PIDP 3230 – Assignment 1: Reflection 3

Objective

For my third reflective writing assignment I have chosen the difficult subject of assigning participation marks in the classroom. In grading participation, one has to come up with a reliable way of evaluating a student’s performance. For instance, what do we consider participation? Is it actively partaking in classroom discussion? Is it providing thoughtful examples? This idea caught my attention because I feel it is akin to grading art: entirely subjective. Perhaps the student feels they have participated by thinking about a question and are too introverted to put their thoughts out to the class. Perhaps a student feels their examples are relevant and thoughtful. How can an instructor respect the student as a person and simultaneously judge their performance in what is essentially a social situation?

Reflective

In my classroom, participation is heavily encouraged. We use electrical experiments in the Lab to prove and reinforce theory. Some students do not truly comprehend a theory until they can see it in practice or physically measure values. 10% of every section is dedicated towards the Lab mark. This mark is effectively a participation mark for doing work in the Lab. I do not grade students’ findings or judge them on the caliber of their questions. If students show up to all the labs and I see them doing the work, they will get full marks. I believe this represents the intent of working in the Lab and a is valid way of assessing their participation.

Participation gets much trickier to evaluate once we reach the classroom. I think participation makes class more interesting and engaging. I value it immensely but do not assign a mark to it. Perhaps this should change?

Interpretive

I think it is universally felt that participation is important in the classroom. The challenge is how to measure participation in a valid way and what tools might we use? Martha L. Maznevski suggests the use of a rubric as a tool to communicate exactly what she is looking for in terms of participation. She assigns participation grades to her students and addresses the issue of extrovert vs introvert by “focus[ing] on what [they] demonstrate and do not presume to guess at what [they] know but do not demonstrate. This is because what [they] offer to the class is what [the student] and others learn from” (1996). Although this puts the introvert in an uncomfortable position, it is setting the expectation that communication is a vital skill in her course.

Denise Knight takes a slightly different approach with regards to classroom participation. Instead of providing a summative grade on participation, she uses an informal self-assessment questionnaire with her students (2008). Through instructor feedback, this becomes a conduit of communication with her students as a way to correct behaviour early on in the class.

Finally, one must consider Social Anxiety Disorder in evaluating participation. The Social Anxiety Association states that social anxiety “affects about 7% of the population at any given time” (2017). In the ever accommodating environment that is education, do we have the right to demand vocal participation from students who suffer from this disorder or share traits with it?

Decisional

Upon reflection, I believe an explicit participation grade is likely important in a great number of fields. Classroom participation is important in creating an engaging environment but I do not feel it is something that should be graded in all cases. I have a real problem with punishing students for not having adequate life experience to participate in conversations or offer examples. Similarly, if they are struggling with theory or anxiety issues, I don’t see it as a benefit to their learning environment to demand participation. I feel they will still benefit from listening to other students who are participating in discussion. Consequently, in my class, I will continue to encourage classroom discussion but will not grade students on it.

References

Knight, D. (2008). A Useful Strategy for Assessing Class Participation. Retrieved from: https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-assessment/educational-assessment-a-useful-strategy-for-assessing-class-participation/

Maznevski, M. L. (1996). Grading Class Participation. Retrieved from: http://cte.virginia.edu/resources/grading-class-participation-2/

Social Anxiety Association (2017). Social Anxiety Fact Sheet: What is Social Anxiety Disorder? Symptoms, Treatment, Prevalence, Medications, Insight, Prognosis. Retrieved from:

http://socialphobia.org/social-anxiety-disorder-definition-symptoms-treatment-therapy-medications-insight-prognosis

PIDP 3210 – Assignment 1: Reflection 3

Objective

For my final reflective writing assignment, I’ve chosen to respond to Dan Meyer’s TED Talk, Math Class Needs a Makeover (2010, March). In this TED Talk, Meyer speaks of the need for math curriculum to gravitate towards creating patient problem solvers. He explains that to do this, we must focus less on the computation side of mathematics and more on the math reasoning side. The math reasoning side takes patience and a problem solving approach to actively define the problem. This talk caught my attention because I believe developing math reasoning fits into a larger societal goal of developing critical thinking skills.

