Theoretical framework:For Natural Selection – This task is experiential in nature, so constructivist theory is more compatible. Students are actively taking new information and applying it to the task of trying to get their species to live a million years. Therefore, they are active participants in this simulation where by applying their knowledge allows meaningful learning to take place.
For Blood Typing – The instructional design task is clearly defined performance objectives (i.e., blood transfusion and blood typing), so behavioral theory with its principles of practice and reinforcement (i.e., patients die unless treated properly) are more compatible. The positive reinforcement is that the patient gets better with the correct transfusion blood types. The negative reinforcement is that the patient’s condition worsens, and the patient may die, unless treated with the correct blood type.
The context and need for the instruction:
The immediate need (felt and anticipated) is to incorporate lessons that use technology while addressing various learning styles, levels of motivation, and academic levels. Educational games and simulations are new vehicles for education by providing a form of assessment, problem-based learning, a fail-safe environment, and a highly motivational learning environment.
Interviews with students led to complaints about “boring” lessons. Students also said they had a hard time applying the lessons on tests when they had no other form of practice. This illustrated a gap in mastering biology lessons because students had no practice of applying lessons before taking their tests. Also during the interview, students were asked their opinion of gaming. Most students considered themselves gamers. When asked if they would like some of the biology lessons to incorporate gaming, 100% of the students replied positively.
By implementing an intermediary lesson that incorporated technology, the lesson must use technology that is already found in the classroom (like computers and the internet, for example) and it must be able to be accessed by more than one person at a time. There must not be any financial cost to the implementation of the new lessons. Lessons, games, and simulations must be challenging enough to engage the student, but not too difficult to encourage quitting. Each lesson, game, or simulation implemented must follow the biology curriculum.
Your goals:Overall Goal - By incorporating technology, in the form of games and simulations, into biology lessons, I will create curriculum that students consider highly motivating, but that will also, at the same time, improve student content knowledge, build student conceptual knowledge, and increase student problem-solving skills.
Specific Student Learning Goal For Natural Selection – Students will play the game “Who Wants to Live a Million Years,” in addition to their prescribed lessons, to learn about natural selection and evolution. Students will address Benchmark: SC.912.L.15.3 (which states: Describe how biological diversity is increased by the origin of new species and how it is decreased by the natural process of extinction (FLDOE 2009)) by playing the game “Who Wants to Live a Million Years?” and completing the corresponding lessons & worksheets.
Specific Student Learning Goal for Blood Typing – Students will play “The Blood Typing Game,” in addition to their prescribed lessons, to learn about the genotypes that make up the blood phenotypes. Students will address Benchmark: SC.912.L.16.1 (which states: Use Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment to analyze patterns of inheritance (FLDOE 2009), Benchmark: SC.912.L.16.2 (which states: Discuss observed inheritance patterns caused by various modes of inheritance, including dominant, recessive, codominant, sex-linked, polygenic, and multiple alleles (FLDOE 2009), Benchmark: SC.912.L.14.34 (which states: Describe the composition and physiology of blood, including that of the plasma and the formed elements (FLDOE 2009)), and Benchmark: SC.912.L.14.35 (which states: Describe the steps in hemostasis, including the mechanism of coagulation. Include the basis for blood typing and transfusion reactions (FLDOE 2009)) by playing “The Blood Typing Game” and completing the corresponding lessons & worksheets.
Your objectives:
Specific Instructional Objectives for Natural Selection:
- Students will explore how several varieties of a species can, through natural selection, evolve into one new species with the most successful and heritable traits to help students comprehend and apply Natural Selection and Evolution.
For Blood Typing – The instructional design task is clearly defined performance objectives (i.e., blood transfusion and blood typing), so behavioral theory with its principles of practice and reinforcement (i.e., patients die unless treated properly) are more compatible. The positive reinforcement is that the patient gets better with the correct transfusion blood types. The negative reinforcement is that the patient’s condition worsens, and the patient may die, unless treated with the correct blood type.
