This Is How I Learn

Author(s):  
Jessica H. Burbach ◽  
Staci B. Martin ◽  
Javonta Arnold-Fowlkes ◽  
Johnathan Sakaith ◽  
Cheyenne Julius ◽  
...  

This chapter presents research on how Culturally Responsive Mathematics Teaching (CRMT) and a critical hope framework can be used as learning tools in the alternative high school classroom. Our study shows how 12 high school students and two teachers, one in high school and one in post-secondary, can work together to nurture students' personal and collective identity, agency, and hope. We use the concept of the “six words” from the Race Card Project (Norris, 2015) to co-create spaces that question the dominant narrative, which describes students as dropouts, and that offer spaces of hope and solidarity. As researchers, we believe without student collaboration in the research process itself, their voices will be muted in the academic language describing them and the dominant narrative that disempowers them. We believe that we have not achieved a true social justice curriculum until there is action where hope can surface (Freire, 1970).

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Chin ◽  
Abe Zeid ◽  
Claire Duggan ◽  
Sagar Kamarthi

Innovators and abstract thinkers - students who question why are going to be the future of engineering, of science and cures for diseases. Rarely do students ask where and how innovation is created. Students, particularly post-secondary students have lost their curiosity and they have lost their ability to question. Why? Because the relationship between theory and application has been removed from our high schools. Although the term “STEM” is generally used, students do not appear to understand the importance of core STEM principles such as Newton’s 2nd law and therefore do not understand the influence these basic algorithms have in daily life. In recent decades, high school education has focused on quizzes and exams, state and national standardize testing and SATs. More emphasis is placed on performing well on these exams, focusing on memorization and test taking rather than on thorough comprehension. The question is, “how do you translate theory to application in the high school classroom?” Students’ knowledge and engagement are only as good as their teachers. Educators need to be given the proper tools, resources, and knowledge. CAPSULE, a capstone-based experience provides tools, resources, and knowledge to enhance the teaching and learning involvement. CAPSULE teaches and promotes inquiry, exploration and application rather than just theory. The methodology engages and educates hands-on learning, teamwork and multiple solutions through the engineering design process (EDP). The theory behind innovation is the motivation for CAPSULE – to teach and engage teachers using 3D modeling, EDP, and project-based learning to create a high school capstone experience. This paper presents a new approach of teaching STEM related courses to high school students. The methodology presented is on “training the trainer” to enable and empower teachers to master and utilize this new approach. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-49
Author(s):  
Natalie Spadafora ◽  
Emily L. Murphy ◽  
Danielle S. Molnar ◽  
Dawn Zinga

It is estimated that 15-22% of students have high levels of test anxiety (von der Embse, Jester, Roy, & Post, 2018), which can be associated with greater academic stress and poorer educational performance (e.g., Steinmayr, Crede, McElvany, & Withwein, 2016). First-generation students (where neither parent has completed post-secondary education) are a critical group to study given that they are at higher risk for poorer educational attainment and being unsuccessful at the post-secondary level. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the link between basic psychological needs and test anxiety in a sample of first-generation Ontario high school students across two points in time (N = 147;  Mage = 14.82, SD = 1.28). Self-report data was collected as a part of an on-going longitudinal study focusing on students attending a high school with specialized programming to enhance the transition to post-secondary institutions. Results from cross-lagged path analyses indicated that being older, female, and having higher levels of needs frustration significantly predicted higher levels of test anxiety over time within this sample. Our results highlight important educational implications, emphasizing the importance of fostering classroom environments where students perceive their psychological needs to be met, particularly within this unique population of students.