Reflective

I chose this quote because I agree with the basic premise of Meyer’s argument, but disagree with the implementation. I believe Meyer to be right in wanting to develop reasoning skills. Computation, after all, is intellectual grunt work and often performed far better by machine. Reasoning, contrarily, is a human trait and ultimately where our efforts should lie. Unfortunately, Meyer’s approach of rewriting textbook problems to give next to no information and asking a question really leaves weak students to struggle. Greg Ashman in his blog post entitled What’s wrong with Dan Meyer’s TED talk? (2015, Sept. 12) agrees: “The textbook will have been designed by writers who have an implicit or explicit understanding of cognitive load. Novice learners need this structure because the capacity of the working memory is limited and so it enables novices to focus on a few salient points at a time.”

To use Meyer’s example of the water jug filling up:

The question is: How long will it take you to fill it up? First things first, we eliminate all the sub-steps. Students have to develop those, they have to formulate those. And then notice that all the information written on there is stuff you’ll need. None of it’s a distractor, so we lose that. Students need to decide, “All right, well, does the height matter? Does the side of it matter? Does the color of the valve matter? What matters here?” Such an under-represented question in math curriculum. So now we have a water tank. How long will it take you to fill it up? And that’s it.

If a student is not exceptionally strong in math to begin with, will they know that the formulas for solving for volume rely on all of those variables? Although this may seem obvious to some, I’m confident it isn’t obvious to everyone. They very well may need to be shown all the intermediate steps to ever get to an answer.

Interpretive

I don’t think it is Meyer’s intent to suggest we refrain from teaching the basic computation skills of BEDMAS, algebra, trigonometry, calculus, etc. His video suggests that we teach the basics through a discovery model of the students trying to define the problem. I think a far more efficient and successful model would be to teach the basics through a familiar classroom model, and only then, move onto the problem defining / patient problem solving.

Decisional

Meyer’s talk was very insightful. In reflecting on his lesson examples, it occurred to me that I routinely do exactly what he has suggested. My typical lesson plan involves: 1) introducing a skill 2) doing a plain, heavily explained example with the class 3) posing an easy question for them to model my example and finally, 4) posing a harder version of the question which requires them to ask questions and take a couple extra intellectual steps beyond mirroring. It is my opinion that this ability to take the basics and run with it, seeking out the answer, is a highly desirable attribute in tradesmen and I wish to develop it. I must concede however, certain students struggle when it comes time to think outside the box.

References

Ashman, G. (2015, Sept. 12). What’s wrong with Dan Meyer’s TED talk? Retrieved from

What’s wrong with Dan Meyer’s TED talk?

Meyer, D. (2010, March). Math Class Needs a Makeover. Retrieved from

PIDP 3210 – Assignment 1: Reflection 2

Objective

Adult learners already come to class equipped with Essential Skills. It is not the role of the instructor to teach anything outside of the subject matter.

My second reflective writing assignment will be a response to the above statement. This quote centers on the idea of teaching scope. Essential Skills are defined as reading, document use, numeracy, writing, oral communication, working with others, thinking, digital technology, and continuous learning (Workplace Education Manitoba, 2017). The quote caught my attention because I strongly disagree with the first sentence, and agree with the second. I feel there are two arguments with the above quote: Do students in fact come to class with required Essential Skills? If not, is it my role as an instructor to build these skills in the student?

Reflective

I chose to respond to this quote as it is a subject I often struggle with. On one hand, student success relies heavily on Essential Skills they bring to the classroom. If a student brings adequate skill, I am confident I can teach them the course subject matter. Unfortunately, in my experience, a significant portion of students lack the basic numeracy skills to be successful. This is echoed in a recent University Affairs article by Anne Kershaw, Big drop in math skills of entering students (2010, Sept 13). This article explores the problem, confirming the overall trend of student numeracy falling dramatically.

When students are lacking in areas such as numeracy or critical thinking, they will most certainly struggle in the Electrical program. As an instructor, I want my students to succeed but I can only help them within the scope of the course. There simply isn’t enough time in the schedule to address these shortcomings.

Interpretive

This quote has confirmed a viewpoint I have held for some time. Inherently, I know I cannot bring every student up to the level they need to be performing at. I am a subject matter expert in the Electrical field, but am humble enough to realize I may not be the most qualified to teach basic mathematics or reading comprehension.

The responsibility is on the student to bring the right skills to the class. As much as I’d love to be able to catch somebody with Grade 8 math skills to the level required in my course, this isn’t realistic. Students spend years developing these Essential Skills in elementary and high school; I can’t replace that education in a week. I feel the solution lies outside of the Industry Training Authority apprenticeship model. Students who are weak in Essential Skills must take the initiative to enroll in a separate class in academia to bolster those skills prior to attending our classes. This could be done through correspondence with Open Learning, or by taking time off work and attending a class in person.

