December 14, 2023 - Final Course Reflection

This course was enjoyable because I found there was a lot more free reign than most of the other courses in the program. Initially, we looked into articles and learned about teaching outdoors but near the end, doing the inquiry project was completely of our own choosing. 

For the first portion of the course, I enjoyed reading about how to balance being professional with ensuring a safe and inclusive environment for students with Frank McCourts pieces. To follow this the article on reflective teaching showed me how teachers need to be able to adapt and be open minded for their students. I enjoyed discussing climate change and the impacts it has on the world and that it is essential to educate students on these issues. Many teachers skirt around difficult conversations with their students and I don't believe building this wall promotes a comforting environment for students. I think that being open with students about the world around us allows for you to be a more reflective teacher and creates an honest and trustworthy environment. 

I found some of the classes outdoors to be a way to connect with the world around us. It made me understand the benefit of learning outdoors and using a garden to incorporate students and the world around us. Reflecting back on some of my blog posts, I noticed a pattern of a sense of calmness and connection to the garden around us. I hope to include outdoor learning in my mathematics and physics courses and to show students that they are all connected to life outside. 

The inquiry course has taught me a lot about collaboration and how important it is for students to meet new people and be comfortable in their learning environment. Going through secondary/post-secondary school, most of my projects and assignments were completed solo and it is an experience I feel I have missed out on, but do plan on incorporating into my future classrooms. 

Being able to choose the topic for the inquiry project was great and allowed me to research something I care about. I am not a big fan of traditional lecture styles and I feel getting to look more closely at another framework has given me ideas of how to steer clear of constantly giving formal lectures to students. 

Overall, I found this class to be a unique inquiry course and I plan to incorporate some of the things we talked about in my future teachings.

December 14, 2023 - Inquiry Project Reflection

Doing the inquiry project was an educational experience for me. I originally wanted to research the aspects of promoting learning and understanding over memorization as this is a key feature in many secondary schools around the world. However, I struggled to find credible sources and eventually found myself looking into Visible Learning. When I initially started my research into Visible Learning, I thought I was reading about visual learners, as in a learning style, but it turned out to be much more than that. Visible learning incorporates a framework for teachers to implement in their classroom that details how learning needs to be ‘as seen and as apparent as possible, and not assume’. Essentially, showing students what they are supposed to learn, helping students identify how they learn and how to self-assess and receive feedback. 

Throughout my research I found that visible learning does promote understanding over memorization and this was very intriguing for myself. A study referenced that students are given too much factual information and are strained in traditional lectures for far too long. By introducing visible learning into the classroom, teachers are encouraged to use multiple strategies in order to engage as many students as possible. I find that in a classroom of 30 students, all with different interests and unique learning styles, it could be difficult to reach every single student but this can be made easier by switching how to deliver the message and incorporating appropriate feedback. 

Overall, I found my presentation went well. My peers seemed to be engaged in learning about visible learning and the conversations during the activities were insightful and thought-provoking. All the groups came up with great ideas for activities to tailor their activity to specific learners and aspects of promoting understanding over memorization. My hope is that I dived deep enough into the literature review in order for others to be interested in promoting understanding over memorization, especially being surrounded by mathematics and physics majors. Traditional teaching is something I'm sure we have all gotten used to and by changing this framework, even for a portion of the time encapsulated in a semester, students can feel more engaged and more willing to be comfortable around their peers.

Inquiry Project Slides

 https://www.canva.com/design/DAF1ATkesQg/kmpczqZzn4N_VkM4xy5wbw/edit?utm_content=DAF1ATkesQg&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

November 16, 2023 - Exit Slip

Inquiry Project

Annotated Bibliography

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pNmJcIH4cboSOflsFMPp0bG2VU4nngJeW1xDTlVpuzU/edit?usp=sharing

November 9, 2023 - Exit Slip - Inquiry

After starting my research on learning styles in mathematics and physics, I have decided to narrow my focus on visible learning in a high school mathematics setting. My original topic was too broad and this way I can focus on the positive aspects of visible learning and how this would look it a secondary math classroom. I also plan to incorporate some of the limitations for visible learning and how one would implement this style in a classroom.

At this stage, I have found many articles about implementing a visible learning classroom and some of its barriers, I just need to narrow down my focus into 8 articles. 

October 20, 2023 - Entrance Slip - Marks, Grades and Their Effects in Schooling

I believe that assigning a letter grade/percentage onto students' work is not an effective way of determining their learning in a course. As stated in the article, many students suffer a great deal from stress and/or anxiety when it comes to testing specifically and when grades are presented as a percentage/letter. Students worry about doing well, which could result in them not doing as well as they would have with less stress and anxiety. Another aspect of percentage/letter grades is that students focus more on the grades they are receiving than on the actual aspect of learning; they use memorization to get through the unit rather than attempting to understand the materials. I do believe there are some positives to letter grades, it provides a sense of accomplishment for the student when they receive a good grade and it can help to show students where they are at in their learning. However, I believe this could be done more beneficially through direct feedback rather than a student having to interpret a percentage or a letter grade. The negatives I find using this grading system is that too much of the focus for students is on the grade itself, not on understanding the content. Using this grading system, students feel more pressured to get the best grades, they are constantly comparing themselves to others rather than focusing on improving their learning. “The competition among students resulting from grade comparison may be interpreted by some as a positive motivator, but others would argue grades are a poor substitute for self-motivated learning.” I agree that having competitiveness between students regarding grades is not a good lesson. Our role as educators should be to motivate students to want to learn, to show students why they should be interested in what they are doing during the majority of their young lives. As I don't believe a letter/percentage grade actually reflects a students understanding, I could envision teaching math and physics without this grading system. “The education system is supposed to value learning, yet we hold students and teachers accountable based on percentages and test scores as if they reliably and accurately measure learning.” As grades are the majority of students’ stresses, dismissing this grading practice and measuring learning based on how students interact with the content and allow them to solely focus on increasing their knowledge at their own pace, I believe we could see a vast change in both science and mathematics. Students' interests in the subjects would increase and thus they would take more from the classes than memorizing in order to achieve that perfect ‘A’.

October 19,2023 - Inquiry Project Starter

 My Question: What are the most effective student learning styles in mathematics and physics?

Analysing the topic:

Concept A: What are the major learning styles students use for mathematics and physics?

Concept B: Are there better practices than what is currently being used that could increase student understanding in mathematics and physics? 

Concept C:  The importance of students using a learning style that promotes learning over memorizing.