Assessment Always

Introduction

This week’s readings dealt with various forms of assessment.  How to assess, why to assess, the best methods to assess: these issues were all confronted.  While several of the readings did not deal explicitly with actually how, what, and why to assess, all went over detailed concepts that invariably are linked to proper assessment techniques that maximize learning capabilities.  All-in-all, this week’s readings in ECI 535 discussed the concept of student-directed investigation.  What does it mean? What does it entail? What are the teacher’s responsibilities? Why is it so critical to implement this conceptual framework of teaching in today’s classroom?  The following articles address these issues and certainly make the case that repetition and stagnant learning processes are obsolete.

Student-Directed Investigation

Larson and Keiper (2007) preach the pedagogy of student-directed investigation.  They outline the different forms of this type of teaching framework.  The authors advocate the many reasons behind such methodology within the classroom framework.  To sum up their arguments, they advocate this type of teaching and student learning because it creates, molds, and shapes students through differentiation, student responsibility, and the “real world” attributes of questioning, engaging, and learning how to process information in a critical manner.  I really enjoyed the “Planning Template for Inquiry Learning Lesson” (p. 267).  This is similar to a task analysis, yet provides exact questions for the teacher to reference to ensure the objectives meets the goals and subsequent student expectations and learning outcomes.  I usually do not put quotes in my blogs, but I thought this one was extremely relevant to some of the struggles I am experienced and perceive in others when trying to create lessons that fulfill the criteria offered by the objectives.  Larson and Keiper (2007) write, “The objectives will also help you create a scoring guide that reflects your thinking on the valued outcomes.”  I like the correlation of objectives to something that I as a teacher value. 

Writing Matters

Reising’s (1997) article “The Formative Assessment of Writing” emphasizes the importance of writing and the skills that surround and envelope becoming a proficient writer.  While many are de-emphasizing writing in some aspects, Reising touts writing as a skill that is necessary for the development of students as well-rounded students.  Writing is necessary for the real world.  I think this is especially salient, when email, text, and Twitter are some of the more dominant forms of speaking.  One can say these new forms of communication are certainly a new literacy for our time.  Yet, these tasks, which could be considered abbreviated, still involve the knowledge and skills to communicate effectively.  A terribly-written memo to your boss may be the only impression he or she has gotten of you for a week.  Single-impressions make lasting impressions, so one should realize how important writing is to our society and overall development as a country as a literate sphere to rest of the world.

ITI = Creating Democratic Students

Randle (1997) is a proponent of “Integrated Thematic Instruction” or ITI.  I like her title, “The Measure of Success…”  This concept parallels the other articles in how assessment is contrived within the classroom.  With ITI, students are constantly self and peer evaluating.  Students have responsibility to themselves and the rest of the class.  Through ITI, students play a first-hand role in the development on rubrics, grading schemas, etc.  This level of added responsibility creates a learning structure where students are excited to come to class.  They get a real-world, experiential knowledge that literally allows them to “grasp” the concept.

Writing Matters II

Mullin and Hill (1997) also preach the effectiveness of using writing in the classroom.  Their article links proposes the idea that writing is a very effective type of formative assessment.  Teachers can link writing skills to what the students learned in a very obvious fashion.  I like how they not only link writing to continual assessment within a history class’ framework, but the authors also show how writing allows students to express interest in what they want to learn.  This inevitably provides guidance for the teacher.  Additionally, writing to me is such an over-arching skill that is so critical in education.  Students who can put their ideas on paper will be able to voice their opinions, critical ideas, etc. with ease.  Also, writing allows students to express themselves so the teacher can try to cater and allot for each students different ways of learning and viewing the world.

Active Learning Creates Active Citizens

Bonwell (1997) furthers the application of assessment within the classroom context.  He ties active learning concepts with methods of questioning.  Active learning involves constantly questioning the students before, after, and during activities.  Not only does this type of active engagement with the students foster critical thinking, inquiry, and investigative skills, but active learning allows the teacher to see what methods could be changed, improved, taken out, or modified.  Giving the students a mid-semester or even an end-of-the-unit evaluation form will direct the teacher to what the students learned, whether they liked it or not, and what could have been changed or needs to improve.  This is a continual assessment of the teacher, which is most beneficial to a teacher like myself who strives to be a lifelong learner.

Final Thoughts

Reading about how important assessment is within the classroom is so important for those who are future teachers.  It is hard sometimes to realize that assessment allows the teacher to work backwards, forwards, and everywhere in-between.  One creates units, lessons, activities, and projects all in the hope that the students actually learn the content and make real-world connections and grow as learners.  Assessment, especially analyzing strategies for continuous assessment, is vital to both the teachers and the students.  This allows teachers to analyze their unit through an assessment lens when used correctly, thus enabling teachers to get the most out of their unit, which inevitably leads to a higher level of student interaction and overall learning.

Works Cited

Bonwell, C. C. (1997). Using Active Learning as Assessment in the Postsecondary Classroom. The Clearing House: Forms and Functions of Formative Assessment , 71 (2), 73-76. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30192087

Larsen, B. A., & Keiper, T. A. (2007). Instructional Strategies for Middle and High School. Routledge, NY.