Decisional

Going forward, I will not feel guilty about some students failing. I have accepted that their lack of Essential Skills is out of my control. I will use what I have learned about Essential Skills to identify weaknesses in students which can then be addressed early on in the course. By pointing students towards resources to build these skills, I can ensure I’ve given them the best possible chance at succeeding. Sometimes all that is required is for someone to point you in the right direction.

References

Kershaw, A. (2010, Sept. 13). Big drop in math skills of entering students. Retrieved from

Big drop in math skills of entering students

Workplace Education Manitoba (2017). The 9 Essential Skills. Retrieved from

http://www.wem.mb.ca/the_9_essential_skills.aspx

PIDP 3210 – Assignment 1: Reflection 1

Objective

For my first reflective writing assignment, I’ve chosen to reflect on the following statement from the 3210 Course Manual (n.d.): “Behaviours, for example, such as attendance, punctuality, cooperation, politeness, and willingness to take direction can be factors in our decisions about learners’ success. However, instructors may fail to recognize these as components of the “implicit curriculum” because they appear so obvious”. This quote highlights the requirements of students in a classroom setting which are unevaluated, and largely unrelated to the course subject matter. It spoke to me because it caused me to self-evaluate and realize that those qualities are integral to the course which I teach, yet only attendance has a formal policy.

Reflective

I am an Electrical Trades Instructor. Prior to transitioning to teaching, I went through the ranks of Apprentice to Journeyman to Boss. Through this perspective, I identified with the above quote because these implicit curriculum requirements are integral to being successful in my trade. If one does not exhibit every one of the qualities above, they are most certainly not going to be successful in the trade. I wish for my students to be successful in their careers and thus, it occurred to me that if these actions are so important to success, why are they not formally evaluated?

Interpretive

Ultimately my job is to educate the apprentices on how electricity works. Grading is dictated by the Industry Training Authority and thus, adding a line item for the implicit curriculum is not possible. I can, however, take steps to illuminate this implicit curriculum. Brenda Smith Myles offers a solution in her article, “Making Sense of the Hidden Curriculum” (2014, May 1). She recommends the One a Day method as a way of explicitly stating the implicit curriculum in an effort to aid students with social disorders. In the One a Day method, “the classroom teacher writes one hidden curriculum item on the whiteboard each morning and introduces this item to students as a first activity”. This method could kick start discussion on behaviours and how they affect performance in the classroom, and on the jobsite.

In addition, I’ve come to think about the hidden curriculum in some of my lessons. In our studies, we review proper implementation of the Canadian Electrical Code, Part 1 (Canadian Standards Association, 2015). The Code is a minimum standard for prevention of fire and shock hazards. My lessons typically center on how to do work to the absolute minimum legal standard. This make a lot of sense from an economics standpoint, but may be indirectly teaching the lesson that we should be striving to do the minimum possible work acceptable.

Decisional

Perhaps the best way of bringing the implicit curriculum into the explicit realm of my instructing is to change the course outline. I believe it would benefit students to know exactly what is expected of them, behaviourally, in my class, and in the workplace. Further, by having One a Day mini lessons centered around jobsite scenarios, students will be forced to think about expectations and where they fit in their respective companies.

Although one could argue to a certain degree that societal and cultural considerations must be made for students, the fact of the matter is that apprentices must be useful to their employers and must fit a certain behavioural mold. It would be in their best interest to explicitly be told what those expectations are.

References

3210 Course Manual (n.d.). Explicit and Implicit Curriculum Development. Retrieved from

http://moodle.vcc.ca/pluginfile.php/781862/mod_resource/content/3/Explicit%20and%20Implicit%20Curriculum%20Development.pdf

Canadian Standards Association (CSA) (2015). Canadian Electrical Code, Part 1. Mississauga, ON: CSA.

