Pru’s Blog EDUC4105

Bernie Dodge, a professor of educational technology at San Diego State University, created the WebQuest model for technology integration in February, 1995.  He defines a webquest as “an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web”.  Dodge states that “a WebQuest is built around an engaging and doable task that elicits higher order thinking of some kind. It’s about doing something with information. The thinking can be creative or critical, and involve problem solving, judgment, analysis, or synthesis. The task has to be more than simply answering questions or regurgitating what’s on the screen. Ideally, the task is a scaled down version of something that adults do on the job, outside school walls”.

Webquests can be a great form of lesson planning as they place the responsibility on the students to be actively researching information.  They are independently investigating and discovering knowledge so to speak.  I think that they are also a great way of preparing and encouraging students to research information widely before answering questions such as in essay, assignments or research projects etc. 

A good webquest that is well prepared ahead of time can really engage students in higher order thinking that other delivery modes may not achieve as well.  When students read widely on different topics they experience different points of view etc and can form their own opinions more accurately, therefore supporting their learning.  Other advantages include getting the students involved in team work and leadership roles etc., involving a bit of ‘hidden curriculum’ integration.

I guess some of the disadvantages would be that they require computer lab time and this may be hard depending on the access and availability etc.  Another factor is the time taken to complete a webquest, some of them can be quite lengthy and require group work among the students, so logistically can only be completed in class time.  Therefore, careful program planning would need to be incorporated so that you do not run out of time teaching each topic.

There are many different and varied math webquests that can be found on the web. 

Teachers’ e-portfolio 

The key features of a teachers’ e-portfolio include: 

• Online collection of works that represent a teachers approach, achievements and strategies.
• Indicative of teachers’ knowledge, skills, attitudes and experiences.
• Allow for self-reflection and assessment.
• Tool for facilitating career development
• Great tool for student teachers to display their knowledge, skills and philosophies in an interview situation.

 My understanding is the e-portfolio can be used as a tool to showcase teachers’ pedagogical philosophies.  It is a personal reflection providing an outline of the teachers’ skills and experience, a description or examples of lesson plans, teaching ideas and strategies.  E-portfolios can record any ongoing education and professional development.  They are also a chance for us as teachers to do the all important evaluation and reflection on our teaching so we can improve and update our approach etc.   

Social Bookmarking 

I haven’t really had the chance to get into this much, due to my lack of internet access/time and the ever cumbersome time constraints… However, I understand that social bookmarking enables others to use and tag your collection of bookmarked websites etc that they may also be interested in.  So in turn, social bookmarking enables you to discover other people who are interested in the same topics and share information and resources available online. 

Social bookmarking enables like-minded people or specific groups such as staff members of an organisation or school to find each other, create new groups and share resources effectively.  In addition it could help you look at things differently by seeing how others perceive different concepts and make connections. 

I found a website that lists “4 Irresistible Benefits of Social Bookmarking”, it mentioned some things I hadn’t really thought of, such as traffic generation on your website/blog and personal branding a form of self promoting/marketing.

The Pythagorean Theorem lesson using Geometers Sketchpad would fall under Measurement Stages 2-5 in the 7-10 NSW Mathematics Syllabus.

What is the benefit of using the Geometer’s sketchpad software in this lesson?

I think the main and possibly only benefit for using Geometer’s sketchpad for this lesson is the ability to move the vertices of the triangle and drag it so that the size of the triangle changes and the measurements on the screen also change. This would help students by investigation to identify that it doesn’t matter what size a right-angled triangle is, it will still have the same relationship between the lengths of its sides.

Could the lesson be taught any other way?

Yes I think there are many other visual and ‘hands on’ investigative ways to teach Pythagoras’ theorem. Students can draw squares on each side of a right triangle and then cut them out and investigate the relationship etc.

How could the lesson be improved?

I felt like the lesson was just done to use Geometers sketchpad, rather than being a lesson that the use of Geometers sketchpad could create some value to students’ conceptual knowledge.  Perhaps it could be done in addition/conjunction to some hands on exploration of Pythagora’s theorem.

