User:Afrantz
Allison Frantz
Allison Frantz Personal Page | Allison Frantz Mini Course: Cognitively Guided Instruction
My Topic/Purpose
My topic for the mini course that I am designing is the learning theory Cognitively Guided Instruction. My goal is to design this course as an asynchronous professional development course for teachers in primary grades who are interested in teaching elementary school mathematics using this budding and innovative approach. Cognitively Guided Instruction is a teaching approach that focuses on the prior knowledge that students possess prior to learning a new mathematical concept and how that knowledge can help them build a foundation of learning and understanding. This program is based in the theory of constructivism and therefore is geared towards students building on their own understanding.
Learning Outcomes
An educator taking this course will be able to...
1. Comprehend CGI as a teaching program to develop mathematical understanding in young students.
2. Use specific language when talking to students about the math concepts they are learning.
3. Gauge student responses in terms of cognitive development.
4. Assess students' thinking and design problems that will develop students' understanding of concepts and skills.
5. Facilitate discussions that provide a window into children's thinking.
Needs Assessment
Instructional Problem: The need for professional development on new and innovative approaches to mathematics instruction in elementary school classrooms. According to Carol Lloyd, a writer for the Great Schools Non-Profit Organization website, “…as many as 60 percent of all college students who intend to study a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) subject end up transferring out…. It’s not that kids aren’t getting enough math, they say, but that we’re teaching K-12 math all wrong.” (http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/why-americas-smartest-students-fail-math/)
The Nature of What is to be Learned: Participants in this course will learn a new approach to teaching elementary mathematics that involves the student in his/her own learning and upon completing the course will be able to effectively plan and implement a Cognitively Guided Instruction-based mathematics lesson in an elementary school classroom.
The Participants: Participants in this course will be elementary school teachers interested in developing their instructional skills in mathematics or will be educators who have had experience with teaching elementary school mathematics. Participants will be dedicated to implementing a new approach to the mathematics instruction in their classrooms for the benefit of their students.
Instructional Context: Instruction will be conducted entirely online and in order to complete this course, participants will need to have access to a computer and internet connection. Students will be asked to read information, complete activities aimed at improving their knowledge and understanding of CGI classrooms, as well as watch video segments of CGI-based lessons.
Exploring Instructional Problems and Solutions: Participants will explore characteristics of a few other approaches to mathematics and how they relate to CGI. They will be given information and videos that will help them build a foundation of understanding about CGI and its practical use in the classroom prior to engaging in activities to assess their understanding. Cognitively Guided Instruction involves techniques that utilize the prior knowledge that students might possess about a new mathematical concept, allowing students to use what they know to figure out a problem.
Goals for Mini Course: The goal of this mini course is to provide information about Cognitively Guided Instruction to educators in the hopes that it will improve not only their instruction in math but their students understanding in mathematics as well.
Analysis of the Learner and Context
Participants will..
Participants who will most benefit from this professional development course will be educators of elementary school who teach mathematics. Ideally, these teachers will be elementary school teachers who could put this teaching and learning theory into practice or will have had experience as an elementary school teacher. These teachers will have/had face-to-face access to elementary school age students and will also have/had experience teaching elementary mathematics.
Some challenges to this will be that participants might not have current face-to-face access to elementary school age students and might therefore have trouble understanding this teaching and learning theory in practice. However, to solve this challenge there will be videos of actual lessons utilizing Cognitively Guided Instruction in an actual elementary school classroom.
Performance Objectives
Participants will:
1. Given research and findings, participants will be able to describe what Cognitively Guided Instruction is by creating their own comprehensive definition.
Assessment: Participants will post their own definitions of Cognitively Guided Instruction. They will comment on the definitions of 2 peers.
2. After researching CGI theory through videos and articles, participants will be able to describe the importance of using this theory in the classroom, in a one-page response.
Assessment: Participants will write a one-paragraph response describing what they learned about Cgognitively Guided Instruction and what they believe are the benefits or pitfalls of using CGI in the classroom.
3. After watching videos of actual CGI lessons and studying research and findings, participants will create a CGI-based mini lesson including a list of three CGI-based questions that would be used in a mathematics lesson, for a grade level of their choice.
Assessment: Participants will be assessed on whether their mini lesson correlated with CGI strategies, has three CGI-based learning questions, and what the teacher might say in his/her 'script' when talking to students throughout the lesson.
Curriculum Map
Task Analysis
Unit One: What is Cognitively Guided Instruction?
- Participants will study Cognitively Guided Instruction with provided articles and videos
- Participants will become aware of what CGI is and what it looks like in the classroom
- Participants will write their own comprehensive definition of CGI and comment on 2 peers’ definitions
Unit Two: Benefits or Drawbacks of Cognitively Guided Instruction
- Participants will view CGI-based lessons in actual classrooms, with videos provided.
- Participants will study, with provided materials, what CGI-based lessons look in practice.
- Participants will study correlations between CGI and various pedagogical approaches as well as correlations with Common Core Standards
Unit Three: Cognitively Guided Instruction in Practice
- Participants will review provided materials about CGI-based mathematics lessons
- Participants will create a mini lesson, based in CGI for a grade level of their choice.
References
INTROUCTION
Wisconsin Center for Educational Research. (2007) CGI Encourages Ingenuity and Reasoning. (http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/news/coverstories/cgi_math_encourages_ingenuity.php)
MODULE 1
Article1: Empson, S. B. What does a CGI Classroom Look Like: An Introduction to Cognitively Guided Instruction. Professional Development. (http://hbcsd.org/view/11425.pdf)
Article 2: Wisconsin Center for Educational Research. (2007) CGI Encourages Ingenuity and Reasoning. (http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/news/coverstories/cgi_math_encourages_ingenuity.php)
Article 3: Promising Practices Network. (2014). Program Overview: Cognitively Guided Instruction
Article 4: National Center for Improving Student Learning Association: Wisconsin Center for Education Research (2000). Cognitively Guided Instruction: A Research-Based Teacher Professional Development Program for Elementary School Mathematics. Madison, WI: Carpenter, T.P., Empson, S. B., Fennema, E., Franke, M.L., and Levi, L.
MODULE 2
Quote: Diaz, J. (2015) Cognitively GuidedInstruction National Conference. UCLA Mathematics Project. https://ucla.edu/math-project/professional-development/cgi-institute-3-5
Article 1: Lomax, K. (2013) CGI Assessment Teacher’s Guide. http://staff.washington.edu/klomax/Overview.html
Article2: Alsup, J. (2004) A Comparison of Constructivist and Traditional Instruction in Mathematics. Educational Research Quarterly. Volume 28(4). http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ718122.pdf
Article3: Carpenter, T.P., Fennema, E., and Franke, M.L. (1996). Cognitively Guided Instruction: A Knowledge Base for Reform in Primary Mathematics Instruction. The Elementary School Journal, Volume 7(1). http://www.jstor.org/stable/1001789?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
All Excerpts and Videos:
Carpenter, T.P., Empson, S.B., Fennema, E., F (2015). Children’s Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction. Portsmouth, NH