Myles, B. S. (2014, May 1). Making Sense of the Hidden Curriculum. Retrieved from https://www.education.com/reference/article/hidden-curriculum-school-asperger/

PIDP 3230 – Assignment 3: Informal Assessment Strategy Video

Objective

To explore an informal assessment strategy and preset my findings in a 4-7 minute video. I chose to do my project on the strategy of Directed Paraphrasing. The video can be found here: https://youtu.be/1eYYTSu27Jc

PIDP 3230 – Assignment 1: Reflection 2

Objective

For this assignment, I watched 5 videos of different media enhanced assessment techniques by previous students of PIDP3230. Although many of the videos were excellently done, I’ve chosen to reflect on Victor Law’s video Kahoot! An Informal Assessment Strategy (Oct 2016). In this video, Victor speaks to the strengths and limitations of using Kahoot!, as well as gives basic instructions on how to use the assessment tool. This video caught my attention because there has been a push lately in my institution to use Kahoot!, and I used this as an opportunity to learn more about it.

Reflective

I found this video to be quite engaging for 2 reasons. Firstly, I liked the simple video format similar to a PowerPoint presentation. I may be old school, but I find flashy presentations to be more of a distraction to learning than an aid. I also find myself frequently caught up admiring an author’s visual effects skills, that I stop paying attention to the central message of the presentation. Law’s video was both short enough and plain enough to keep my interest for the duration.

The second reason I found the video engaging was the fact that Kahoot! appears to be very easy to setup and use. For me to use an assessment tool, it must not consume excess amounts of time in its setup. Using the readymade library of Kahoot! questions, I may go from signup to playing in 10 minutes. This is remarkable!

Interpretive

I found the idea of Kahoot! being used for pre-test review intriguing. I think having review in this fun, interactive, slightly competitive environment may be an excellent way to relieve stress and reinforce ideas. Kahoot’s website claims “Kahoot! fosters social learning, unlocks learners’ potential and deepens pedagogical impact” (Kahoot! 2017). For this reason I feel that it would be especially effective in Trades apprenticeship training. Apprentices are socialized and learn on-the-job skills through mentoring. It stands to reason they are receptive to social learning or they would not chose the apprenticeship path to knowledge.

Secondly, by having fun while reviewing a subject, students will have increased retention. Sarah Henderson echoes this in her conclusion from R. L. Garner’s study in Humor in Pedagogy: How Ha-Ha can Lead to Aha! (2006), “retention was strongest in the lectures with content-related humor, and that students reported more enjoyment in the experience” (2015).

Decisional

As a test, I decided to try Kahoot! as a review tool in my class this week. Initially, the idea of using the game received a lot of groans and lack of enthusiasm from the class. The group demeanor changed dramatically however once we started. I allowed students to play as themselves or partner with someone else. The students were heavily engaged and racing to recall information to beat their classmates in points. Because I controlled the pace of the game, I would pause on the results page and clarify any group misunderstandings before moving on. I felt this tool was extremely effective in assessing the knowledge of the class and in increasing their engagement.

In the future I will increase the usefulness of this digital media further by creating my own Kahoot! games tailored to my class. After viewing some of the PIDP3230 videos created by past students, I am blown away with what can be done with digital video software. I’m looking forward to learning how to use some of these tools to create that project.

References

Garner, R.L. (2006). Humor in Pedagogy: How Ha-Ha can Lead to Aha! College Teaching,

Vol. 54 , Iss. 1,2006

Henderson, S. (2015). Laughter and Learning: Humor Boosts Retention. Retrieved from:

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/laughter-learning-humor-boosts-retention-sarah-henderson

Kahoot! (2017). What is Kahoot!? Retrieved from:

https://kahoot.com/what-is-kahoot/

Law, V. (Oct 2016).  Kahoot! An Informal Assessment Strategy. Retrieved from:

PIDP 3230 – Assignment 1: Reflection 1

Objective

For my first reflective writing assignment, I’ve chosen to reflect on one of the Seven Basic Assumptions of Classroom Assessment in Angelo and Cross’ Classroom Assessment Techniques (1993). My reflection will focus on Assumption 7: “By collaborating with colleagues and actively involving students in Classroom Assessment efforts, faculty (and students) enhance learning and personal satisfaction” (p. 11). This assumption caught my attention because I agree that faculty enjoy talking about classroom assessments but I’ve also never considered the position of assessments being a positive influence on student satisfaction.

Reflective

I chose this assumption because I want to delve deeper into the idea that assessments may have a positive impact on student satisfaction. This idea is important to me because in today’s competitive educational environment, I believe we are very much a service based industry. If we can deliver fantastic results with a high student satisfaction rating, we are surely to succeed as an institution.

