Evidence: Assignment to create an inequalities review tutorial
I created an inequalities review assignment for my Math 2 students (typically sophomores) as a review. They created review tutorials using technology on one of the four topics that we had been covering so far in the unit. There were lots of iterations of submitting drafts and getting feedback from peers and myself. By creating this tutorial and getting feedback, students were able to learn the material at a deeper level. One student, when asked about his knowledge of the topic he had chosen to illustrate said that he felt like he really finally understood the concept because he was put in the role of having to teach others about it.
I shared this lesson with one of our Pre-calculus teachers after she said that she was boring herself with all of the lecturing she had been doing. She adapted it to her class and had a great experience using it in her class.
This assignment addressed several content standards in our math curriculum as well as the Transferable Skill of Clear & Effective Communication which asks students to Use technology to further enhance and disseminate communication.
Evidence: Bouncy Ball Lab
Students in Math 1 learn about linear functions then exponential functions. In this lab, they investigate whether the bounces of a rubber ball can be described by a linear equation, an exponential decay equation, or something else. Students were asked to make a slide on a shared Google Slide deck, then I imported the slides to Voicethread and had them record their analysis of the data.
This was great project for students for so many reasons. They were able to apply what they had learned over the last two months, recognize patterns, make predictions, and through technology, were able to quickly see how their answers compared to their classmates. Additionally, they were able to self correct if they saw that their thinking and logic was flawed through examining the work that was done by their peers. If I were to do this again, I would have them leave comments on their peers Voicethread pages if they thought that something they stated was unclear, was incorrect, or they had praise for work that their classmates had done.