Module #5 - Journal of Connections to my Professional Community
March 12, 2023: On this day, I uploaded my blog entry based on my PME 810 course learnings. See below for the blog entry that I posted to the STEM Journal:
Hello everyone, my name is Megan Shaw, and I am currently a graduate student in a Professional Master of Education program at Queens University. The course I am currently enrolled in is a deep dive into integrated planning, instruction and assessment. As a part of this course, I worked alongside a partner (Meaghan Bowes) to create a visual representation of integrated planning, instruction and assessment. You can find the visual we created below:
Throughout this course, I have tried to reflect on how the concepts that I have learned connect back to my professional context. Currently, I am teaching Humanities at a STEM based school in Calgary. We have access to technologies like 3D printers, laser cutters, robotics kits, one-to-one laptops, and more. Therefore, I tried to base my reflections on how STEM concepts, especially technology, could be integrated into the Humanities. The following information is how I believe integrated planning, instruction and assessment connects to STEM learning in the Humanities:
Conceptions & Designs:
Curriculum as Technology – Technology is emphasized for student learning in this conception which is an integral part of STEM learning. This conception can be applied to any subject area, so technology could be used in both ELA and Social Studies to enhance student learning (Vallance, 1986).
Curriculum for Personal Success – The role of this concept is to ensure that students can enter the workforce after their education (Vallance, 1986). In STEM learning, students are prepared to enter the changing workforce including fields like biomedical design, coding, engineering, etc. Through the implementation of STEM concepts in the Humanities, students will also be prepared for the workforce through the building of skills like literacy, writing, global thinking, etc.
Self-Actualization – Discovery learning for the individual student is encouraged in this conception (Vallance, 1986). STEM learning is all about problem-solving so that students can build individual skills in areas like engineering using the design process or a growth mindset in mathematics. The Self-Actualization conception could be used to integrate technology into the Humanities, so that students could personally discover different types of technologies and how they can be used to showcase Humanities concepts. For example, a student could create a website to showcase their understanding of the Underground Railroad in Social Studies, while another student could choose to create a visual representation of the Underground Railroad in Minecraft Education.
Assessment & Planning:
Student Self-Assessment – During the Design Process, which is regularly used for engineering, students are encouraged to consistently reflect on their learning based on what is working and what needs to be improved (STEM Innovation Academy, 2023). Students need to constantly monitor their work to ensure that they are creating the best possible design.
Teacher Observation – When working with technology or encouraging students to problem-solve, it is important for teachers to act as guides of learning. Teacher observation is needed to know when a student needs help versus encouragement to continue trying. For example, when a student is learning how to code a teacher can step in to help, but only when the educator deems it to be necessary. Otherwise, the student should be encouraged to find a solution to their problem themselves.
What are your thoughts? Do you believe that STEM learning connects to any of these other frameworks? How do you think integrated planning, instruction, and assessment would impact STEM integration in the Humanities? I appreciate any feedback that you may have!
March 13, 2023: I received a couple of responses back on my blog post about integrated planning, instruction and assessment in relation to STEM learning in the Humanities.
Response #1:
Although, this response does not deal directly with integrated planning, instruction and assessment, it does show the power technology can give students in the Humanities to explore through their own individual choices. If I had to place this peer response into one of the curricular conceptions, I would say that this individual student was encouraged to learn in a manner that would make them successful, so this ideology seems to fit well with the Self-Actualization conception. In terms of assessment, this teacher was flexible enough to include multiple entry points for this assignment, so they would have needed to have an assessment tool that reflected this.
Response #2:
This peer response was thought-provoking as it raised a lot of questions about the responsibility that my school has to use the technology, we have well in the learning process. In my response back to this individual, I explained that my school is a publicly funded charter school in Alberta. We receive the same funding as all other public schools, but we have our own governing body that deals exclusively with our school, so we often see more money being spent on students than other things. While I agree that this discrepancy is not fair, it is a direct result of how funding is being spent. For example, other public charter schools in Alberta choose to spend their money on place-based education, arts education, etc., while the big boards often spend more money on teacher recruitment among other things. Our school chose to emphasize STEM learning and because of that our funding went towards technology that students could learn through like 3D printers, laser cutters, and more. I will also mention that any student from across Calgary can attend our school, so we have students from all neighborhoods currently attending including lower-income areas.
The views included in this peer post remind me of the Social-Reconstruction curriculum conception as this individual wants to ensure equality for all students. Equal opportunity in education means that all students have a chance to reshape society for the better in the future.
I will continue to update my blog as I receive more responses back from peers on the STEM Journal.
March 16, 2023: Unfortunately, I have not received any other responses on my blog entry to the STEM Journal at this point in time. That being said, I have broached the subject with my Humanities 7 PLC at my school. From this conversation, a coworker mentioned that our high school has been trying to complete a type of Place-Based Education with their complementary course students. For example, students from our high school have been working at the University of Calgary in their robotics lab, biomedical laboratory, and their nanotechnology research facilities. The goal of these Place-Based Education field trips is to have students learn in world-class facilities from actual experts in the fields. This conversation made me reflect on my own practice and how we might be able to integrate Place-Based Education into the Humanities while also integrating technology. Below, is a list of brainstormed ideas based on this reflection:
Heritage Park in Calgary offers self-guided tours of both the historical village and the Gasoline Alley Museum (Heritage Park Historical Village, 2023). Students could create a virtual scavenger hunt based on this self-guided tour that utilizes QR codes. Then, different groups of students could explore the history of Heritage Park while solving and learning through the QR code scavenger hunt.
Journey 2050 is an educational program in Calgary that has students visit various communities to explore issues that are plaguing them (Calgary Stampede, 2023). One of the first steps that students complete is a virtual game that explores some of these issues like food scarcity (Calgary Stampede, 2023). After visiting these communities, students could design their own virtual games to raise awareness of the issues that these communities are facing.
References
Calgary Stampede. (2023). Journey 2050. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://corporate.calgarystampede.com/foundation/programs/journey-2050
Heritage Park Historical Village. (2023). Self-guided field trips. Heritage Park. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.heritagepark.ca/learn/self-guided-field-trips
STEM Innovation Academy. (2023). STEMIA Journal. Retrieved March 4, 2023, from https://stemiajournal.ca/
Vallance. (1986). A second look at conflicting conceptions of the curriculum. Theory into Practice, 25(1), 24-30.
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