Interpretive

Currently in my class lessons follow a certain pattern: we focus on gaining skills on a particular topic, do a quiz, review the subject matter, then an evaluative exam is given for that section. This process can take about a week per section. Throughout the early lessons on a topic, I do interactive examples on the board and have the class solve problems individually before solving as a group. By randomly poling the class on methodology and answers, I’ve felt I had a good grasp on classroom comprehension. Unfortunately when it came time to solve problems on their own, many students could not perform outside of the group setting. This is echoed by Vicki Davis’ experience in her article Fantastic, Fast Formative Assessment Tools (2017). Davis’ solution was to use the learning tool Socrative (MasteryConnect, 2017) to get real-time feedback on how her students were grasping concepts outside of the group dynamic. By using an App such as Socrative, solving problems can be seen as a bit of a game. This can make learning fun, and thus increase learner satisfaction.

Another challenge is students typically looking at quizzes as negative experiences. I endeavor to change their viewpoint. I use quizzes as an assessment tool to gauge student learning on a subject. This allows me to focus review lessons on whatever concepts the group are not grasping well.

Unfortunately the students feel as if they’re being evaluated and enter the quiz with a high degree of anxiety. According to the Professional Learning Board (2017), Formative Assessment using quizzes is a valuable tool, but should not be graded. They suggest marking the quizzes individually and leaving comments on where the students have gone wrong. In their opinion, this makes a “statement that the teacher cares more about [the students’] learning than their grade.”

Decisional

In the future I intend to follow Vicki Davis’ lead and try using Socrative during my interactive lessons. I also intend to issue more quizzes on a topic that are shorter in duration. The quizzes will be written format to assess synthesis of information. I will communicate with my students prior to the quiz that it is an assessment tool for me to help them learn better, and not to look at it as a test, but as a learning opportunity. I agree with the Professional Learning Board’s viewpoint and will not grade these quizzes. It is my hope that by approaching quizzes as a Formative Assessment tool rather than an evaluation tool, I can show the students that I care about their educational outcomes and thus, increase their satisfaction with the course.

References

Angelo, T. A. & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

Davis, V. (2017). Fantastic, Fast Formative Assessment Tools. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/5-fast-formative-assessment-tools-vicki-davis

MasteryConnect (2017). Socrative [Mobile Application Software]. Retrieved from

https://www.socrative.com

Professional Learning Board (2017). Types of Formative Assessments: Quizzes. Retrieved from

Types of Formative Assessments: Quizzes

PIDP 3100 – Assignment 4: Reflection 3

Objective

My third reflective writing assignment will be on Jill Bolte Taylor’s quote, “we may think of ourselves as thinking creatures that feel, biologically we are feeling creatures that think” (Taylor, 2009, p. 17). Here, Taylor is concluding that thinking, a function of the neocortex, is the last process in the brain’s information processing system. Merriam & Bierema explain, the limbic system “takes in sensory data and converts these data into units that are then processed in the neocortex” (2014, p. 169). “The limbic system, located just beneath the cerebrum on both sides of the thalamus, is not only responsible for our emotional lives but also many higher mental functions, such as learning and formation of memories.” (Boundless, 2016). Clearly then, the functions of the limbic system plays an extremely important role in education. I am going to explore the implications of this insight to my teaching.

Reflective

This quote brought about a feeling of enlightenment for me as so much of human behavior defies logic. When reading the news, one often finds themselves asking the question, “What were they thinking?” An example of this would be the spontaneous murder of a spouse in a heated argument. Logically, the quarrelers must know whatever it is they are arguing about isn’t worth taking another’s life and the consequences that entails. This quote presents the perspective that perhaps they weren’t thinking; they were operating on a more primal level, driven by emotion.

I’ve taken for granted the belief that people are capable of thinking 100% of the time. Obviously this is not the case, as in the case of crimes of passion. In Jill Bolte Taylor’s 2013 TEDx Talk, The Neuroanatomical Transformation of the Teenage Brain, she explains that the limbic system is constantly asking the question “am I safe? Is this familiar?” If it feels safe, then we are capable of learning, memory, and rational thought via the neocortex. If however, the limbic system feels unsafe, the fight or flight response is initiated and anxiety ensues, with no learning (TEDxYOUTH, 2013, Feb 21). The neocortex can regain control, but this is a learned skill, and depending on the situation may or may not be within the individuals capabilities. This has given me new insight into the biological mechanics of test anxiety.

