Melissa Holt
Assignment 11
EDT 5372
Dr. Zhang
Identify problems observed in the scenario
While there are many benefits associated with using and implementing technology into the classroom setting, using technology is not always a smooth process. In the scenario with Jane, a 6th grade teacher in the Ysleta Independent School District, there were several complications that were apparent within the scenario. Although Jane had over 10 years of teaching experience, she had no teaching experience with the proper ways of integrating wikis into meaningful activities with clear learning objectives for her students. There were numerous observable problems in the scenario. One area that presented a problem in the scenario was that in one of the groups, only one student was involved in writing the essay which meant that students were not contributing to the project equally. Another problem that was evident in the scenario was that tensions among students regarding ownership of editing and revising, as well as giving credit to resources. In addition, in the scenario, there were no set parameters for how editing work within the group for the writing assignment will take place. Finally, in the scenario, some students had problems developing their ideas and making connections to the research questions when adding pictures and graphics to their group wiki pages.
Prioritizing the problems identified
Based on these observations, ranking the
problems on a scale of 1-4 based on the identified problems, with 1 being the
most important, and 4 being the least important. The ranking of problems for
this scenario are listed below.
- Students had tension within some groups regarding providing ownership and credit in their writing.
- In some groups, only one student was involved in writing the essay; therefore, students were not contributing to the project equally.
- There were no set parameters for how editing work within the group for the writing assignment will take place.
- Some students had problems developing their ideas and making connections to the research questions when adding pictures and graphics to their group wiki pages.
Possible solutions for the top 3 problems
Problem #1: Students had tension within some groups regarding
providing ownership and credit in their writing.
Possible Solution#1: Since tension was
mounting among students providing ownership and credit their writing, a possible
solution might be to have students complete an online tutorial on plagiarism. I
believe this would be a great way to teach students about plagiarism. I ranked
this as a number one priority because plagiarism is a serious issue and at the
university level, plagiarism has serious consequences; therefore, I believe it
is best to teach students about plagiarism as early as possible.
Problem #2: In some groups, only one student was involved in
writing the essay; therefore, students were not contributing to the project
equally.
Possible Solution #2: Since some students
were not contributing to the writing project equally, a possible solution for
this problem might be to create and distribute group role cards. This will help ensure that everyone within
each group has a contributing role in the group. In addition, group role cards would place responsibility
on each student within a group to make them responsible for their learning. I ranked this as a number two priority because
in life it is important to be able to work with others and contribute to groups
in meaningful ways.
Problem #3: There were no set parameters for how editing work
within the group for the writing assignment will take place.
Possible Solution #3: Since
Jane was very pleased that some groups were highly engaged in collaborative
research and writing, editing one another's work, challenging one another's
thinking, and providing reliable resources to support their ideas, it is clear
that these were the expectations that she had for this group assignment. Therefore, a possible solution to this
problem is that Jane could have created a rubric provides students with a clear
understanding of the expectations for the project. The creation of a rubric for this assignment is
also beneficial because it can communicate to students how they will be
assessed on thee wiki assignment. I
ranked this a number three priority because students need to be made aware of the requirements, expectations, and learning
objectives in any group project assignment.
Helpful links
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa:
You made excellent recommendations to the problems scenario such as the third one about the editing work problem. The wiki should be for as much communication between the group as possible, including sharing and editing documents, progress reports, and group member contact information. Team members can visit the site to review progress, view earlier documents, and communicate with other team members.
Jorge Villarreal.