Lesson Evaluation and Concept Mapping
Introduction
The government has been stepping up efforts to increase scientific literacy after discovering its importance to the future of the nation. Its reformatory program has been focusing on the standards, curriculum, teachers and delivery or instructions of the science lessons. Earlier own much of the delivery of science lessons was left to the discretion of the teachers. The reformatory process has seen the National Research Council (NRC) and American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) prepare standards that are meant to ensure that the delivery of science literacy is improved to meet the 21st century requirements of the nation. The standards outline what students should learn and how the instructions should conducted. These standards emphasize the use of an inquiry approach to learning as well as more engagement of students in the learning process (Carin et al, 2008).
An inquiry approach is greatly preferred because it motivates students as well as helps them derive relevance of taught concepts and ideas in life. The teachers use methods and activities that are inquiry oriented in teaching the science lessons so as to obtain the best understanding. The activities make use of the 5-E model that takes on four activities and steps namely-engage, explore, explain, elaborate and finally evaluate. This is method reflective of the science teaching inquiry standards set by NSES where open learning is encouraged as a means to help students to develop their own understanding of scientific concepts. In the process students are left to make discoveries on their own or they are led on by their teachers in a non-explicit manner towards what is to be learned. The process also focuses on assessment and its alignment to objectives. This paper evaluates the delivery of a science lesson as witnessed whilst considering the conformity of instructions and the delivery process to the standards that are already set in education (Marx & Harris, 2006).
During the practicum an observation was made on the delivery of a science lesson on plant physiological processes. The lesson highlighted the process of photosynthesis and factors that influence its rate. The teacher delivering the lesson notably did include other content areas such as mathematics, technology as well as writing, however; other areas such as reading were not incorporated. The incorporation of mathematics occurred through the recording of bubbles of oxygen emitted as well as graphing the number of bubbles against time to determine the rate of the process. The incorporation of data recording, graphing and rate calculation was actually an addition of other content areas. Writing was also incorporated through requesting the students to write their observations as well as explanations of the observed phenomenon.
Technology was incorporated through the use of power-point slides that displayed the process of the experimentation and important notes for the lesson. The note and slides on the experiment set up and experimentation were interactive in nature and with links that could get students to other related content and definitions, and this was indeed an incorporation of technology. The teacher provided handouts that portrayed the outline of the experiments as well as the instructions on how to set up the apparatus. The hand outs had free/blank space where students were supposed to record their observations for further analysis after the experiment. The class was divided into groups and offered a supply of the required items and tools that were meant to be used in the experiment.
Notably, the teacher applied the appropriate inquiry standards required in teaching science by avoiding explicitly stating out the results of the experiment used in teaching about photosynthesis and the rate. The students were guided through the experiment, allowed to record observations, graph them, derive rates and make their own analytical discussions meant to help them create their own knowledge on issues relating to the process of photosynthesis and the rate of the process under varied conditions of lighting and carbon dioxide concentration. The teacher was also able to offer assessments whose evaluation was in line with the goals and objectives of the lesson. According to the standards on evaluation the assessments conducted should displays relevance and concordance with the objectives and goals set prior to the start of the lesson. The assignment offered was supposed to evaluate students understanding and ability to create their own understanding of the process. The setting of these goals and assessments that reflected them was also another way of conforming to the standards in the teaching of science as a subject (Carin et al, 2008). The use of experimentation to help students deduce facts about photosynthesis rate and factors that affect the rate was an implicit mode of delivering open learning which is part of the standards set in using the inquiry approach of teaching science.
The assessment process conducted by the teacher used various assessment models and types that were applied prior to the start of the lesson as well as at the end of the lesson. Firstly, the teacher applied a baseline assessment at the start of the lesson to determine what the students knew about the rate of photosynthesis and the factors that influence it. This helped spark the students’ inquiry as they went into the experimentation process as well as helped determine the level of knowledge that the students ha don the subject. After the experimentation the teacher used a formative-cum-summative approach of assessment which took the form of performance tasks-where students are allowed to take action on problem scenarios to get solutions.
This came in form of data recording, graphing, rate derivation through calculation and analysis to determine rate changes and the influencing factors. This form of assessment evaluated the students understanding of the results derived as well as the use of scientific methods to solve scientific problems (TeAchnology, 1998). After the final computation and drawing of inferences, the teacher used a formative interview assessment in which he questioned the groups on what deductions they had made form their data analysis and calculations as well as why they had made them. All forms of applied assessments were in line with the set goals and objectives for the lesson, and thus it can be said that indeed the teacher’s assessment formats and methods were line with standards set on administering assessment in science lessons.
The teacher applied differentiated instructions through the use of pre-assessments meant to determine what the students already knew in order to differentiate the lesson in to a level that would be leveled so as to afford students understanding of the concepts and facts to be learned. The students were set in to groups allowed to conduct the experiment and analyze their results so as to come up with their own results. The analysis would demonstrate individual understanding and learning ability, thus presenting a differentiated mode of learning that would allow everyone to make up their own knowledge and learn the facts behind the experimentation on an individualized basis (Marx & Harris, 2006). This actually made the teaching process and delivery on this unit a success because each group was able to carry out their own analysis of the data under the direction and instruction of the teacher, and to form their own base of knowledge and understanding on the topic at hand. Finally, the students were able to understand the process and factors that influence it on their own without being explicitly taught about it.
This kind of learning was successful because it created an interest in the subject as well as a base of knowledge that is not easily forgotten because it was self-derived and acquired through inquiry. This lesson can be a good basis for any lesson I would wish to design and deliver in the future, because it allows students to seek scientific knowledge on their own and be able to prove the facts derived through solid experimental processes which form the basis and background of the acquisition of scientific knowledge. To achieve such success and make the lesson more engaging I would challenge the students to come up with their own experimental problems and work with them to design experimental processes and assessments that would offer those answers to their problems. This actively engages the students in the learning process and sparks their creative thinking ability.
References
Carin, A.A. Contant, L. T and Bass, E. J. (2008), Teaching Science as Inquiry, Prentice Hall.
Marx, R. and Harris, C. (2006), No Child Left Behind and Science Education: Opportunities, Challenges, and Risks. Elementary School Journal, volume number 106, issue number 5, pp 467-477.
TeAchnology (1998), Available science teaching theme unit areas: Plant lesson plans retrieved on 25th November, 2010 from http://www.teach-nology.com/themes/science/
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