An Introductory Module for Test Taking Skills Development in senior high school students in Alberta.
Project documentation Assignment 2
Project Rationale
Testing will always be a part of the students’ experiences even though we are moving more and more towards modern learning and assessment methods. Oftentimes, the educational fate of students rests in the scores they receive from tests. These tests have a profound effect on many parts of their lives. Standardized tests can affect their eligibility to attend and select universities, colleges, and trade programs. It impacts their ability to receive scholarships, and job opportunities. While this is a consistent part of students’ lives, it is one of the areas that cause students a great amount of anxiety. With those concerns in mind I have decided to create my online course on Test Taking Skills Development. This course is geared towards students in grade 11-12 and distance learning students perusing their GED in Alberta. The objectives for this course are partially derived from Alberta Program of Studies, Career and Life Management (CALM) course objectives, it is not a replacement to this CALM courses but is aimed at looking in depth at some of the objectives in this course that may only receive a cursory look.
Learning Objectives: https://education.alberta.ca/media/313385/calm.pdf
P3. develop and assess personal strategies to enhance creative thinking skills • explain the thinking process • analyze the effect of positive attitude on thinking • apply creative thinking strategies
P4. develop approaches/tactics for creative problem solving and decision making • describe the existence of self and the importance of self-confidence • assess own well-being and own ability to cope with challenges and overcome obstacles
P5. apply a variety of strategies for lifelong learning • identify characteristics of effective learners • apply skills for learning, studying and being assessed • practise skills and strategies for managing time and dealing with procrastination • distinguish among learning styles, and develop strategies to adapt to various learning situations • apply relevant brain-based learning research to develop effective learning strategies •
Design Tools
With this course in an online format, I wanted to create an environment that allows students to learn in a collaborative, and flexible learning environment where they could do most of their learning around their own schedule without constraints from the brick and mortar schedule of attending classes during only certain hours. Online learning is more conducive to social learning because it allows for utilisation of some of the digital tools from social media that the students would be familiar with. I choose to work with Blackboard Connect and reflected on created an online course for high school students.
Blackboard provided tools that I wanted to explore with this target audience.
Blackboard Connect has synchronous and asynchronous tools that can be used in this course. It has Blackboard Collaborate which allows for video chat and text but with more classroom like protocols than Skype ,Facebook, or Viber video chatting. For example you ‘raise your hand’ in Blackboard Collaborate when you want to speak. Using this tool for some discussions would keep students from thinking this was just a place for socialising and would keep them from the distractions of being on social media while trying to accomplish their tasks for the course. I understand that these students are digital natives so I included Blackboard IM which is a communication tool similar to tools that have on their mobile devices for instant communication with their peers. This would keep students from feeling isolated. This course is about students learning from one another and recognising that they are not alone in their concerns about test taking. I have selected discussion boards for this course to allow students to engage and learn from each other. Students will also be using blogs to do their self-reflection pieces. Blogging offers students the opportunity to be producers. Through blogging, students can write, think, and reflect on their test taking experiences. They can also set goals, share and celebrate their achievements with their peers.
I selected UBC blogs from the tools in Connect but then I realised that those blogs take the students to another page outside of connect. I am cognizant of the myriad of distractions when learning online so I selected to use UBC blogs iFrame where students can do their self-reflection in Connect. In the tools areas in the course, there is a forum for group collaboration and this is the place where students will engage and collaborate with their peers for group work. I have also included the calendar in the tools area to help students stay organised. There is also a section that students can click on that takes them directly to the activities and assignments for the course and a section for their grades.
Backwards Design
My course design uses Wiggins, and McTighe’s Understanding by Design. I am beginning with the end in mind; with the outcomes I want my students to achieve. I am also working at designing a course that is “learning-centered” and where the “learning environment respects and accommodates the particular cultural attributes, especially the language and particular forms of expression that the learner uses to interpret and build knowledge.”(Anderson, 2008) This will be challenging but exciting.
Communicating with students
I have included a section with information that tells the students the different ways they can contact the instructor. Since Blackboard Connect as a learning tool would be unfamiliar to the students I created a forum where students can give feedback about their experience using Blackboard. For this forum I added Piazza in the tools area. On the Piazza forum, students can leave their comments anonymously; (I will include rules about this in the course Netiquette) additionally, it can be a place that they can ask for help for general issues on Blackboard and receive feedback on those issues. Using Blackboard as a student in the MET program, I understand how difficult it can be to ask for help. I figured if I created an anonymous space and encouraged students to use it, then I would know the issues that they find challenging and I would be able to provide regular feedback that would offset some of their fears. Test Taking is a topic that creates anxiety for students, so I am working on creating a safe learning space for them to accomplish the objectives in the CALM program of studies where they can “apply relevant brain-based learning research to develop effective learning strategies.” (https://education.alberta.ca/media/313385/calm.pdf). There are still many areas of the course that need to be developed including finding the right way to communicate netiquette to teenage learners. I am looking forward to the next phase of the assignment.
References
Alberta Program of Studies: Career and Life Managment. (n.d.). Retrieved July 5, 2015, from https://education.alberta.ca/media/313385/calm.pdf
Anderson, T. (2008). Chapter 2 Towards a Theory of Online Learning. In T. Anderson (Ed.), Theory and Practice of Online Learning (pp. 45–74). AU Press.
Tolisano, S. R. (n.d.). Blogging as Pedagogy: A method of teaching. Retrieved July 5, 2015, from http://langwitches.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/blogging-as-pedagogy.jpg
Veletsianos, G. (2008). Designing Opportunities for Transformation with Emerging Technologies. Learning, 51(2), 41–46. http://doi.org/Related link: URL: <http://asianvu.com/bookstoread/etp/>