Mullin, J., & Hill, W. (1997). The Evaluator as Evaluated: The Role of Formative Assessment in History Class. The Clearing House: Forms and Functions of Formative Assessment , 71 (2), 88-91. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30192091

Randle, I. (1997). Integrated Thematic Instruction. The Clearing House: Forms and Functions of Formative Assessment , 71 (2), 85-87. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30192090

Reising, B. (1997). The Formative Assessment of Writing. The Clearing House: Forms and Functions of Formative Assessment , 71 (2), 71-72. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30192086

The Many Faces of Maps

Maps provide a unique lens into the past.  Maps can be personalistic, based on memories or based entirely on the known "facts" of the time period.  One can look at maps with historic and reflective lens to get a birds-eye glimpse or a full immersion into the past.  This initial post focuses on a map close to my heart, Spence Ridge Trail, in the Pisgah National Forest.

Taking the Spence Ridge Trail has always been a joy of mine.  My best friend I met in college and who will be my best man at my wedding meet up and go camping every year on our annual reunion camping trip.  We began this yearly adventure of camping for a week over Thanksgiving since we were 18.  There are about 10-15 of us who attend every year.  Drop everything you're doing and get to Spence Ridge.  That has always been the destination.  Weeks before this journey, I began collecting my camping essentials and begin to dream about my days of fishing, hiking, and enjoying the company of those I only get to see a few times a year.  Relishing the moments, the memories are countless.  It is certainly the best week of my year.  Looking forward to camping out in the cold and cooking a turkey in a propane deep fryer is just an experience that the senses can't get enough of.  Waking up and smelling coffee roasting in over the fire is something you only should experience in the mountains.  There is nothing to stop you from experiencing the beauty of nature, going out into the woods to cut firewood for the day.  Tromping through dense brush, hauling mammoth-sized logs from felled trees and throwing them into the back of truck seems arduous, but you bring yourself back to times where this was the norm and everyday ritual of many that lived in the NC Piedmont and mountain areas.
The Pisgah National Forest is such a breathtaking wonder full of wild beauty.  The elevated emotions and heightened senses stem from an eagerness, excitement, as well as a sense of awe and fear.  While the trails, scenic views, sharp drops overlooking miles of peaks and rushing water, and wildlife evoke awe-inspiring feelings, one knows that he or she is playing with a force of nature that has to be reckoned with.  Hundreds have gotten lost, been unprepared for the environmental conditions, and subsequently gotten themselves lost in this huge expanse of nature.  One of my best friends was lost here in Linville Gorge.  There was a huge search party where helicopters with infrared heat-seeking elements were looking for Andrew.  It was all over the news.  When one cannot make it out of the Gorge at night, the winds are fierce and howling, and everything gets wet from the dense fog and river that thunders down from Tennessee into North Carolina.  The chances of making it through the night without appropriate gear is slim-to-none.

This map is historically connected to my personal experiences in life.  Every year, I look forward to pulling out this trusty map (GPS does not work very well down the Gorge, unfortunately) and using it to guide my way. The adventure starts with everyone separate, coming from Florida, South Carolina, NC, and Virginia.  Somehow, even the dead and dark of night, every single person comes trekking down the trail, gears in tow.  It's amazing to the amount of effort one takes to create the experience.  I reminisce to the times of the trailblazers and hope that I can recreate the same feelings, experiences, and emotions that they did as they created new trails to discover new parts of the world.  

Lester’s approach to learning, visualizing, writing eloquently about maps can be described a new literacy in itself.  When approaching a map with historical significance, Lester shows readers and historians alike how a simple snapshot into a map can be sufficient at pulling the ephemeral knowledge, yet one must dig deeper if one wants to make deeper connections from the content.  Lester’s journey to show how Europeans developed through his investigation into the historiography of the map itself is a great way to create a backdrop or personal narrative about a map.  Lester shows us that performing additional research will allow students to create connections that perhaps no one has ever did before.  You can take a map at its face value, or you can ask yourself the important questions.  Why was this map created?  Why does it look like it does?  Can I find any maps from earlier or later time periods that show progression of historical thinking and ways of viewing the world?  Why did the elements of the map change over time?  Why is this map important?

Addendum

Lesson Title:

Creating Chronological Connections with Mapping

Standards / Objectives: 

SWBAT to demonstrate analysis of using world maps of different time periods to create understanding of accessibility, religions, occupations, and language by comparing and contrasting maps in a graphic organizer, storyboard, blog, or wiki creation.

Purpose:

The purpose of this lesson is to get students to look at a specific historical map and find maps that relate to the main ideas yet differ chronologically.  Thus, this will allow the students to look at two distinct maps purporting the same themes and create a comparative analysis of the two.  Students will be able to describe the differences and similarities in an effort to reach the goal of students creating connections and meaning in order to visualize the development, change, and progression of people, places, and ideas as the world changes in time.

Anticipatory Set:

Students will asked how they think movement and the migration of people, places, and idea through technology has changed the world.  Students will list examples and teacher will write examples on board. (ie. Communication-deliverance methods of horses to telegraph to telephone to email to text message to Twitter).

This set of introductory questions and oral response will get students thinking about the lesson and how to create connections visualizing change and progress.

Activities Planned (Methods):

1.       Students will be given original map entitled “Accessibility. Religions. Occupations. Language.” Created in 1948. 

2.       Students will be divided into groups of four.

a.       Each student will pick a role and division of labor that interests them.

                                                               i.      (ie. Scribe, formatter, researcher, visual technician)

1.       Students will be asked to find a world map that references one of the topics addressed by the map.

a.       Students will research bookmarked websites to find maps that other world maps that relate to one of the themes of the original map.

                                                               i.      For example, student could find a world map showing the connecting lines of email transmissions across the world that shows the flow of information and ideas and compare the map to the original map’s feature of accessibility.

