All Hands On Deck: Week #5

This week we switched gears a little bit. It was a short week because we had a snow day on Thursday, and on Friday we regrouped with the cohort and University Staff at Penn State. But either way, there was a lot of hands-on action happening which was a little different from what we had been doing.

Making butter!

First... the problem solving approach

One of my areas of improvement was having the students do some more hands-on or student centered learning. In plant science, I was introducing Integrated Pest Management. I actually performed my lab that I did with my cohort members in the fall with a few adjustments per their feedback. You can check out my blog on this lab here.

Students had just learned about the pests and were starting to be introduced to the idea of pest management. I gave them a scenario and they were given the task of solving this scenario. I led them through the steps of IPM without telling them what IPM was or that they were doing it. Once they solved the pest issue and figured out how to best manage the pest, I told them that what they did was essentially IPM. 

I thought the lesson went really smoothly. The only thing that I wish went differently was that I didn't already introduce them to the pest earlier in the Pest ID lessons. Most of them caught on quickly that the pest they needed to find was the Bean Leaf Beetle just by looking back at their notes. I didn't want to trick them but I also didn't want it to be so easy! I still had them find a resource that backed up their claims so they still had to do some research. They did have to do more work later on, though, as they followed the other steps of IPM so it wasn't like they were just sitting around. Point is... I need to make it a little more challenging for them!

Second... Inquiry Based Instruction

Students in my small engines class have pretty much just been in the classroom. While I think they've enjoyed it so far, I think some of them were itching to actually start working on engines. This was my worry as I was planning my unit because of how much content needs to be understood. Yes, they could tear down engines at essentially any point, but either way, there is quite a bit of content to discuss so that they fully understand the functions of an engine. 

Assembling parts of an engine... no tools and no manual!

My cooperating teacher and I decided it would be nice to have them spend a day in the shop. They had just learned about safety, tools, and parts. They had the base knowledge to be able to go in the shop and tinker around with the engines. So I split them into groups and told them to try and assemble the engine based on what you know about the parts and how they function together. They were not going to worry about using tools; just try and see where everything fits.

This was also a great time for me to check on their safety. I thanked them for following safety procedures and remembering those rules. 

I really enjoyed this activity and I think they appreciated something a little different too. It was a great opportunity for them to try and put together the parts just off of prior knowledge. I had to tell some of them to picture themselves as a little three year old putting the round block in the round hole, and the square block in the square hole. If you look close enough, some parts are shaped in such a way that it logically only fits in one place. 

Another thing that was really cool was that I was able to ask them questions about how they knew something went in a certain spot. How do they know the exhaust valve goes in one hole vs. the other? Knowing what the carburetor is, where do you think it goes? 

Third.... hands-on laboratory lessons

Making a battery with pennies and salt water

With my group of Life Skills students, we continued doing fun labs and activities. This week, some of our labs included making butter, making plastic out of corn starch, and running a potato battery and a penny battery. Some worked better than others, but I think either way there was a lesson for them to take away. I think they really enjoyed doing these mini lessons with me and I so enjoyed working with them. Now they are back in the classroom with the rest of their peers, and soon, I'll be taking over that class!

Penny battery circuit lab

One thing that I must say that I really enjoyed was being able to teach them applicable lessons in measuring and mathematics. Some of the labs I did with them needed specific measurements so I would tell them that amount and they would show me how much that was or we would look at it together and see if that was enough. I liked this because I went into it thinking I was only going to be teaching about corn to plastic, for example, but the result is that they walk away with practice of some everyday skills. They may never make anything into plastic from corn starch again, but they will certainly use measurement and mathematics and other problem solving skills in their future. It's an educational win!

Heating up the corn starch mixture

Upcoming plans

In Plant Science, we are going to finish with our discussion about pest management and then I am going to have them work on and present presentations about Pest Management and Control. 

In Small Engines, we are going to finish talking about energy conversion principles and start talking about engine classifications.

In Welding, we are going to finish up our conversation on safety and tie in any more pieces of equipment necessary, and then they will take their safety exam.

I am starting Animal Bioscience on Monday so I will begin the unit on Dairy Cattle Production talking about breeds of cattle and getting into anatomy.

In Food Science, we are going to finish up talking about the history of food preservation and then we are going to get into heat preservation.

I am also planning on starting Leadership next week, so I will begin with having them work on public speaking in preparation for the speaking CDE. The lessons won't be specific to the CDE, but rather how I can prepare them for speaking in life (which will subsequently prepare them for the CDE). 

Next week's about to get a whole lot busier for me... I hope I can manage it all!

Leaving Thoughts

"And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst" --Zechariah 2:5

Weekly Vitamins: Creating a New Recipe with Inquiry Based Instruction

Everyone knows someone that seems to be able to craft the best meal or make the most savory chicken or brew the best coffee. Perhaps that someone is a parent or grandparent or friend. While they may have all of the same supplies and ingredients as the next cook, their dish seems to come out better. You just keep wondering what recipe they follow in order to come with that result.

atmag.net

Inquiry based instruction is similar to that magical recipe. This educational technique allows learners to form their own recipes to discover and learn. They may not get the same exact results as the other groups in their class, but they learn the concept of whatever problem they are trying to solve. This relatively newer idea of inquiry based instruction (IBI) allows students to make their own dish instead of following the recipe the teacher makes them follow. 

IBI vs. Problem Solving Approach

When I first started hearing about IBI and the problem solving approach (PSA) it was difficult for me to differentiate between the two. Both techniques challenge students to solve problems, are student driven, and is facilitated by the teacher. 

batalas.co.uk

However in doing the readings for this week, I was able to pull out some small differences between the two techniques. The main thing was that with IBI, students are trying to solve a problem, but they are making their own procedures and they are evaluating their results with the scientific method (not always, but typically). In the PSA, students are more so just utilizing their resources to solve the problem posed to them. In addition, I think IBI encourages the concept of the topic the students are learning about rather than coming up with an exact answer. PSA doesn't necessarily have a right or wrong answer, but the goal of PSA is to find the best answer. It does still encourage learning the concepts and skills, however. 

Maybe these two techniques aren't separate, though. Perhaps inquiry based instruction is a form of one of the problem solving approach methods. Of that I'm not entirely sure. No matter what category it falls under, I think the main point is that teachers should be encouraging their students to seek the answers and experiment in order to learn; not allowing the teacher to tell them the information all the time. 

Emphasizing the "why"

I think it is so important for students to understand not only why the information that they are learning is important, but why they are learning it the way they are. Traditional learning, as it says in the readings, does not challenge students to find the answers, but lets them absorb the information instead. They have to learn how to learn all over again, essentially. There might be some push back on this, as some of the participants in the Journal of Agricultural Education mentioned, where it took several tries for students to get comfortable with this style of teaching. 

So if I can get my students to understand why I am facilitating in this way, I think that will make it much easier for them to want to learn and not concern themselves with finding the one right answer to pass the class.

cognition.happycog.com

A novice to inquiry based instruction

I feel as though at least one of my teachers in my past has used IBI, but I can't say I clearly remember a lesson where this has taken place. I still have so many questions regarding how it is done, so I fear that I might struggle with it initially until I work out all of the kinks. I believe that if I make it my goal to give students the chance to cook up their own plan and chew on their answers and research for a bit, they will gain much more than I could ever teach by telling them the information alone. 

Leaving Thought

"It's okay to not know, but it's not okay to not try"

--Unknown