teaching portfolio

 

Clusters: 1 (Standards 1 - 5) | 2 (Standards 6-9) | 3 (Standard 10)

Standards: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

 

Standard 3 - Design and implement intellectually challenging learning experiences

 

By providing intellectually challenging learning experiences, I aim to enhance my students’ outcomes so they can utilise higher order thinking (HOT), be creative and solve problems. Newmann and Associates’ (1996) research demonstrated that learning experiences of high intellectual quality increase student performance. By planning activities that are within the students’ Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) ( Vygotsky’s ,1978) I try to promote students’ sense of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997) allowing them to take control of their learning and push beyond their comfort zones . By reinforcing prior learning, I strengthen student knowledge and application, and encourage HOT.

 

I developed an exercise based on the “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” game show as a revision exercise in the lead up to my grade 12 IPT classes’ end of term exam. The exercise was specifically structured to reinforce the required skills for the exam. By building the program one step at a time, I provided small achievable goals which acted as a base for the subsequent tasks.

 

Students brainstormed the different aspects of the game, familiarising themselves with the concepts required (artefact 1 p1). The first step involved application of basic programming knowledge in order to create a working version of the game using a single trivia question. Students then added three more questions to the game which were asked in order. The next version required students to randomly select one of these questions, and finally the students ensured that no question was asked twice. (artefact 2p4)

 

Each step required students to analyse the new problem, identify the knowledge required and synthesize it in a way that they had not done before. By keeping within students’ ZPD, they felt confident enough to achieve the tasks at hand, falling back on the previous working version in the event of problems. The lower achievers took great pleasure in completing the basic versions of the program (artefact 3), while the high achievers had fully fledged version of the game including multiple extra options (artefact 4). The learning experience enabled students to focus on achievable tasks and, utilising HOT built upon the success of the previous task.

 

I was constantly amazed at how much self confidence students found by achieving small goals. I will continue to use the ZPD of my students as this encourages constructivist learning. I will continue evaluating my lessons with the Productive Pedagogies framework (Department of Education and Training, 2004) in mind, particularly those related to intellectual quality and connectedness.

 

References

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman. 

Department of Education and Training. (2004). Productive Pedagogies. Retrieved 23rd September 2011, from DET Education:http://education.qld.gov.au/corporate/newbasics/html/pedagogies/pedagog.html 

Newmann, F & Associates (1996). Authentic Achievement: Restructuring Schools for Intellectual Quality. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.