WASC
Learning Evidence Gathering
March,
2012
Purpose:
- To reflect on our intended, taught and learned curriculum
- To gather evidence and reflections in support of WASC accreditation.
UNIT
REFLECTION TEMPLATE:
MS,
Robotics Club
Unit
Title
|
FIRST LEGO League (FLL) 2012 Thailand Robotics Competition
|
Time
Frame
|
8 weeks
|
Teacher(s)
|
Miguel
Zambrano
|
___________________________________________________
1.
Stage One: LEARNING GOALS (WASC B1)
Ideally,
there are three types of learning goals for each unit: transfer goal, essential
questions, enduring understandings.
Transfer
Goal(s):
At the end of this unit, students will independently use their learning to:
|
Essential
Questions :
used
with students to uncover learning
|
Enduring
Understandings:
Students will understand that . . .
|
What is
the Creativity and Innovation Cycle?
|
|
What
does it mean to be a senior?
|
|
What do
seniors want?
|
|
What is
expected of me as a member of the Robotics Club
|
|
How do
robots move, turn and sense their surroundings?
|
|
Key
Skills (benchmarks / learning targets) for this unit:
|
2.
Stage Two: ASSESSMENT Body of Evidence: (WASC B3)
A. In
what ways are we assessing each learner's level of understanding and ability to
transfer in this unit? And, in what ways do these assessments align to our
definition of learning? (Note: Leader will need to
upload completed assessments / minimum of three student work samples --
from a range of assessed pieces of learning evidence (high, medium, low) with
accompanying rubrics/scoring guides, supporting this part of the
reflection)
Assessments
of Understanding & Transfer
|
Describe
alignment to DoL bullet(s)
|
Blog
post
Prior
to Competition:
After
Competition:
|
|
B. Give a
summary of your team’s analysis of the learning results from these common
assessments of understanding and/or transfer with reference to our DoL.
I
provide feedback to students on their reflection posts via comments but they
receive no grade, since this is just a Club. To me it is a way of gauging
their learning and personal experiences prior to, during, and after a
competition.
|
3.
Stage Three: LEARNING PLAN AND TEACHING STRATEGIES: (WASC B2/B3)
A. How
did you pre-assess the key ideas and skills for this unit? (B3) Please be
specific.
(Note: Leader will need to
upload any formal and/or informal pre-assessment learning evidence -- from a
range of students supporting this part of the reflection)
At the
start of the after-school activity we began to build the REM robot and I took
this opportunity to assess students’ familiarity with LEGO technologies. I
was also able to see how students worked as a team. Finally, with minimal
assistance, I evaluated students’ knowledge and skills in using the NXT-G
programming language to make the robot move forward.
|
B. What
actions did you take based on what you learned from the pre-assessment? (B2/3)
Please give illustrative examples.
The use
of the CS2N resources allowed me to evaluate students to see the level of
programming understanding. This allowed me to group students based on their
programming levels.
|
C. What
strategies did you use to monitor student learning? (B2/3) Please give
illustrative examples.
Keeping
track of teams’ training activities.
At the
beginning of the course we were using the CS2N
Teams
use a Google Spreadsheet as a Journal of their day activity.
|
D. In
what ways did you use learning evidence to move learners forward? (B2/3)
Please
give illustrative examples.
Some
teams completed the training activities quickly and I had to provide
additional ones for them. For example, Detect Dark Line and Follow a Line.
|
E. What
were the instructional approaches/strategies used in this unit and why? (B2)
Please
be specific.
The
Robotics Club is project based learning experience, with very little
time devoted to lectures. Students are encouraged to teach and learn from
each other. Groups have to work on a project as well. Projects provide
students with practical experience and a sense of accomplishment. Using
projects in Robotics makes the learning more relevant to the students.
The
Robotics club offers a team-centered learning experience. Students
also worked in small groups to solve problems. Since we were preparing
for the FIRST LEGO League Competition, we followed the FLL Core
Values.
For
this particular Club I do a lot of mentorship. As a mentor I guide
rather than a provide knowledge and introduce students to the new world
Robotics, interpreting the Mindstorms kit and NXT-G programming language for
them, and helping them to learn what they need to know to complete various
robotics challenges.
I also
make use of self-directed learning. It includes making use of the NXT
Video Trainer, introductory training materials for learning to program with
LEGO MINDSTORMS Robots. All this is done in a self-paced, independent, and
individualized manner.
|
F. What
opportunities did your learners have to manage their thinking, habits and
attitudes? Please share specific examples. (B2)
Students
had opportunities to:
|
G. In
what ways did students use technology to help them learn? Please share
specific examples. (B2)
Students
used:
|
H. Which
technological skills, if any, were students developing in this unit? (B2)
Please give specific examples.
Students
have been developing the following technological skills:
|
4.
Final Reflection: Based
on your team’s analysis of the student learning evidence, what refinements need
to be made to pedagogy, resources and/or the unit plan? (B1/B2/B3)
Please
provide specific examples.
Pedagogy:
Provide
more opportunities for students to do team planning before they work on a
major challenge. Encourage students to document their work via blog posts
more regularly. Provide timely feedback of student’s blog posts. Give
students the chance to prepare for their presentations.
In terms
of assessment, since it takes some time to get students to create reflective
blog posts, perhaps video recording or even audio can be used to capture
students' progress. It may provide a richer representation of the stages in
their work and certainly provides students who find written reflections
challenging an alternative method of communicating.
|
Overall
Unit Design:
Remind
student about the Creativity and Innovation Cycle (CIC) at all times, as they
progress through the solutions of missions and project.
Provide
a calendar of deadlines for the main components of a challenge. It is
important to contact GAMMACO in order to confirm the dates for the
competition before the end of the first semester. This year we were given
only 8 weeks notice before the competition, which made things speed up and
not prepare with anticipation.
Accountability
is important since the turn over at the end of the end of the first semester
is quite high. Almost half of the students changed to a different after
school activity and new members joined with little or no experience in using
NXT Mindstorms technology.
|
Resources:
Involve
other mentors, parents or experts so that they can provide guidance and
information for the project and robot games.
Be more
explicit about the resources available for building and programming, as well
as for researching about the challenge topic. Provide opportunities where
guest speakers or external mentors can come and give their expertise about
the theme of a challenge.
|
Please
be sure your area’s learning leader has necessary documentation to support this
reflection.
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