                                                             ii.      Another example, students could find a map relating to the differentiation of occupations in the 21^st century and compare to the map of 1948.

2.       Upon finding their unique comparative map, the group will decide on a presentation format.

a.       The format is differentiated to include learners of all types and styles.

                                                               i.      Groups can create a PP, Blog, Wiki Page, Graphical organizer through Prezi or Glogster, iMovie, etc. 

                                                             ii.      The only condition is a form of technology has to be used in the creation of the visual presentation.

3.       Once the group has created the visual presentation, they will review and present to class. 

4.       Once all groups have presented, the teacher should create a group Wiki page to present all the students projects for public display.

Closure:

Students will present projects to class in 10 minute presentation following group presentation rubric.

Materials Needed:

·         Access to Internet and Computer

o   If school does not have 1:1 computing initiative, then teacher will schedule Media Center/Computer Lab or 4-5 class periods.

o   Bookmarked websites for student access to research potential maps, obtain statistics and facts.  (ie. WorldFactBook…historical maps…national archives, etc.).

o   Projector, SmartBoard

o   Pens, paper, writing tools.

Assessment Strategy:

Students will be assessed through three items.

1.       Group evaluation rubric.

2.       Group Presentation rubric.

3.       Self-evaluation rubric.

The Group Presentation Rubric should be presented to the students before the onset of the project.  Show the students how they can achieve a “5” ie. Excellent for each category and model examples.  This will allow them to know what they have to do to create a high quality presentation.

To Differentiate or Not To Differentiate? That is the Question...

Differentiation is Key

The question of whether to differentiate or not is not really a valid question anymore.  Researchers over the years have identified multiple intelligences coinciding with the simple fact that everyone is different.  Some may learn in the same way as I do, but others may learn another way, and so on.  The traditionalist standpoint of droning in front of a lecture or having students pull out their handy notebooks and arduously copy sentences and recite vocabulary have gone out the window.  In place of these obsolete notions is the concept of differentiation.

Rules of the Game

Wehrmann (2000) expounds on the concept of differentiation by providing future teachers such as myself sound advice on what to do and what not to do when trying to implement differentiation within the classroom context.  She warns teachers to not fall into the trap of quantity over quality.  Don't give your advanced students more work; give them options and choices that allow them to challenge their own competency and skills.  In contrast, also be aware of the environment and affordances that entail the different degree of work that the students are performing.  Some students may see differentiation, if not used correctly, as being biased or playing favorites.

Knowledge + Deliberation = Intelligence

Tukey (2002) explains the steps necessary to implement differentiation into one's curriculum.  She advises teachers to take "baby steps" when beginning to change the structure of one's class.  To begin, set expectations for your students.  Also, ensure the students have a voice when formulating the process itself.  Allowing students to decide on their goals and be aware of the necessary steps to achieve those goals provides the students with the opportunity to be responsible and to have some "skin the game."  Students who can see their own personal goals and notice progress will be motivated to succeed.  Additionally, probably the most important point of my reading this week, the author described how hard it was to get student's to provide critical feedback to their peers.  When evaluating one another, students are afraid to step one another's toes, for this may seem to be confrontational and certainly awkward.  I still find this hard to do today, and I'm in a MAT program.  However, providing insightful advice, critique, and feedback is necessary to molding students who can give and receive constructive criticism.  

Diversity is Here to Stay

Parker (2000) describes how diverse our schools and student composition are in the present day.  This increase in diversity across the educational spectrum is only going to increase.   Teachers have to be ready to use this element to their benefit.  Parker (2000) implores the use of deliberation within the classroom and the larger context of the school as well.  Knowledge and deliberation go hand-in-hand.  You can't have one without the other.  In order for our students to become conscientious and deliberative citizens who can initiate and passively deliberate issues within our societal context, we must have teachers who seize the opportunity afforded by such a diverse population.

Remarks

Our schools are becoming increasingly diverse.  Our world is becoming increasingly diverse.  Employers are constantly telling their employees to diversify their portfolio, for this will get them that promotion they are yearning for.  The same is true with our teachers.  We must cater to the changing world around us and develop curriculum that allots for differentiation.  Especially in today's classroom where inclusion is the norm, teachers will be teaching to learners that span the entire competency spectrum.  So, teachers must implement differentiation and subsequent methods of teaching critical thinking skills that are so critical for success in today's global marketplace.

Parker, W. C. (1997). The art of deliberation. Educational Leadership, 54(5), 18.

Tukey, L. (2002). Differentiation. The Phi Delta Kappan, 84(1), 63-92.

Wehrmann, K. S. (2000). Baby Steps: A Beginner’s Guide. Educational Leadership, 58(1), 19.

Everyone can be a Historian Through Digital History

Questions

How are web-based resources different and similar to print-based versions of the same materials?

• Web-based resources are readily accessible to anyone that has a computer, a subscription, or is a member of a journal. They may only need a log-in name and password. The key difference between print and web-based resources is simply time and location. Potential researchers or those simply curious for more information do not have to leave their desktop. In contrast, in order to research or “check out” a print material, the individual has to travel to a library and there may be considerable travel time to a library that actually has a wealth of research materials. One may have to drive all the way to the nearest university in order to access materials and resources they may need. The similarity of both print and web-based resources is that both offer the same content. However, that is about the similarities you are going to get when comparing the two.

What are some of the affordances of digital history?

