Jessica Guthrie
Go to: ETAP 623 Spring 2020 (Zhang) | Jessica's Mini-Course
About Me
Hi everyone! My name is Jessica Guthrie and I am a Math and Computer Science Teacher in Middletown, NY. I graduated from Siena College in 2016 with a B.S. in Mathematics and am certified to teach grades 7-12. For the past 3 years, I taught 8th grade math and this year I am at the high school teaching Algebra 1. I also teach a Computer Science course that introduces students to the basics of programming and web design. With the CDIT Master's Degree, I hope to advance my teaching experiences throughout my career.
Purpose of the Course
Rhodes (2019) identifies an important aspect of classroom instruction stating that "it is crucial that problem solvers are not only aware of what they are doing and why they are doing it, but also have the ability to regulate these processes." This course focuses on presenting ways to implement opportunities within instruction for students to become stronger problem solvers by regulating their learning using peer and self assessment. Topics that will be covered within this course include: exploring metacognition, identifying strategies of using peer and self assessment, applying new knowledge to create a unit plan, and evaluating the use of peer and self assessment during instruction.
Learning Outcomes
Participants will be able to...
- identify and describe metacognitive skills
- explain what self and peer assessment looks and sounds like in the math classroom
- implement self and peer assessment strategies within a unit plan to help students develop metacognitive skills
- evaluate student use of self and peer assessment within the classroom and adjust activities as needed
Needs Assessment
Problem
Teacher expectations of student learning is reflected through the practice problems and material that they give their students to complete. It is common for students to be tasked with problems similar to those modeled by the teacher and expected to follow a given procedure, hindering their problem solving skills and self-efficacy (Darling-Hammond, 2008). Further, our culture commonly exhibits “damaging beliefs that suggest the goal of mathematics is to recall and apply correct procedures rather than think deeply about what [we] are doing and why,” highlighting the need to focus math education on the development of metacognitive strategies (Rhodes, 2009). The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2018) express "how difficult it is for people to regulate their own learning" while stressing the valuable skills that the student uses throughout the learning process (pg. 149). This implies that metacognition development should not be avoided in the classroom due to difficulty because the benefits of learning the skills are meaningful. By increasing student awareness of their thought processes, teachers are encouraging students to connect current material to their prior knowledge while enriching their classroom experience through collaboration on ideas when necessary.
There are many different strategies and activities to implement when it comes to helping students develop their metacognitive skills. Peer and self assessment require students to reflect on their learning processes while comparing their ideas to others. Through my own teaching experience and observations of other teachers in their classrooms, I have noticed that standardized testing has turned math classroom environments into a place where students practice problems similar to ones that show up on the test; when students prove successful in answering the different types of questions correctly, teachers move students on to the next topic. Self and peer assessments are not being used effectively due to curriculum time restraints and the stress of proficient student performance data. Since self and peer assessments are not frequently used, teachers are failing to continuously encourage their students to strengthen their metacognitive skills.
What is To Be Learned
Participants will become informed about strategies of peer and self assessment to use in learning environments that focus on helping students develop their metacognitive skills. Metacognition depends on meaningful learning, so it is assumed that student practice will be designed to correspond with meaningful tasks rather than “teaching to the test” methods.
The Learners
This mini-course is designed for current teachers who are interested in learning more about the benefits of developing metacognition and use of peer and self assessment in the secondary mathematics classroom. Even though the focus of this course is mathematics, the material can be adapted for use in other subject areas as well. Participants will be exposed to different activities and strategies with the intention of teachers implementing them into their own classroom instruction.
Instructional Context
This course can be accessed within the KNILT online environment, so participants need to use a computer and the Internet. Learning material for the course will be presented through online reading and videos and many of the unit activities require participants to gather information and share their ideas online, so participants should be familiar with popular online programs and accessing information on the computer.
Exploring the Instructional Problem and Solution
Participants will explore different ways of implementing self and peer evaluation in the classroom while focusing on the development of student metacognitive skills. By completing the different activities, participants will analyze the benefits of having students do peer and self assessment to help develop their metacognition in math to create and assess a unit plan that implements these types of assessments.
Goals
Participants will learn about different metacognitive strategies to design activities that incorporate peer and self assessment alongside engaging practice material. After designing the activities, participants will assess the effectiveness of the activities that students participate in.
Performance-Based Objectives
- Participants will describe the purpose of and benefits to developing metacognitive skills
- Participants will identify effective self/peer assessment in the math classroom and explain how these examples engage students' metacognitive skills
- Participants will design a unit plan that implements self and/or peer assessment techniques to increase activation and development of metacognitive skills
- Participants will reflect on the implementation and effectiveness of self/peer assessment during classroom instruction after teaching their unit plan.
Task Analysis
Unit 1: What are metacognitive skills and why are they essential to math education?
- Participants will define metacognition and identify metacognitive skills
- Participants will practice using metacognitive skills to solve problems
- Participants will explain why metacognitive skills are essential to develop throughout math education
Unit 2: How does self/peer assessment promote the use of metacognitive skills?
- Participants will recognize a task as self or peer assessment and describe how it can be used during classroom instruction
- Participants will practice using self/peer assessment techniques
- Participants will connect their practice of self/peer assessment to the development of metacognitive skills
- Participants will design methods of self/peer assessment that they would feel comfortable using during classroom instruction
Unit 3: Creating a Unit Plan that Incorporates Self/Peer Assessment
- Participants will integrate multiple self/peer assessment methods into a unit plan
- Participants will analyze their students’ experience of using self/peer assessment throughout unit plan instruction by evaluating their performance on assignments
- Participants will adjust activities for future learning opportunities based on student performance and feedback
Curriculum Map
References and Resources
Darling-Hammond, L., et al. (2008). Powerful Learning: What We Know About Teaching For Understanding. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). How People Learning II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Rhodes, S. (2019). How Did You Solve It? Metacognition in Mathematics. Teaching Students to Think About Thinking, 15(7). Retrieved from: http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol15/num07/how-did-you-solve-it-metacognition-in-mathematics.aspx.