Introduction

Unit 3 was all about activity design and the challenges we face when trying to incorporate technology into the classroom. When creating this web-based activity for my class, I put a great deal of thought into the comments and concerns brought up by my fellow classmates.

This lesson is a type of Break Out or Escape Room challenge done completely online. It has students work in pairs to solve a number of math problems in order to "break in" and complete the activity.

Artifact

Link to Break In: Rational Numbers

Reflection

My hope for this lesson was that it was not only effective enough to be considered a meaningful educational activity but engaging enough to keep the students excited and interested. I developed a context that I thought students would find interesting and possibly humorous, I created a challenge that involved some perceived risk and a bit of competition and activities that built in difficulty as not to overwhelm the students at the beginning. Students are able to work through 18 different problems in any order and get immediate feedback after each question.

I felt I had developed a well rounded and effective activity but the real test was when I rolled it out to my students.

I have 3 math classes and they couldn't be more different. Class A are mostly high achievers. Class B are strong in terms of ability but are rarely motivated and tend to slack off. Class C is a hard working bunch but are generally low academically. My activity was received differently by each group.

For class A this was the perfect lesson. They are a competitive bunch and enjoy solving problems. They all wanted to have the best time and pushed themselves. They were whispering so others wouldn't hear their answers and keeping an eye on what everyone else was doing. They had fun.

Class B enjoyed the competitiveness at first but got frustrated quickly at all the work that was involved. They started sharing answers with other groups or shouting out code phrases and some quit before that class was over. Some students finished quickly and gave others the answers and some decided the whole premise was too complicated and didn't bother. The class was split down the middle on who enjoyed it and who didn't.

Class C did not take to the activity at all. The higher level problems were just too difficult for a large group of these students. The decided early on that there was no way they would finish before the end of class and so lost interest. They worked on problems but had no urgency or sense of competition.

I hope to do similar activities in future chapters but will have to take all of this into consideration when I do. I am not sure yet how to overcome some of the issues I ran into and will require some reflection on that. I think it is important to reflect on activities after we have our students complete them to decide what worked, what didn't and what needs to change.