The context and need for the instruction:
The immediate need (felt and anticipated) is to incorporate lessons that use technology while addressing various learning styles, levels of motivation, and academic levels. Educational games and simulations are new vehicles for education by providing a form of assessment, problem-based learning, a fail-safe environment, and a highly motivational learning environment.
Interviews with students led to complaints about “boring” lessons. Students also said they had a hard time applying the lessons on tests when they had no other form of practice. This illustrated a gap in mastering biology lessons because students had no practice of applying lessons before taking their tests. Also during the interview, students were asked their opinion of gaming. Most students considered themselves gamers. When asked if they would like some of the biology lessons to incorporate gaming, 100% of the students replied positively.
By implementing an intermediary lesson that incorporated technology, the lesson must use technology that is already found in the classroom (like computers and the internet, for example) and it must be able to be accessed by more than one person at a time. There must not be any financial cost to the implementation of the new lessons. Lessons, games, and simulations must be challenging enough to engage the student, but not too difficult to encourage quitting. Each lesson, game, or simulation implemented must follow the biology curriculum.
Your goals:Overall Goal - By incorporating technology, in the form of games and simulations, into biology lessons, I will create curriculum that students consider highly motivating, but that will also, at the same time, improve student content knowledge, build student conceptual knowledge, and increase student problem-solving skills.
Specific Student Learning Goal For Natural Selection – Students will play the game “Who Wants to Live a Million Years,” in addition to their prescribed lessons, to learn about natural selection and evolution. Students will address Benchmark: SC.912.L.15.3 (which states: Describe how biological diversity is increased by the origin of new species and how it is decreased by the natural process of extinction (FLDOE 2009)) by playing the game “Who Wants to Live a Million Years?” and completing the corresponding lessons & worksheets.
Specific Student Learning Goal for Blood Typing – Students will play “The Blood Typing Game,” in addition to their prescribed lessons, to learn about the genotypes that make up the blood phenotypes. Students will address Benchmark: SC.912.L.16.1 (which states: Use Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment to analyze patterns of inheritance (FLDOE 2009), Benchmark: SC.912.L.16.2 (which states: Discuss observed inheritance patterns caused by various modes of inheritance, including dominant, recessive, codominant, sex-linked, polygenic, and multiple alleles (FLDOE 2009), Benchmark: SC.912.L.14.34 (which states: Describe the composition and physiology of blood, including that of the plasma and the formed elements (FLDOE 2009)), and Benchmark: SC.912.L.14.35 (which states: Describe the steps in hemostasis, including the mechanism of coagulation. Include the basis for blood typing and transfusion reactions (FLDOE 2009)) by playing “The Blood Typing Game” and completing the corresponding lessons & worksheets.
Your objectives:
Specific Instructional Objectives for Natural Selection:
- Students will explore how several varieties of a species can, through natural selection, evolve into one new species with the most successful and heritable traits to help students comprehend and apply Natural Selection and Evolution.
- Given the information, students will conclude that Natural Selection is a primary mechanism leading to evolutionary change (i.e., survival of the fittest / those with the traits to live pass those traits on to their offspring). This will allow them to apply, analyze, and synthesize their own species to try to succeed, evolutionarily speaking.
- Students will identify the natural processes in the environment and interactions with other species may cause extinction (i.e., disease, climate change, predation, and so on) so that they can evaluate the situation and possibly synthesize their own preventions of extinction for their species.
Specific Instructional Objectives for Blood Typing:
- Students will analyze the genotypes involved in phenotypic blood types (i.e., AO genotype results in Type A phenotype, and so on) so students can determine where blood types originate.
- Students will recognize characteristics (traits) that offspring inherit from parents (i.e., inheriting an O from Mom and a B from Dad results in a BO genotype and Type B phenotype, and so on) so that students can deduct where the genes for each blood type originates.
- Students will identify that blood cells have characteristic structures and functions that make them distinctive (i.e., antigen A, antigen B, and so on) so that students can comprehend the differences in blood types.
- Students will evaluate the process of blood typing and determine how to interpret the results (genotype and phenotype) so that the student can apply this information to patients in the game.
- Students will analyze the process of blood transfusions and the problems that can occur if done incorrectly (i.e., patient may die) so that students may apply this information to patients in the game.