2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (9) ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Breanne K. Litts ◽  
Sari A. Widman ◽  
Debora A. Lui ◽  
Justice T. Walker ◽  
Yasmin B. Kafai

Background/Context Though the maker movement has proliferated in out-of-school settings, there remains a design challenge of how to effectively integrate maker activities into K–12 classrooms. In other contexts, though, creative design and production have historically been successfully integrated in classrooms through studio models common to the arts, architecture, and engineering. Purpose/Objective In this paper, we leverage the features and practices of studio models from arts, architecture, and engineering education to integrate maker activities in a high school classroom. Within this Maker Studio model, students focus on designing a computational artifact and engage in practices more predominantly found in studio arts, architecture, and engineering classes such as feedback, critique, and reflection. Research Design We conducted a case study of how a class of 23 high school students participating in a STEM elective class in teams partnered with art students to develop an interactive installation. Our analyses focus on how the structure of the feedback, critique, and reflections in the Maker Studio informed and shaped students’ design processes. Conclusions We discuss affordances and implications of recognizing studio practices (particularly critique) as design features of maker activities, especially in high school classroom contexts, and present the Maker Studio as a viable model for integration of maker activities in classroom environments. We also characterize key features of the Maker Studio model, including the following: appreciation and support for maker processes in addition to or even above final products, integration of various structures for giving and receiving critique throughout the design process, support for interdisciplinary and collaborative project work, and engagement with diverse perspectives and expertise during critiques.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela M. Soares ◽  
Lucas Zangerolamo ◽  
Lucas R. O. Rosa ◽  
Renato C. S. Branco ◽  
Everardo M. Carneiro ◽  
...  

Obesity and diabetes are two of the biggest public health problems in the modern world. One possible way to combat the rising prevalence of these diseases is through the spread of awareness about its consequences and how to prevent them. Therefore, educational interventions focused on teaching the physiological basis of these conditions might be valuable tools. However, most scholar curriculums lack high-quality material devoted to this topic. Thus we developed an educational booklet, composed of playful elements, targeted toward high school students and destined for application in classrooms. The efficacy of the developed material was validated through a pretest-posttest design, in which the students had to answer a 10-question test. After booklet completion, students had better outcomes, with an increase in the percentage of correct answers in 7 out of 10 questions contained in the test ( P < 0.05). Thus we developed an effective material for usage in the high school classroom to spread the awareness of the risks of metabolic diseases and how to prevent them.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Gryczka ◽  
Edward Klementowicz ◽  
Chappel Sharrock ◽  
Jin Montclare

Here we describe the incorporation of a web-based application focusing on circuits for the physics high school classroom as part of an outreach program. The program involves college mentors creating and implementing science lessons in collaboration with the classroom teacher. Focusing on the challenge of understanding circuit design, a technology rich module is employed to improve learning and motivation of the students. The students’ conceptual understanding as well as interest in circuits was increased, the college mentors earned valuable teaching and mentoring experience and the teacher enjoyed more one-on-one time as well as assistance with students.


1995 ◽  
Vol 88 (9) ◽  
pp. 744-747
Author(s):  
Donna Ericksen ◽  
John Stasiuk ◽  
Martha Frank

The Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM 1989) states that “[o]ne of the most important properties in geometry, the Pythagorean theorem, is introduced in the middle grades” (p. 113). Although the Standards document assigns much prominence to the Pythagorean theorem, our experience teaching at the university level has revealed that students know the theorem by name and can recite a2 + b2 = c2 but that they often cannot handle even simple computations using the formula. Students' experience with the Pythagorean theorem in high school needs to be broadened by their continually using the standard formula as well as applying the formula to geometric figures and special right triangles-in particular, the 30°-60°-90° and the 45°-45°-90° right triangles. The following game was developed to afford high school students more opportunity for practicing the formula in an engaging way. This game was created by the second author of the article, a high school classroom teacher, while he was a student in a class taught by another of the authors.


2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy D. Brener ◽  
Todd W. Wilson

We analyzed nationally representative data from the 1998 National Alternative High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to determine the prevalence of substance use on school property among alternative high school students in the United States, to describe the characteristics of students who use substances on school property, and to examine the interrelationships of substance-use behaviors. During the 30 days preceding the survey, nearly 48 percent of students used at least one substance on school property and 17 percent used more than one substance on school property. Males were more likely than females and white students were more likely than black or Hispanic students to have used substances on school property. The results of this and other studies suggest that school administrators, public health practitioners, and policy makers should work to improve strategies for reducing substance use in this heterogeneous, hard-to-reach population.


2002 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa A. Fleschler ◽  
Susan R. Tortolero ◽  
Elizabeth R. Baumler ◽  
Sally W. Vernon ◽  
Nancy F. Weller

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