• Digital history brings the content directly into the hands of the potential researcher/historian. Along with easy access, travel-free searching, and click-at-the-button access to a wealth of information, digital history usually provides additional links to resources other than the one the researcher was trying to find. References are easily available and easily accessible. For students, digital history brings history into the classroom.

What are some of the constraints of digital history?

• Digital History sometimes creates instances where students take the content at face value and do not perform any additional research. Sometimes, the information can get bogged down with outside content or links that can be meddlesome for the researcher to look through. Also, as opposed to asking a librarian for help with print resources, it is hard to get help if one is stuck in on a topic. People who are not as tech savvy, especially in the field of research, can be bogged down in searching for items.

Of the 11 versions of Thomas Harriot's book that you browsed, what do you think are the three best and why?

• I really like the DocSouth document. It allows for an easy, one-page scroll reading. That is essential when I’m quick-reading a scholarly article or resource in order to find the topic/subject that I am looking for. Also, the National Humanities Center website was useful in that it had subject headings and tabs for quick access to sections and the individual maps. Compared to the others that only had text, this was essential. I also enjoyed the nps.gov website. This site was also a one-page scroll that allowed the reader to quickly scroll and also had heading for particular sections. It was nicely formatted and laid out in a succinct manner.

American Memory includes a useful structure of accessing and using digital historical resources.

• I believe American Memory does provide a viable structure for accessing digital history resources. It provides a large breadth of headings and highlighted links. Also, there are embedded topics with additional tags and links that link the reader/researcher to further information. I like the thematic layout of the site and its ease to the eye. I like how you can search via subject, creator, and place. 

The presentation of an historical resource online is not very important. What's important is the content within.

• I strongly disagree with this statement. From experience, I have certainly gotten lost wading through websites that are presented in a savage manner. From clicking on ghost links to treading through pages upon pages of text getting foggy eyed, the presentation of a website certainly makes the difference. Also, when someone is performing research through digital history applications, coming upon a site that is meager at best, one tends to brush it aside. If a presentation is appealing and catches the eye, the researcher will automatically begin to scroll its pages.

Challenges
You are in charge of a new initiative at the National Archives. You've been charged with developing an innovative web-based presentation of the United States Constitution. Given what you know about how digital historical resources are presented on the web, describe your ideal design for the presentation of the Constitution.

• In my innovative design for the Constitution, I would have the document in its truest form, a “living” document. Each clause would have relevant historical figures that are linked to the clause. Important eras such as the Civil Rights Movement that used the 14th Amendment to climb the ladder of equality would be linked to specific clauses within the Constitution. The writers of the Constitution would have embedded links with biographies. The Constitution would not be a simple piece of rich parchment. When someone with interest scrolled over words, lines of possible connections would lead to figures, places, and events. Also, past and current controversial issues would be linked to the clauses that were used to create the laws or decisions that spark the controversy. Students would be able to learn why some view the document through a strict interpretation or a loose interpretation and read some important landmark decisions by Supreme Court judges. The web-based presentation would be manageable, succinct, and presented with a good flow and not too choppy. For, the Constitution really is a “living” document.

Addendum
http://docsteach.org/activities/6900


For my DocsTeach Activity, I created an activity using the SCIM-C heuristic for a student investigation group project entitled "Examining Child Labor."  Student will have background knowledge on the Industrial Revolution, and be able to define the economic term of capitalism.  Students will have a general knowledge on the division of labor and separation of classes.

Students will open the activity and take a quick "snapshot" of all the pictures within the activity.  Students will be placed into groups of three.  Each student would pick a task from "researcher", to "scribe" to "formatter."  Each group will pick a picture that they want to be become "experts" on.  The analysis using SCIM-C would take at least two to four class periods, especially during the corroboration, which will lead students to the final element of the activity, creating connections from what they learned using child labor in the US during the early 1900's to present-day countries who use child workers and soldiers for economic profiteering.  Once the SCIM-C analysis is complete, students will come together and present their analysis is a presentation format.  Then, the students will take part in whole-class discussion focusing on child labor, why and how it occurs and why child labor is a human rights' issue.  Students will use their gained knowledge from the Child Labor activity and subsequent SCIM-C analysis to foster understanding of present-day child labor.  Finally, students could create a blog, video, poem, song, or persuasive letter as pertaining to child labor and why it should be outlawed all over the world.

Essentially, students will learn how and why child labor occurs using historical references (pictures) from the past.  They will be able to compare and contrast their lives with children of the past and connect with children who suffer the misfortune of being embroiled in child labor throughout the world.  This will hopefully foster a democratic mindset and allow students to want to initiate change in society as full and participatory citizens.

The Conflict between NCLB and Social Education

Introduction

This week’s reading focused on NCLB (No Child Left Behind) and its impact on education in the United States.  The questions that now arise at this critical moment in our nation’s educational process are, Where do we go from here? What has NCLB done for our level of educational attainment?  Does NCLB matter?   One reading focused on the data that leads us to think NCLB is helping improve the educational standards and achievement of our nation (Math and Science), yet others retort NCLB and its stringent criterion that some believe are severely reducing the chances of providing our students a citizenship education. 

The Statistics Don’t Lie???

Dee and Jacobs (2010) used statistical evidence to show that NCLB has in fact raised achievement levels over the past decade in the areas of Math and Science, particularly in the subgroups of African-Americans, Hispanics, and the group that receives subsidized lunch.  I can understand why this has happened.  Before NCLB, students who were not meeting academic goals and keeping up with the rest of the class were sometimes left by the wayside because accountability didn’t exist.  So, if Johnny wasn’t performing, who cares?  But now, a teacher’s job is based on whether Johnny passes the test, so by golly, Johnny is going to get all the help he can get to learn the material.  Conversely, I also feel that teachers lower the academic level of the teaching in order to bring the bottom to meet the average, essentially bringing the top down and shifting the bell curve to the left.  Further investigation needs to be led into this area. 

