Collaboration


 * Incorporating Collaboration **

1. How will you facilitate an authentic collaboration learning experience to promote deeper student engagement with content skills and concepts?

 I believe the best method to facilitate a learning experience will be through practice. I would begin at the beginning of the year with other projects. These projects would be smaller in scope. I would also work to probe students’ thoughts on topics by asking in depth questions to help make students think about why they answered in the way they did. This project should be more of a culmination of the different concepts students have been learning throughout the year.

2. As members of collaborative groups, how will you support students' efforts to identify solutions to the problem you are using as the framework for your PBL instructions unit?

 I believe having students keep an independent journal with their thoughts and processes will help me to see their individual efforts to identify solutions. I believe by asking probing questions and promoting individual reflection, I can encourage students to think deeper about how they reach particular conclusions. By having the students reflect, I believe they will develop more creative solutions to the problem.

3. What criteria will you use to assign learners to collaborative groups, including a rationale? What will be the size of the collaborative groups you will include in your unit?

 Collaborative groups will be composed of students with similar learning levels. I believe by having students all at the same level within a group, this will promote students to place more effort into developing their projects. If a group was composed of a higher learner with lower learners, I believe the lower learners may allow the higher one to do the majority of the work. Homogenous grouping will also help the group to develop roles. Certain students that often do not attempt to lead will be more likely to do so if they do not feel pressured. Collaborative groups will be composed of four students. This will give each individual a chance to explore two planets in extra depth.

4. Which digital tools and websites are you considering for collaboration in your unit?

 The predominant tools that I will consider using for collaboration will be sites like [|www.blogger.com] that will promote the use of blogs, and sites like Google Docs that will allow for the sharing of data between students. By having students use a blogging tool, I can periodically read their thoughts without having to physically collect a journal. Sites like Google Docs will allow students to put all of their information in one location and allow me to see who is contributing certain pieces of information.

5. How will you assess participation of the students in their collaborative groups?

Participation will be primarily determined by reading the blogs students will produce. Students who provide more than just basic thoughts will be awarded higher scores. The documents created through Google Docs will also allow me to see who the primary contributing members are. I believe that moving throughout the class, listening, and asking questions, I can also determine which students are participating and which are not.