Are the instructions for the lesson clear?

Yes the instructions are very clear and concise with very little room for error.

This week’s readings have a similar message to previous weeks; the language of maths conflicts with everyday use of the English language.  They also offered similar suggestions for handling the difficulties that can arise for students.  We as teachers need to discuss any overlaps and explore ways to combat confusion as much as possible and use precise definitions etc… 

I relate to the point made that once we have learned something, become familiar and competent with the terminology and specialised concepts, we tend to lose sight of how hard it was to learn.  I have been told that I will be more sympathetic and sensitive to students who find it more difficult to learn because I have struggled to learn, and in my case being a mature age student, re-learn some of the maths myself.  We need to encourage students to talk out loud and to each other using math language and listen to and respond appropriately. 

Visual imagery can greatly strengthen and build upon the verbal and symbolic learning of mathematics.  Therefore wherever possible we need to provide our students with such representations to support their learning.  This has definitely assisted my learning, sometimes I just can’t get my head around a concept and then if I can see it visually I can make more sense of things and relate the visual back to the symbolic.  I will be conscious of this in my classroom.

I think it is important for us as math teachers to make our students aware that mathematics is a human construct, hence so too is the language of mathematics.  The second reading by Gough, suggests that students should be able to express different mathematical concepts using the correct mathematical language and then to re-enforce their level of understanding they could ‘re-express’ themselves using their own words, their own ‘construct’.  This can also be a valuable exercise for us as teachers to assess the level of understanding, or any misconceptions our students have.

The readings from this week provided some practical ideas for encouraging students to interact in the classroom and not be afraid to use mathematical language to express themselves.  When students use, or attempt to use mathematical language it can help us as teachers to assess their level of understanding and identify any misconceptions.

Lee suggested that organising the classroom in a certain way can be a valuable tool for inclusivity and creating a positive classroom ethos.  Asking students to move to the front of the classroom and gather around the board enables students to hear and speak to one another more easily, actively participate in the conversation, think about, process and interpret what is being said.  This approach allows the teacher to enforce a classroom ethos where all students’ comments are valued and it is ok to say or get a wrong answer.  Students soon learn that this is a time for thinking, listening, talking and learning.   

I was interested to read about the different ideas and comments on students and ‘hands up’ in the classroom.  I had never really thought about the fact that once a student raises their hand to answer a question, they are more than likely no longer thinking about the problem, they are too busy concentrating on competing to be picked for answering the question.  I like the idea of waiting for the majority of students to raise their hand and then choosing a student who does not have their hand raised to see if they are paying attention, this could be a valuable classroom management strategy.  We as teachers need to allow for appropriate time for students to think about questions before they make a response.  This is something I had to remind myself of when I was on prac, as sometimes I was just so glad to see that someone raised there hand to answer that I just wanted to jump in and let them answer without really giving the ‘whole class’ time to think about it and respond.  I also agree that it is an important part of the learning process to give students time to reflect on their learning, as without this they will not have a chance to reorganise their understanding of different mathematical concepts, consequently making further learning very difficult.

I think it is so important to create a classroom ethos where it is ok to get the answer wrong or use mathematical language incorrectly.  One of the best ways to learn is from making mistakes.  If students are ridiculed for getting wrong answers they will feel embarrassed, defeated and simply give up.  This is often how I feel in math lectures at University.  Lecturers can’t understand why we find some of the maths so difficult and they seem to get frustrated when we don’t know the answer.  Instead of creating a safe learning environment where we can just have a go and learn from our mistakes, it is an environment where we feel intimidated and hence stop trying to participate and this affects our level of learning.  So I am going to be extremely conscious of this never happening in my classroom.

This video clip shows how easy it is for students to get confused with math problems due to their understanding or misunderstanding of language for learning mathematics. The student is confused with how many cars are ‘left’, she took it to mean how many cars departed the car wash not how many cars remained at the car wash after 6 hours.  This shows how important it is for us as educators to ensure our students understand literacy in maths.