Blended Honors Physics

What happens during my Blended Physics class?

I am trying something new this year. As part of our implementation of a Khan Institute of 21st Century Learning one of my Honors Physics sections is now a blended course. This means that students will alternate between meeting with me in class one day, and working in groups or individually in the Social Learning Commons (SLC) the next day.

On days where students don't meet with me they go to the SLC and watch one or more Khan Academy videos to learn about a specific physics topic. After watching the videos students try to complete a set of problems/questions on that specific physics topic through the website Braingenie. Braingenie lets students know immediately if they got the problem right or wrong and keeps track of their progress which I can monitor. Students also use simulations and physics games to explore the concept they are learning in the SLC.

The day after an SLC day, students meet with me in class where we try to go deeper into the concepts students learned from the videos, Braingenie problems, and simulations/games. The way we try to go deeper into the physics topic is by doing mainly three things:

1. Peer questions: A conceptual question is projected on the board, which students debate about with each other in small groups, then justify to the rest of the class


















2. Webassign questions: This summer I spent time compiling a set of questions on each sub topic in physics which get incrementally harder and harder and build off of each other. During Webassign problem solving time, I walk around and offer guidance to students who are struggling.

3. Lab Activities: These include labs to measure the value of a variable, open ended labs to determine a scientific line of inquiry, video analysis using Logger Pro software

How is it working so far?

Is the class effective? The first test results have come back and the blended section did better than any other of the traditional Honors Physics sections. To be fair, the blended section is a small section, and may or may not be representative of the whole grade level. But on the first test my Blended Physics section averaged a score of 6% higher than the rest of my sections. So students seem to be learning the material well so far.

Is the class enjoyable? My one big concern is that the students are being too quiet in class. They won't talk to each other as much as I want them to during peer debate questions. Maybe they are naturally a quiet group. I'll have to see if they come around and start interacting more. Overall though, students seem to enjoy the SLC days where they get to work independently.

What happens next?

I am going to start giving polls to see what students like best and what they like least.

International Trade through collaborative learning

In Money, Banking and Finance, students are learned about International Trade.  This is always a difficult concept for students because it involves reading comprehension, theoretical understanding, and mathematical application.  Students the past two weeks were asked to do the following: 

1) Develop an understanding of international trade in the context of the modern world.

2) Apply understanding of how opportunity costs impact decisions to trade.

3) Engage in a simulation (Settlers of Catan) and apply their understanding of trade principles to the sim.

For objective one, students worked mostly independently in the learning commons.  We followed up their independent work with socratic discussion in class.  This achieved the learning goal.  Students were able to discuss international trade in the context of the modern world.

Objective two required in-class practice working with the Production Possibilities Curve and the International Trade matrix.  With direct instruction and practice, students were able to master most of the trade matrix.  This concept required students to calculate opportunity costs and compare them across countries to determine trade patterns.  

Finally, students ran through  a few games of Settlers of Catan, a designer board game based on trade and civilization building.  Students must build settlements and cities which produce resources.  Resources are used to develop one's civilization further.  In the process, students may trade resources to meet their building goals, as different developments have different resource costs.  

Overall this process is working well and we're achieving learning goals.  One thing on which I need to improve is providing more time in class to review assessments.  

Modified-Flipped Algebra

The 8th grade Algebra class will be a “modified-flipped” classroom.  Students will receive direct instruction as well as experience a “flipped” classroom.  Flipping a classroom consists of switching the traditional lecture and homework routine.  Portions of the instruction are completed outside of school through the use of technology and videos of the concepts.  This class will be using videos and practice problems on Khan Academy as well as from their online textbook. One major advantage of “flipping the classroom” is that there will be more time in class for me to work directly with the students.  I will be able to answer questions on the problems assigned and the students will have immediate feedback on the problems they are solving.

 

The first couple weeks were spent introducing the students to their online textbooks and Khan Academy.  The students did an excellent job at trouble shooting their computer problems.  Computer trouble can be encountered at all times of day and they are becoming better each day at working through their technology issues.

 

The challenge is to teach students the new way of learning.  They are accustomed to having the information delivered to them during class and taking as long as they need to do their homework.  I have noticed that their notes are far better when taking them at night.  When the students take notes in class, they are often rushing to keep up with the teacher.  Taking the notes at night allow the students to watch the information at their own pace or to re-watch a video if needed to understand the concept. 

 

In addition,  I have found that their work in class is better quality because the student has immediate assistance and can ask questions as they work.  The students have been focused and on task each day when completing daily assignments in class.  I am looking forward to continuing the Khan videos and observing the results.

 

 

Blending Economics

This year, TMS has blended my Money, Banking, and Finance course.  This effectively means that students see me in the classroom every other day, and days they don't see me, they work independently on material in the Student Learning Commons.  The goal of this concept is to see if this style of teaching increases learning outcomes while providing more independence for students.

The first two weeks of class have provided some critical feedback on the blended concept.  First, I've noticed that students are enthusiastic about the course.  Second, at this early stage, students are completing assigned materials on their own time in the library.  Finally, learning objectives need to be even more clear as independence increases.

The best development has been the self directed nature of students.  They really do get down to work when they have an assigned task for which they are held accountable.  However, they do not necessarily retain the desired content from those materials (videos, readings, and practice problems).  To correct this, I have created "What You Need To Know" document for their next batch of assignments.  This is designed to give students guideposts to assist their studying.  I will report back more on this tool as I see its impact on student learning.