Great Leadership Will Make or Break You

Singh and Fadhli (2011) researched three schools in the Mississippi Delta and looked into how the administration of each school reacted to NCLB and its subsequent effort to bring up or maintain their schools at the achievement levels mandated by NCLB.  Principals have a greater degree of accountability when faced with NCLB, and this causes greater stress but can lead to new innovations to get all parties involved so success can be attained.  All-in-all, the researchers found that the administration (principals) were key contributors to policy and structural changes that facilitated a more conducive environment to meet such stringent criteria laid out by the national policy.  They found that principals who set a tone for success through parental involvement, professional development, teacher accountability, positive atmosphere, and capitalized on legacy and teamwork created conditions that could meet and sustain such criterion.  With any business model, a great leader is the cornerstone of a great team, which equals great success.  Without such conditions through superb leadership skills, schools are doomed for failure.

There Might Be a Little Dust on the Bottle, But Don’t Let it Fool You about What’s Inside

Speaking to authoritative structures and what how educational structures are facing a critical path to cross in relation to our educational system, Fleury (2011) discusses the different educational theorists of our recent history and how even today their debates are still salient.  In today’s era of standardized testing and high stakes accountability, Fleury reaches back and relates the theories and beliefs of Dewey, Freedmen, and others in order to shed light on the question that is knocking at our nation’s door, “Where do we go from here?”  Standardized testing pounds knowledge into our students, while many educators want their students to think for themselves, not merely be memory-recall machines with disjointed knowledge like a lunch buffet counter.  He cites those that argue that our nation is corporatized while our youth are lethargic and apathetic.  This certainly creates a problem for those that wish to change our system.  Without the tools and minds to think critically, we will continue to complain and do nothing about our situation that is threatening our country with extinction.   While Dewey’s stance on critical agency and changing culture through the tiers of teachers and education were novel and wild at the time, they seem to be very real and usable in today’s context.

Don’t Ignite the Fire

The last article I read put a personal perspective on all this.  Stephen Chandler (2006) gave his personal experience with trying to teach a citizenship education.  He used Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States to promote critical thinking and another view of history.  Chandler only wanted his students to view history with the lens of the ‘other’ and gain perspectives from all different angles beside the Anglo-centric paternalistic view of American history.  In doing so, he outraged parents and nearly created a controversy that was shown on national news.  Chandler reflects on his experiences and offers sound advice to those who wish to incorporate teaching that may differ from the traditionalist standpoint.  He advises those such as myself (being a future teacher) to get everyone on board and make everyone aware of what may be planned before jumping headfirst into the stream.  Basically, get approval and support by knowing the district, school, populace, and the leaders before you ignite a flame that may not be put out until you are whisked right out of town. 

Remarks

I think this week’s readings brought to the forefront the critical time our nation is facing is the arena of education.  Do we continue NCLB? What do we do if we don’t?  What will it take for our leaders to allow teachers to enact educational practices that enforce critical thinking skills and molding our students into successful leaders and citizens who are prepared for our global economy?  I guess we will have to keep watching our corporatized news and see who wins the battle….!!!

Dee, T., & Jacob, B. (2010). Evlauating NCLB. Education Next, 10(3). Retrieved from http://educationnext.org/evaluating-nclb/

Singh, M., & Al-Fadhli, H. (2011). Does School Leadership Matter in the NCLB Era? Journal of Black Studies, 42, 751-767.

Fleury, S. (2011). Playing with Fire, or the Stuffing of Dead Animals: Freire, Dewey, and the Dilemma of Social Studies Reform. Educational Studies, 47(1), 71-91. 

Chandler, P. (2006). Academic freedom: A teacher’s struggle to include “other” voices in history. Social Education, 70(6), 354-357.

Wikipedia as a Tool for the Acquisition of Knowledge

What is Wikipedia’s value?

Wikipedia is a formidable force to reckon with.  It is one of the top searches when someone types in a search query from Google.  While some say Wikipedia is full of errors, bias, and fallacies, others say Wikipedia provides a medium for many to experience history by creating it.

Pros and Cons

Rosenzweig (2006) discusses the pros and cons of an open source such as Wikipedia.  The pros of Wikipedia are many, while some will retort that they are few.  Wikipedia is nearly an equal when comparing other closed-world encyclopedia in the subject of errors and factual information.  Additionally, Wikipedia is an open forum with self-advocated historians constantly editing and correcting someone else’s errors, misconceptions, or beliefs.  It is like a constant debate forum, alive for the entire world to see.  I think it is amazing and novel to look at the discussion and see contributors arguing over facts, figures, beliefs, and ideas all rolled into the open source bundle of worldwide information.  One student wrote that Wikipedia, “is almost like playing a computer game but it is actually useful because it helps someone anywhere in the world get information that is uncluttered by junk." 

The author does point several differences between Wikipedia and other scholarly sources of factual information.  The latter sources are critiqued and written by historians who are very adept and essentially experts at what they do.  He pointed out the example of McPherson, whose writing style engages the reader with descriptive text that envelops the reader’s curiosity.   Rosenzweig points out that “Good historical writing requires not just factual accuracy but also a command of the scholarly literature, persuasive analysis and interpretations, and clear and engaging prose. By those measures, American National Biography Online easily outdistances Wikipedia.”  Rosenzweig, at the end of his article, thinks Wikipedia is certainly a source of knowledge.  He warns though that students should not use Wikipedia as a stopping point when performing research, but merely as a starting point to find a wealth of information and potential resources to delve into. 

