedness 30 Less strong Less flexible Less interdependent Less whole More vulnerable More strong More flexible More interdependent More whole Less vulnerable

Car Dashboard: Ted’s Toyota Dashboards MAPSAT Dashboard Prototype 31

We will follow a User-Centered Design Process: Successive approximation through iterative, rapid prototyping with user participation 32

What you would do when we’re done with development and testing 1.For each instructional unit you do with a class or group, using a Web form we design with you: 1.Enter a name for the instructional unit and a brief description. 2.Make connections between that activity and specific academic standards that it supports. 3.Assess student learning as you normally do, e.g., grade their work in the unit. 33

What IPS staff and consultants would do during development and testing 1.Create curriculum maps for Indiana standards. 2.Link specific standards in curriculum maps to various STEM careers. 3.Help coordinate MAPSAT Dashboard project with teachers. 34

What we (IU project team) would do: 1.Develop computer database for storing connections among instructional units, academic standards, STEM careers, and individual student achievement in instructional units. 2.Work with teachers in the APPLY/STAR Academy to design the Dashboard Web interface for teachers and students to use. 3.Work with administrative staff in the APPLY/STAR Academy to design the Web interface for the Dashboard that administrators will use. 4.Develop selective views of the MAPSAT maps (for individual students, classes, school). 35

What we (IU project team) would do: 5.Further develop MAPSAT computer software for measuring connectedness properties (i.e., strongness, flexibility, interdependence, etc.) and MAPSAT Dashboard displays. 6.Conduct several rounds of usability tests with a few teachers each time in order to improve the ease of use. 7.Maintain the database and software on IU servers. 8.Help implement this project with APPLY/STAR Academy teachers and provide technical support as needed. 36

Proposed Timeline of Activities Year 1: assess needs of teachers and staff, do rapid prototyping of user interfaces with small numbers of teachers, and develop the computer software for the database, interfaces and measures of connectedness. Year 2: trial of initial Dashboard system with a relatively small number of teachers, and modify as needed. Year 3: full-scale trial and evaluation of the Dashboard with the APPLY/STAR Academy. 37

Discussion & Questions Contact Info: Dr. Ted Frick 38