Interpretive

My “Aha!” moment related to this quote is twofold: I’ve gained an understanding at how I may help students with test anxiety, and I’ve learned that the limbic system acts as a sort of emotional filter to all information that the rational mind works with.

I am guilty of putting a lot of emphasis on reflective thinking skills. As an instructor in electrical theory, I value the reflective skills of the neocortex above reflexive or emotional reactions of the limbic system. That said, when processing information, our bodies “would typically begin with this immediate reflexive response system and then upshift to a more reflective response” (Sylwester, 1998). This means that in certain situations when time is of the essence, reflexive responses would prove invaluable.

Decisional

This quote has helped give me insight into student test anxiety. To help students cope with this, I will build on Taylor’s explanation of the limbic systems constant assessment of “am I safe? Is this familiar?” I intend to help make students feel confident in their ability to answer the test questions by providing a lot of opportunity to work through similar problems. The problems will be set up to gradually build confidence by starting easy, and getting successively harder up to the level of the test questions. I will make it clear which problems are designed to challenge the students, and not necessary to master for the test. This instruction will be interspersed with regular mini quizzes. By making written assessment a common occurrence in the classroom, I would hope the experience would become familiar and cause less test anxiety.

Although most of the program I teach is competency based and absolutely requires reflective, critical thinking skills, I believe the reflexive emotional response from the limbic system could be of particular use in the Safety Unit. Because the limbic system “sees” information before our neocortex, the reflexive emotional response to danger happens faster than if we have to consciously assess the hazards of a situation. I would show videos depicting dangerous situations and get the students to imagine themselves in that situation. My advice to them would be to simply trust the hairs on the back of your arm – that could be very high voltage. Trust your sense of touch and ears – the subtle AC humming could mean something is energized. Trust the fear – treat everything like it’s hot. It is always better to err on the side of safety than to rationalize taking unnecessary risks.

References

Boundless. (2016). The Limbic System. Boundless Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/biological-foundations-of-psychology-3/structure-and-function-of-the-brain-35/the-limbic-system-154-12689/

Merriam, S. B. & Bierema, L. L. (2014). Adult Learning. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

Sylwester, R. (1998). The Downshifting Dilemma: A Commentary and Proposal. Retrieved from http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Neurosciences/articles/Downshifting%20Dilemma/

Taylor, J. B. (2009). My stroke of insight. New York: Plume/Penguin.

TEDxYOUTH (2013, Feb 21). The Neuroanatomical Transformation of the Teenage Brain: Jill Bolte Taylor at TEDxYouth@Indianapolis. [Video File}. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzT_SBl31-s

Introduction

This report on cognitive science to enhance instruction will focus on Rohrer, Dedrick, & Burgess‘s 2014 study, “The benefit of interleaved mathematics practice is not limited to superficially similar kinds of problems”. Traditionally, when teaching a subject, the subject is broken into small blocks. We instruct students to master solving problems in each smaller block before moving on to the next block. This is called blocking. An example of this would be a traditional math class: we master addition and subtraction before moving on to multiplication. In Interleaving, one “mixes, or interleaves, practice on several related skills together…For instance, a pianist alternates practice between scales, chords, and arpeggios, while a tennis player alternates practice between forehands, backhands, and volleys” (Pan, 2015). I chose this particular article on interleaving because of its focus on teaching math. As an electrical instructor, I use math to describe what is happening in a circuit, and I believe there are a lot of parallels in teaching math and teaching circuits.

Reliability of article

I believe this article (Rohrer et al., 2014) to be an exceptionally reliable source for information on interleaving practice. The primary author, Doug Rohrer is a professor at the University of South Florida. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics and a M.A., Ph. D. in Psychology. I believe these qualifications make him an excellent person to assess the effectiveness of interleaving practice in teaching math skills.

This paper, published in 2014, presents the findings of a study performed on 140 grade 7 students using both blocked and interleaved practice to teach mathematics. The study was well designed, ensuring that neither blocked nor interleaved practice had an advantage. The conclusion of this study was an astonishing 72% success rate for interleaved practice over 38% success for blocked practice. The authors go on to reference “four previously-published studies [that] have compared the effects of interleaved and blocked mathematics practice (Le Blanc & Simon, 2008; Mayfield & Chase, 2002; Rohrer & Taylor, 2007; Taylor & Rohrer, 2010).” (Rohrer et al., 2014, p. 3). These four studies similarly concluded that interleaved practice outperforms blocked practice.