Wikipedia as a Collective Tool of Knowledge

Sheets (2009) speaks to the idea that history is the product of that collective effort of truth seeking.  I really enjoyed this piece because it showed the evolution of one historian from being a traditionalist in the sense that even speaking the word “Wikipedia” was a taboo subject, to one who actually created a project where the students created Wiki pages.  I think this revelation accompanied by new scholarship that promotes this open-source of history is unparalleled.  While this historian still warns the teacher who intends on using Wikipedia in the classroom of the numerous risks and implications, the idea is now out on the table.  Sheets (2009) writes that Wikipedia allows students to “defend, modify, and reconsider… students see themselves as part of that democratic conversation so important to our profession.”

Wikipedia Article Analysis

Jones (2008) analyzed 10 Wikipedia articles to find patterns in revision and determine how some articles received the coveted status of “Featured.”  Essentially, he found that most articles started off with the same particular format with leads and lists; however, those that successfully made the grade were found to have stylistic rather than structural changes.  These stylistic changes turned lists into comprehensive prose and took out those paragraphs that were deemed unnecessary.  Additionally, I found it intriguing that Jones found that the overproduction of macrostructure edits in Wikipedia could be paralleled with the U.S. academic system overproduction of microstructure edits.  He postulated that if these two polarizing types of edits could be used within the classroom, then perhaps students writing skills would be better than if schools did not try to use both within the classroom context.  I really like his theory on finding a happy medium in the classroom that incorporates both.

Knowing how is practical

Ryle (1946) proposes that “knowing how” is not the runner-up to “knowing that” as many scholars presuppose.  He goes on to show examples of how knowing theory and postulating and theorizing does not lead to practical action, which many consider to be a lower form of intelligence.  I find this interesting since as many of the ancient philosophers literally sat around postulating without performing any work.  It was as if there was a sharp divide between those that were considered and allowed to wrestle with what was considered higher analytical thought and those that were simply the doers of society.  Ryle proposed that intelligence is directly exercised and it does not need to be contemplated upon.  I like how he shows that there is no difference in intelligence in someone doing something the right or wrong way, and that knowing how is knowing a rule, not postulating upon the rule itself.  He also provides a clear metaphor when describing how he believes knowledge is knowing how and that knowing that is not a precursor to such knowledge acquisition and application.  He writes, “If no one possessed any money, no one could get any money on loan. This is the turn of the argument that I chiefly use.”

Counter to the separation of knowing how and that

Snowden (2003) provides a not only a revision of Ryle’s argument, he also argues that the traditional or “Standard View” has parts that are indeed false.  Snowden argues that the possession of the capacity or ability to know something is not a necessary condition to be actually to take the knowledge and put it into effective practice.  He gives the example of the Christmas pudding.  I also appreciated his analogy of the man who can do 50 pressups while the other cannot simply because they are not physically able, not because they do not know how to do 50 pressups. 

My Personal Stance

I believe knowledge is knowing how and that.  I believe knowing how do something will work in many practical cases, but in some instances, one may have to take a step back and relate back to different theories to actually put something into practice.  Additionally, while I believe Ryle’s separation of theory and practice will work in many cases, I do put weight on those who are the thinkers of society.  Without contemplative thinkers and those who use their mind to theorize and are constantly questioning the practical application of something in order to break it down and make it better, our world would be stagnant and flat.  Additionally, I understand Snowden’s example of knowing how to do something but that may not lead to being able to actually do it.  For example, I know how to shoot a gun with very accurate aim, but this may not lead to me actually killing a deer which is my goal in order to feed my family.  Other conditions can predicate that I do not find success in the hunt even though I am a sharpshooter with the rifle. 

Follow-up


I believe using Wikipedia in the classroom can be very beneficial to students for numerous reasons.  I agree with Rosenzweig’s (2006) article that Wikipedia has become much better with accuracy and is actually is a very useful historical reference and medium.  Additionally, Wikipedia is a collective group of works that are viable and constantly evolving.  I think this application of showing students how to edit can be very useful in the classroom through the use of Wikipedia. 

I would want my students to be aware of the pitfalls of using Wikipedia as their number one source for historical information.  I would expect them to use Wikipedia as a great reference tool to find more in-depth historical sources.  As Rosenzweig suggested, historical writings by historians in many cases are well-written and its language draws the reader in and certainly tells a story.  Wikipedia should be just like Rosenzweig (2006) suggested, a “starting point” but never a “stopping point.”

I would love to have the class create a Wiki page.  For instance, I just created a lesson where students learned how to validate websites.  At the end, I suggested the class create a Wiki page so their research could be posted for others to use and draw upon in their own effort to test the validity of websites.  In creating the Wiki page, students are going to be editing one another’s responses, changing the layout, performing structural and stylistic revisions.  This process alone is very beneficial in students learning how, why, and where to edit.  This collective process of editing is like having a whole class of proofreaders in an open forum that is constantly evolving.

Jones, J. (2008). Patterns of revision in online writing: A study of Wikipedia's featured articles. Written Communication, 25(2), 262-289.

Roy Rosenzweig, “Can History Be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past,” Journal of American History 93 (June 2006), 117–146.

Ryle, G. (1946). Knowing how and knowing that. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 46, 1-16.