A brief summary of the strategies and materials:
Necessary materials – students are given a prescription and list of instructions for each unit of Biology class. These items are attached. The instructions clearly identify the objectives and the Sunshine State Standards involved in that particular unit. The two new lessons are placed in the instructions to allow students to obtain background information from various reading assignments and worksheets. Once students have this information, they can do the new lesson. The students can also see from the prescription when they should do the new lesson. The prescription also tells them how many points the lesson is worth. When the student is ready, they request the lesson. Each lesson is attached. The student uses the work they have already done in the class, their textbook, the computer, and the internet to complete the assignment. The teacher may also be considered a resource. These are all the materials necessary for the new lessons.
The new lessons – each lesson begins with an introduction. This preinstructional material will help introduce the topic and draw the student into the assignment. Motivation will be high because games/simulations and technology have been incorporated into the new lessons. The objectives are clearly stated so that the student understands the purpose of the lessons. Materials are also listed so students can gather what they need to successfully complete the assignments. A list of procedures, step-by-step instructions, and diagrams help guide the student and reduce confusion. Questions are designed to assess pre-lesson knowledge, post-lesson knowledge, and engaged knowledge during the process. Please see each lesson for more specific information.
A short synopsis of your assessment experiences:
I’ve had 7 students try the Blood Typing lesson and two students try the Natural Selection lesson. I also had two biology instructors review the lessons. One English teacher, one social studies teacher, and one administrator also reviewed the lesson and watched my demonstration. I got very good feedback from everyone and addressed their concerns. The students were a great source of constructive feedback as well. All students were highly motivated and completed the lesson rather quickly compared to the time they took to complete other assignments. Some students also ran the game/simulation extra times. I am assuming they did this because they were highly engaged and wanted to see the outcome when trying different scenarios and options.
Pre-lesson and post-lesson questions were designed to match the benchmarks set up by the Florida Department of Education. Please see the list above for specific benchmarks.
Considerations for planning implementation of instruction:Configuration and Linkages – the lessons and the answer keys were printed for all the biology instructors. I then demonstrated the lessons and the websites. Instructors (and one administrator that was present) were allowed to access the websites on their own while I walked around answering their questions.
Environment – I offered technical support if they needed it. The lessons were incorporated into class units so instructors and students would know when to do the lessons. I made sure each computer in the classroom had internet access and the websites were accessible.
Resources – I am a good resource for the biology instructors. We have good communication and they approach me with all their problems and concerns. Also, the answer key to the assignment may be used if they get stuck on a specific question.
First Offering – I offered the lesson to students first so that I could catch any problems or inconsistencies. The other biology instructors watched my examples, so that they could familiarize themselves with the process.
References
Florida Department of Education. (2009). Next Generation Sunshine State Standards. Retrieved 12 June 2009 at http://www.floridastandards.org/Standards/FLStandardSearch.aspx
Kiili, K. (2005). Educational Game Design: Experiential gaming model revised. Tampere University of Technology. Pori, Research report 4, 1-12. Retrieved 22 May 2009 at http://amc.pori.tut.fi/publications/EducationalGameDesign.pdf
Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. M., & Kemp, J. E. (2007). Designing Effective Instruction, Fifth Edition. New Baskerville: John Wiley & Sons.
Shih, Y., E. (2005). Seize Teachable and Learnable Moments: SMSE instructional design model for mobile learning. Paper presented at the International Association for Development of the Information Society International Conference Mobile Learning June 28-30, Malta. Retrieved 22 May 2009 at http://www.iadis.net/dl/final_uploads/200506L012.pdf
Ulrich, Kathy. (2004). Designing Constructivist Lessons Using the 5 E Model. Retrieved 12 June 2009 at http://cte.jhu.edu/techacademy/fellows/Ullrich/webquest/mkuindex.html
Wetzel, D. R. (2008). How to Design an Effective Science Lesson: Developing lessons which engage students in critical thinking. Suite 101.com. Retrieved 12 June 2009 at http://teachertipstraining.suite101.com/how_to_design_an_effective_science_lesson
