Exit: Inquiry Project Power Point Slides

Entry: Annotated Bibliography

Phipps, R., & Merisotis, J. (1999). What's the Difference? A Review of Contemporary Research on the Effectiveness of Distance Learning in Higher Education. Institute for Higher Education Policy. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED429524.pdf

This book analyzes the effectiveness of distance learning in higher education. It does this by examining various research projects done which examine the validity of online learning. Though this book determines the validity to be undetermined, it offers some insight into its effectiveness.

Galusha, J. (1998). Barriers to Learning in Distance Education. University of Southern Mississippi. http://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/doi/pdf/10.1080/87567559909595802

This book analyzes distance and on-campus learners' learning styles. It concludes that students who opt for distance courses are typical more independent and less traditional. It also deems online students to be intrinsically motivated and not reliant on the typical classroom structured rewards.

Cavanaugh, C. (1999). The Effectiveness of Interactive Distance Education Technologies in K-12 Learning: A Meta-Analysis. University of South Florida. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED430547.pdf

This book looks at the effectiveness of Interactive Distance education and finds that there is a small positive effect in favour of distance learning. This book looks at the effectiveness levels of various approaches and will be useful when structuring my own class.

St. Cyr, S. (2004). Can Distance Learning Meet the Needs of Gifted Gifted Elementary Math Students? 27(2). http://gct.sagepub.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/content/27/2/42.full.pdf+html

The effectiveness of adding a technological, distance aspect of learning to elementary/secondary schools to supplement the learning of gifted students. This study looks at the benefits, downfalls, and concerns of using technology in this manner.

Exit: Sword Dance Takeaway

   It was interesting to make shapes with the sticks and then try to replicate it with the swords. It would be a nice lesson to do with younger students who are learning the basic properties of shapes and how to form them. They can discover how intersecting lines form and the fewest amount of sticks to make different shapes.

   By incorporating the dance into it after they have played with the sticks they can see the relationship with how much simpler it is by having a group perform it. Hopefully they can think about the reasons for this.

   I also find that having them draw a picture of the shape they made was a good idea at helping some students visual and understand what is happening.

Entry: Key Articles

With my partner Ying Ting, I will explore the idea of an on-line math classroom. We will likely look at the benefits this incurs, possibly for disabled or challenged students, as well as which age group benefits the most from this.

1. Dove, A. (2013). Students’ Perceptions of Learning in a Flipped Statistics Class. In R. McBride & M. Searson (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2013 (pp. 393-398). Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

- Feedback from university students after they have taken a flipped Statistics I class.

2. Lynch, M. (2002). The Online Educator: A Guide to Creating the Virtual Classroom. RoutledgeFalmer.

- A detailed look at how to create and structure an effective online classroom.

3. Ashby, J. (2011). Comparing student success between developmental math courses offered online, blended, and face-to-face. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 10(3). Retrieved November 1, 2015, from http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/10.3.2.pdf

- Comparing success in three environments: online, face-to-face, and blended.

Exit: Inquiry Project Search Plan

Entry: Refocusing Our Efforts

   As a teacher, I find letter grades to be a useful tool in assessing a student's work, especially in the context of comparing it to other students. It is an easy way to distinguish which students are struggling/excelling and which areas the average mark of the class drops. In a similar way, it helps a student to evaluate his own progress. Without a grading metric, students would be unsure of how well they are performing in the class (I personally will often feel that I did well in a test until I see my grade and realize that I had a poor understanding). However, even though grades are useful, I feel that there is too great of an emphasis on them in the classroom. I think that effort, progress, and your current understanding are all important, and grades only track the latter. They have a negative effect of discouraging kids who have a slower start and quickly evaluate themselves to being weak in a subject, which greatly affects motivation. They also affect the social hierarchy of a classroom, distinguishing the weak and strong students. This plays a pivotal role in peer pressure, motivation, effort, etc. If a student gets a reputation as being weak, they might pretend that they purposely failed (which would repeat itself) or they might lose self-esteem and confidence.

   As a math teacher, it is difficult for me to imagine a math classroom without grades. If I were to create one, I think the emphasis would shift from grades to concepts. Instead of repeating problems and getting scored on how many you get correct, I would give them their homework and ask them to return it (less questions than they get now) along with a brief paragraph that describes the method they used, what they learned, and any questions they have. Instead of grading the problems, I would just read their synopsis. If the students were understanding the material I would move on, otherwise I would reiterate the lesson. I think this would be an effective way of testing their knowledge without needing to grade them. Unfortunately, I am not sure how I would administer an exam without grading them.
 

Entry: Inquiry Project Ideas

I thought of a few that I was interested in:

• Flipped Classrooms / On-line Learning (Highest Interest)
• Cultural Influence/Differences in Mathematics
• History of Mathematics