Expected, Inspected, & Respected.
"We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience."
-John Dewey |
"We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience."
-John Dewey |
In mid-February, I designed two 10 minute science stations for our Grade 5 class at Strathcona School. This is my post-mortem.
Science Station #1: How Long is your Digestive System?
The purpose of the first station was to measure each person's height and then calculate the length of their digestive system. The station was supposed to be able to run itself without adult supervision or instruction but that didn't happen. Here's what happened instead.
Students appeared to have one of two reactions to this station. They either started measuring things and putting information in boxes right away, or they didn’t start at all and instead, chatted with their friends and fooled around. The students who charged ahead made many mistakes because they didn’t read or understand the instructions before beginning.
As a result of not consulting the instructions on how to use a measuring tape, I witnessed many mistakes: students confused inches and centimetres, started measuring from the leading edge, stood on the measuring tape so that their measurement started at 5cm instead of 0cm, didn’t measure in a straight line, or tried to read the measuring tape themselves. A few students measured parts of the digestive system that had already been provided. The students who decided not to participate, spent their time measuring the circumference of their heads and waists, using the measuring tape as a skipping rope, or hiding in the closet and watching music videos on an iPod. Both reactions could have been because they took a look at what they needed to do on the worksheet and were doubtful that they would be able to get everything done in only 10 minutes. They were right; I had asked too much of them in this station.
Not one person got to the point of adding up the parts of the digestive system to find its total length, and no one got to take home a length of string equal to the distance that food travels through their body. I was very disappointed that this learning centre was so ineffective in teaching the skill of measurement.
I could have made the measurement of their heights easier and less time consuming if I had attached a measuring tape to a wall and had them stand next to it while their friends helped to read the results, but I wanted them to work together to figure out how to properly use a measuring tape. Students would have been much more successful if they had been given more time and if I had had the opportunity to give full class instruction. I believe this station would have worked better as a full 45 minute class. To trim it down to a 10 minute time slot, I would remove the research section completely and include more instructions about how to find the total length of the digestive system, like this: Science Station #2: Nutrition Label Classification
This learning centre was slightly more effective in accomplishing its intended goals. The students seemed to be more on task, and the pictures they took on the classroom iPad showed that they were successfully classifying foods according to the nutritional information on their labels. However, it was unrealistic of me to think that they would have enough time to make hypotheses. Instead of having hypotheses about incorrect predictions as an element of the handout, I should have discussed the reasons together with the class as a concluding exercise after the stations were done.
My biggest mistake when designing this station was that I provided handouts for groups instead of individuals. When the students needed to predict which food item had the lowest and highest number of calories per serving, most groups spent far too much time debating their choices. There also seemed to be confusion about where on the chart to put the predictions and where to put the answers. The design of my handout should have been pared down and simplified, using a more familiar fill-in-the-blanks format. This would have the benefit of reducing the time spent deciphering the chart, leaving more time to investigate nutrition labels. Another problem with the worksheet was that several of the instructions had multiple steps. A simple improvement would be to separate these substeps. My new and improved worksheet would look like this: What Have I Learned?
I have learned that I need to recalibrate my understanding of what a 10 year old is capable of doing in a 10 minute time span. I overestimated their abilities, which, I suppose, is better than underestimating their abilities. However, in future, I will make sure students are comfortable with the skill being practiced and that there are ample supports in place (such as the illustrated guide to using a measuring tape) so that success for most learners is assured. This was a positive learning experience for me, if not for the students, because I now know to keep my expectations realistic and my instructions crystal clear.
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David Wiebe
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