Principles of Interleaving

Fundamentally, interleaving is the process of consciously practicing a subject, moving onto a different subject, then coming back to the original subject to reinforce the learning. One key principle of interleaving is the development of discrimination. Problem discrimination is the act of determining which type of problem is being asked, prior to being able to go through the method of solving it. Typically, once a student identifies a strategy to solve the type of problem being taught in block practice, they can keep re-applying the same methodology to all the problems presented until finished that block. Conversely, in interleaving practice, random problems are given in no particular order. Students must determine which strategy is appropriate to solve the problem, then go about solving it.

This leads to the second key principle of interleaving: By constantly challenging the student to determine which strategy is needed to solve a problem, we are “strengthening the association between each kind of problem and its corresponding strategy” (Rohrer et al., 2014, p. 1).

While discussing principles of the interleaving effect, we must not discount spacing effect. “Spacing Effect states that we learn material more effectively and easily when we study it several times spaced out over a longer time span, rather than trying to learn it in a short period of time” (Spacing Effect, n.d.). Interleaving naturally incorporates spacing effect by spreading out the learning. In effect, interleaving can be thought of as learning multiple subjects simultaneously utilizing spacing effect.

Application of Interleaving

Interleaving has been proven effective in teaching math. I intend to use interleaving to teach combination circuit analysis, which requires the use of math formulas and following current flow. Traditionally, students learn how to solve series circuits, followed by parallel circuits, then learn how to do combination circuits which incorporate elements of both series and parallel connections. The new way I intend to teach this would be as follows:

Initially the path would not diverge from typical blocking practice. I would introduce series circuits by use of schematics and giving the laws of solving series circuits.

Laws for Series Circuits Rt = R1 + R2 + R3 … It = I1 = I2 = I3 … Et = E1 + E2 + E3 … Pt = P1 + P2 + P3 …

Next, I would introduce parallel circuits:

Laws for Parallel Circuits 1/Rt = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3 … It = I1+I2+I3… Et = E1 = E2 = E3… Pt = P1+P2+P3…

After basic comprehension of series and parallel connections, I would move straight into simple combination circuits:

Steps to Solve Combination Circuits 1) Identify which resistors are in series and parallel 2) Simplify circuit by replacing the series and parallel resistors in step (1) with an equivalent resistor and re-draw. May be necessary to do multiple times. Work towards the voltage source! 3) Solve for Rt with substitute equivalent resistances 4) Solve for It 5) Use Kirchhoff’s current and voltage laws to solve rest of circuit, working away from the voltage source.

After some basic practice on mastering solving combination circuits, I would spend the next couple days reinforcing this knowledge in the lab building circuits, and doing interleaved worksheets which contain series, parallel, and combination circuit problems. These worksheets would also have word problems designed to get students to think about the basic laws of series and parallel circuits. An example word problem might be:

Three resistors (R1, R2, R3) are connected in series. Their total resistance (Rt) equals 40 ohms. If 120V is applied, what is the current flowing through R2?

I believe by strongly reinforcing the basic laws of series and parallel circuits through interleaving, students will have a much easier time grasping combination circuit analysis. The next logical step would be to continue the interleaving process and introduce practical applications of series and parallel circuits such as a voltage dividers and Wheatstone bridges.

Voltage divider (basic series circuit)

Wheatstone bridge (simple combination circuit)

By interleaving these applications with problems of basic circuit analysis, I hope to strengthen the association of series and parallel laws with respect to application style problems.

References

Pan, S. C. (2015). The Interleaving Effect: Mixing It Up Boosts Learning. Scientific American. Retrieved from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-interleaving-effect-mixing-it-up-boosts-learning/

Rohrer, D., Dedrick, R. F., & Burgess, K. (2014). The benefit of interleaved mathematics practice is not limited to superficially similar kinds of problems. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21, 1323-1330.

Spacing Effect. (n.d.). In Alleydog.com’s online glossary. Retrieved from: http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition-cit.php?term=Spacing Effect

Doug Rohrer, Robert F. Dedrick, and Kaleena Burgess published an excellent study they performed in 2014 titled, “The benefit of interleaved mathematics practice is not limited to superficially similar kinds of problems”- Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21, 1323-1330.

This study expands on previous studies done by others that proves interleaving works when teaching mathematics, even when the problems aren’t superficially related. I wrote a report on this study, read the post here.

For the full text of the article, click here.