Archive of ‘Professional Development’ category

Differentiation for Learning in STEM Teaching

Differentiation can be in terms of:

Task: How we allow appropriate access to the learning for the students.

Outcome: How students communicate their learning.

Intervention: The roles undertaken by the teacher and others doing the learning.

Route: Allowing students different journeys through the learning.

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In a study by Steven Boyle and others, the following were identified as potential ‘good learning behaviours’ of students:

  1. Tells teacher when they don’t understand
  2. Asks teacher why they went wrong
  3. Tells teacher what they don’t understand
  4. Checks work against instruction, correcting errors and omissions
  5. When stuck, refers to earlier work before asking teacher
  6. Checks personal comprehension of instruction and material. Requests further information if needed
  7. Seeks reasons for aspects of the work at hand
  8. Anticipates and predicts possible outcomes
  9. Plans a general strategy before starting
  10. Explains purposes and results
  11. Checks teacher’s work for errors; offers corrections
  12. Seeks links between adjacent activities and ideas
  13. Seeks links between non-adjacent activities, ideas and between different topics
  14. Independently seeks further information, following up ideas raised in class
  15. Seeks links between different subjects
  16. Asks inquisitive but general questions
  17. Offers personal examples which are generally relevant
  18. Seeks specific links between schoolwork and personal life
  19. Searches for weaknesses in their own understanding; checks the consistency of their explanations across different situations
  20. Suggests new activities and alternative procedures
  21. Expresses disagreement
  22. Offers ideas, new insights and alternative explanations
  23. Justified opinions
  24. Reacts and refers to comments of other students
  25. Challenges the text or an answer the teacher sanctions as correct

Quadrants

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Differentiating for Learning in STEM Teaching

Points to explore further:

  • encouraging/ structuring opportunities for students to pose more questions
  • I see, I think, I wonder
  • hinge point questions
  • fingers, thumbs, mini whiteboards – visible thinking
  • Can you – identify, explain, use a diagram, draw/ write your own…
  • Concept cartoons – could I develop these from student reflections and common misconceptions?

Concept cartoons:


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Volume:

Identify how to calculate volume of different rectangular prisms – Here are a variety of rectangular prisms. Calculate the volume of each. Check your answer. How accurate are you?

Explain to someone else how to calculate volume of different rectangular prisms – Write or orally record how you calculate the volume of rectangular prisms.

Use a diagram to explain how to calculate volume of different rectangular prisms – Draw a diagram to your ideal piece of fudge, how many pieces would fit in the package and a diagram to show the dimensions that the package would need to be. Calculate the volume of the single serve and the total package.

Write your own problem involving the calculation of volume of rectangular prisms. Record it for others to challenge themselves with.

 

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