Week+7+Journal

Week 7: Professional Development Journal

This week we saw a great deal of project based learning happening in the classrooms. For example, one class was working on short story infomercials, while another class was flipping coins to determine the genetic make-up of a baby! One common trend in all of the project scenarios throughout this week was that students were engaged and working hard, leading right up to holiday break.

It is true that project-based learning can and does contribute to more meaningful opportunities for students. However, I disagree with the weekly readings suggesting project-based learning happens most in a science-based classroom. It can and does happen in a variety of settings and classes. As stated in my other journal entries, the basic scientific method that lends itself so well to project based learning in science classes can and should be applied to other content areas, such as social studies, language arts and mathematics. I believe that it is through a pragmatic, science-based approach to teaching and learning using inquiry methods as a basis for student learning that knowledge and understanding can and will be accomplished.

In terms of the research conducted for the student needs assessment, I believe there were some critical flaws in the process that will likely influence research outcomes. Mid launch of our survey this week, the course facilitator told my team members to survey all students rather than those who were part of the test group. Half of the teachers did this, the other half did not. If this expectation was made up front, rather than mid launch, we could have created test and control links for each teacher through Zoomerang. Because our assumption was to sample only those students directly impacted by the program, and then resample as many of those students as possible at the end of year two, we did not design our survey or launch process as we should have had we known this critical information at the beginning of the assignment. As a direct result, I believe our data will be more useful as cross-sectional rather than longitudinal at the end of a program, which in turn means a higher percentage of error in reporting. Our generalizations will be made to the entire student population at the middle and high schools, grades 7-12 at the end of the 2011 school year when we do our post assessment.

Ultimately our survey results will hopefully prove the need for allowing more technology to be used throughout our district. The continuous transition in administrative leadership, however, could prove to be yet another determent to this process, as each school leader seems to have a different view as to the direction of this program and what it will do for the schools.