Sheets, K. (2009). Wiki and the history classroom. Perspectives on History 47(5).

Snowdon, P. (2003). Knowing how and knowing that: A distinction reconsidered. Presidential address delivered at Aristotelian Society, London.

Visualizations: To Infinity and Beyond!

Visualizations: To Infinity and Beyond!

Data and information can no longer be tossed to the wayside, packaged and bundled by statisticians and logistic specialists for experts to view and for the commoner to look at and immediately shove the image out of his or her memory retention without any contextual analysis.  As history suggests (Friendly, 2006), data has been used throughout time to create visuals that provide the reader a creative and striking way to represent data for the unaided eye to create and draw conclusions. 

Framework for Visulizations

Friendly (2006) suggests in his Milestones Project that technological innovations and advancements have paralleled new ways to constructing visuals in a representational format.  With the recent burgeoning and emphasis in the handheld and user-friendly era of computers and now tablets, creating visualizations can be as easy as downloading an app and learning how to use the program. 

However, Dragga and Voss (2001) show how one can get caught up in visualizing data for simply the sake of creating a picture with facts and figures.  They show the inhumanity of many visualizations and how they can leave out the humanistic perspective.  One must try to create a visual where the words tell “what can happen” and the graph can tell “how often” the event can or did happen.  When creating a visualization, the creator should keep in mind the audience he or she is creating the visual for and cater to this audience and their sentiments.  Touching and playing on someone’s preferences, ideals, and world view will automatically induce the human intrinsic characteristic of curiosity.  Hence, sparking a reader’s curiosity by thoughtful imagination will lead to the reader themselves to take a whole new look and approach the visual in an entirely new manner.  The visual will become layered instead of ephemeral and 2-D as when one simply looks at a pie chart as the author’s so depict in their analysis.

Once a person who wants to create a visual with relevant data decides that the visual must connect on a humanistic level to create deep and contextual meaning for the audience, he or she must be able to construct a process that allows for the creation of an effective and striking visual.  Shapiro (2010) outlines this process in his article on beautiful visualizations.  He places emphasis on the fact that every visualization should tell a story.  Without a story behind or seen through the image, one cannot take away any lasting and memorable impression or viewpoint the creator was intending to convey through the visualization itself.  The process must have a defining question that motivates the creator to answer through the visual representation itself.  This must happen because as soon as a reader looks at a specific visual, the immediate question ones ask themselves is, “What am I supposed to take from this?”  Creating and shaping a visual around such a question will keep a reference point for the creator to look back and keep his creation in line with when going about the process. 

Furthering the question “What am I supposed to take from this?,” Segaran (2009) focuses on visuals that use geography to create meaning.  He used the example of the British effort to use geography to map out their country through pictures sent in from citizens around the country to literally map out the whole country through such pictures.  I think this idea is amazing.  It allows everyone, the common man, to become involved in memorable and lasting project that anyone can immediately access and say “Wow, I’ve been there!”  Through this collective effort and the compilation of such data through a conceptual visualization, a story is created that is stimulating and draws from everyone’s unique and individualized perspective.  A project using people’s ideas and representations through pictures could be used for any classroom within the Social Studies framework. 

Finally, when creating a visualization, one certainly wants to create a visual that is deemed “beautiful.”  Illinsky (2010) lays out a criterion that rests on four main points.  For a visual to be accepted into the category of beautiful, it must be aesthetically pleasing.  This means using appropriate elements to guide the reader in communicating meaning, revealing relationships, and highlighting conclusions.  Secondly, the image must be novel and provide a fresh look that sparks the viewer’s latent curiosity.  Thirdly, the visual must be informative.  That is, the visual must convey meaning with simplicity and use a context that allows the viewer to say, “I get it!”  Finally, the representational image must be efficient.  Without efficiency in the visual, the reader may have a difficult time engaging the data and gaining the perspective that the creator intended.

Implications

When viewing visualizations, especially in a social studies framework, the teacher must be aware as to who has created the visual and the meaning that person wanted the viewer to engage in.  For one, the image may present a specific bias of the information and discriminate certain data that could possibly be used to create a wholly different visual with obviously different meaning.  The teacher will want to teach the students, just as SCIM-C does, to constantly question and evaluate the visual and derive their own meaning from it and not just accept what the author is trying to say.  This will allow further discussion upon the visual itself and students can create their own views and alternatives to the visual itself.

Motivation Behind the Money

I wanted to focus on a visualization that had profound effects on me.  McCandless (2010) created a representation visual using data from various media news outlets showing the “motivation behind the money.”  I found this creation to qualify as “beautiful” in accordance with Illinsky’s (2010) criterion.  The visual was aesthetically pleasing, novel, informative, and efficient.  I loved how this one-page image allowed me to sit at my computer and think about all the different motivations for spending money.  I really was startled at the amount of money our own government has spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, especially after seeing it’s weight transcribed so large in comparison with the other boxes.  I realized if just a percentage of money was given to faltering youth programs and others educational structures that are so critical to our nation’s progress and future as a global structure, we could help so many with just a chip off the block.  Wow! This visual certainly gave me perspective.  Even though some would say the visual was biased, the visual itself struck my curiosity and gave me the incentive to start looking at other sources to gather data on our war chest in relation to other national expenditures.

Addendum

Using Geograph in the Classroom

Using the chapter concerning the Geograph program in the source entitled Beautiful Data by Segaran (2009) would be a great way to show how visuals can create meaning in a social studies classroom context. The Geograph concept as stated in the former section is a way to use pictures and images taken by people to construct an archive that is maps the geography of Britain is an entirely novel way. I would show the Geograph project to my students via the projector as an introduction and ask my students how do they think this technology can apply to our own study of social studies. I would hope one my students would ask if they could bring their own pictures in to create a visual. Once that happens, I would incorporate my planned lesson on having the students bring their own pictures in to class. The activity would align with people, places, and things and also incorporate using technology in the classroom to create student meaning and critical thinking. Students would bring in 3 pictures of places a memorable had visited, their own domicile or somewhere they think of as “home,” and a place that they want to visit in the future. Then as a class, we could create three different archives with transitions and effects that take the viewer from Memorable Places to Home is Where the Heart Is and to Future Memories. Students would take part in cropping pictures, creating text to describe the places aligning with historical references, and structuring the format of the Geograph visualization. Then, after the initial work is completed, the class could create a unique and personal class website with public availability that parents, peers, and others could see. To formally assess the class, the students would have for one to bring in three pictures to receive credit for that part of the assignment. Additionally, as the students could pick certain “jobs” such as scribe, cropper, investigator, formatter, etc., credit would be given if students completed their jobs. Without each individual’s completion of the task they pick, the creation would not be complete. Each student would thus take on a responsibility that would have a proportional responsibility to the class’ creation and completion the project itself. Since this is a class project, the students at the end of the lesson would take part in a socratic seminar that would be in-class and also available in a web forum so they could comment on the process and discuss benefits/implications/likes/dislikes/what could have been done better/etc. Students who take part in the discussion would receive credit for this final portion of the assignment.

All About Inquiry

Introduction

This week's reading in ECI 535 delved into the topic of inquiry-based teaching methods.  The articles brought to light the benefits of using such a pedagogy, provided insight on what classroom practices created the most beneficial environment conducive to student inquiry, the conditions necessary along with the limitations and challenges, and how goals and authoritative structures can lead to a loss in enabling and fostering curiosity in our students.

Connect with Oral History

One research in the classroom study by Ching Yang (2009) focused on how technology can be used to bridge the gap from the present to the past by using various forms of technology to investigate, learn about, and capture the past.  He described a research study performed in Taiwan that gave students the opportunity to perform an oral history project with the elders of the community.  Yang discussed the benefits of such a study along with the the drawbacks.  Overall, allowing student's to take a hold and learn history through community service and exploration gives students what I like to call "skin in the game." Provide emphatic experiences and learning through curiosity will never be an issue.

Authority Decreases Student Inquiry

Engel and Randall (2008) focused on student inquiry but performed a study concerning the teachers.  This study found that while most of the educators involved in the study were deemed "encouraging," the goals and restrictions by authority disabled student inquiry at some level.  These results call out standardized testing and the role that teachers feel they have to play as they teach to the test.  Teachers can be held by the confines of the goals and objectives set out by their leaders within the school, the district, and the state and national level.  I can definitely see how adherence to strict guidelines and teaching specific content facts and figures would enable a loss in the category of student inquiry.  It seems the two are antithetical to one another.  We can only hope that teachers can find a happy medium in order to facilitate both kinds of learning, ephemeral to keep our jobs, and analytical to broaden our student's horizons.

Best Practices

Roser and Keehn (2002) created a project within the classroom context that focused on finding out what the best methods for student inquiry were based on linking texts, groups, and discussions.  Their findings produced two tables that I copied and pasted to my teaching tool bag.  They established that there were certain "moves and mediators" that prompted and facilitated deeper analytical thought than merely the ask and reply situation that occurs within the typical classroom.  For example, teacher "moves" such as focusing, questioning, probing and "mediators" such as book club tasks, Big Idea journal (I really liked that one), and multiple texts all created an atmosphere that promoted student inquiry rather than deflate it.

Knowing the Process is Critical

Tower (2000) wrote a great article explaining her own process in teaching student inquiry.  She described how she fell into the pitfall of expecting the students to know certain things, how to do these items, and immediately grab the bull by the horns and immediately grasp the inquiry process.  Then, as her efforts were becoming stagnated in student confusion and teacher dismay, she realized she needed to change the whole process.  Essentially, Tower realized she needed to get back to the basics.  That is, she needed to teach students how to read nonfiction texts and learn how to draw information out of them before lavishing them with primary source documents and readings that required knowing how to look at something and begin the process of inquiry.

Reflections

I think this last article was the most important piece I have nearly read this year focusing on education.  While the article focuses on teaching student inquiry, as a new teacher and recent college grad, I can relate this to basically everything I am learning about teaching.  As I make lesson plans that are catered specifically to middle school students, I realize I have to KISS.  Don't inflate words, over-examine something, create generalities, or spit out ambiguous phrases that make sense to college-level students but would be gibberish to young minds.  I realize my lessons, activities, and units need to be concrete and I need to spell out my expectations and directions as clearly as transcribing the lesson itself.

Ching Yang, S. (2009). A case study of technology-enhanced historical inquiry., 46, 237-248.

Engel, S., & Randall, K. (2008). How Teachers Respond to Children’s Inquiry. American Educational Research Journal, 46, 183-202.

Roser, N. L., & Keehn, S. (2002). Fostering Thought, Talk, and Inquiry: Linking Literature and Social Studies. The Reading Teacher, 55(5), 416-426.

Tower, C. (2000). Questions That Matter: Preparing Elementary Students for the Inquiry Process. The Reading Teacher, 53(7), 550-557.