Class    Monday – Friday, 9:00am – noon, 1:00 – 3:30pm    June 6 – 17, 2016    DLR 228C    Prerequisite: None	Instructor    Prof. Jim Lehman    Office: DLR 203B    Phone: 765-494-8474 (O)           765-463-5758 (H)    Email: lehman@purdue.edu
BlackBoard Site https://mycourses.purdue.edu

Course Description

Problem-based Learning in the Science and Math Classroom uses a project-based approach to introduce problem-based learning as a pedagogical approach to facilitate students’ learning of STEM content in the classroom. Students in EDCI 62700 engage in authentic problem- and project-based learning activities to facilitate their growing understanding of how to plan, implement, and evaluate a PBL unit in their own classrooms.

 

Required Textbook and Resources

• Text: Prensky, M. (2010). Teaching digital natives: Partnering for real learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
• Web resource: Buck Institute for Education (http://www.bie.org). Take advantage of the vast number of high quality resources on the BIE site by registering as a user (registration is free)!

 

Course Objectives and Methods of Evaluation

The overall goal of the course is the development of an authentic PBL unit that can be implemented successfully within your own classroom. To achieve this goal, you will:

• Develop an understanding of methods and strategies of PBL as an instructional approach.
  • Methods of Evaluation: Participation in class discussions and hands-on activities, written reflections on class topics and activities, and development of a PBL unit designed for your classroom.
• Effectively plan for the implementation and evaluation of a PBL unit on a STEM topic for your own classroom.
  • Methods of Evaluation: Development of a PBL unit designed for your classroom including the materials and resources incorporated into the PBL unit, a timeline for PBL unit implementation, and the development of assessment instruments to accompany the unit.
• Develop a website that supports students’ PBL work and allows you to disseminate this approach to other teachers.
  • Methods of Evaluation: Development of your PBL unit and presentation of your PBL unit website.

 

Format of Course

This course is designed to engage you in effective problem- and project-based learning (PBL) activities that facilitate and sustain meaningful learning. The goal is to immerse YOU in a PBL approach so that you experience PBL as a student. This will then enable you to understand the kinds of questions (and frustrations) students have, as well as the types of scaffolds you can use to support their efforts. For example, the course will use a driving question to structure your efforts, it will empower you to seek solutions to your questions, engage you in ongoing discussions about what you are learning and what you still need to know, utilize technology as a supporting tool, and engage you in continually reflecting as a group and as individuals on the learning process. Finally, group collaboration will be required for completion of the PBL unit design.

Grading

Grades will be based upon application of concepts, drawn from class readings and discussions, to the development of a PBL unit that will be implemented in your classroom. The points associated with each activity/assignment are given below. See the schedule for specific due dates.

Grading Scale: At the end of the course, grades will be assigned according to the following scale:
A = 300-325, A- = 292-299, B+ = 284-291, B = 268-283, B- = 260-267, C+ = 251-259, C = 235-250, C- = 227-234, D+ = 219-226, D = 203-218, D- = 195-202, F = 194 or less.

 

Course Requirements

Assignments for this course reflect the importance of both individual and team work. While you will work on teams to develop your final PBL unit and website, you will each submit a description of the individual components (e.g., driving question, resources, etc.), accompanied by a supporting reflection. This enables you to develop the skills and knowledge related to your personal PBL classroom needs, while garnering support and ideas from your classmates.

Reflections (due daily)

Reflection is an important part of the learning process and integral to PBL activities. You will have an opportunity to reflect on your own learning and the PBL process through daily reflection assignments. You will post your reflections on the course Blackboard site.

Small Group Presentations on assigned PBL Topics (due depending on where the topic best fits in the course)

In small groups, you will prepare a short presentation about a specific PBL component that is important to the success of your units.  Presentations should include (see rubric for more details):

• Short overview of the topic
• Set of relevant resources to support development of that component
• More detailed description of one or two most useful resources

Problem-Based Learning Unit and Web Dissemination Resource (due in increments)

As the primary course activity, you will work as part of a team to develop a problem-based learning unit. The primary emphasis, during this course, is on planning the unit. For STEM Goes Rural participants, implementation will occur in fall 2016 or spring 2017. In language appropriate for public dissemination, you should describe the PBL unit you will implement. It should contain the following components:

> Driving Question (Draft due Wed, June 8, 2016; Revised/Final Version due Thu, June 9, 2016)

The driving question anchors the unit you will facilitate. A good driving question: fits the overall content theme, is meaningful to your students, is broad enough to permit students to develop their own questions and investigations, includes relevant content, involves authentic problem-solving activities, and lends itself to collaboration (among students, among teachers, among schools, and with members of the community). Simply stated, a good project relates to the real world AND to the school curriculum. It engages students in authentic problem solving, using standards-based content appropriate for the subject matter and students’ grade level. See Driving Question rubric for more information about the required components of this assignment.

> Standards and Objectives (Due: Fri, June 10, 2016)

As noted above, a good project relates to the real world and to the school curriculum. It encompasses content appropriate for the subject matter and grade level of your students as identified in national and state standards. See Curricular Standards and Objectives rubric for more information about the required components of this assignment.

> Student Activities, Materials, and Timeline (Due: Mon, June 13, 2016)

Based on the driving question, the allotted time and the available resources, consider the kinds of investigations students are likely to conduct and the amount of time needed for each. While you should not dictate these in advance, you should anticipate the kinds of investigations students might conduct and provide a variety of relevant resources and materials. For this assignment, you will map the various required and optional activities to a realistic timeline and identify the key materials and resources that you expect to incorporate into your unit. See Student Activities, Materials, and Timeline rubric for more information about the required components of this assignment.

> Facilitation and Scaffolding Strategies (Due: Tue, June 14, 2016)

Facilitating the PBL unit requires careful planning. The more carefully you plan, the more likely you will be prepared to support a variety of students’ needs. Think about how you will initiate and facilitate student inquiry, how you will promote and support student collaboration, how you will scaffold specific student needs, and how you will support students in their efforts to be self-directed while learning challenging content.  See Facilitation and Scaffolding Strategies rubric for more information about the required components of this assignment.

> Assessment Plan and Tools (Due: Wed, June 15, 2016)

Formative and summative assessments are critical to students’ success in any learning activity. In this assignment, you are asked to plan for and create the assessments you will use to measure student learning.  See Assessment Plan and Tools rubric for more information about the required components of this assignment.

Final Presentations of PBL Units/Dissemination Resource (Due: Fri, June 17, 2016)

Present your PBL unit/dissemination resource to the class (allotted time = 15 minutes). It is expected that each member of the team will contribute equally to the preparation and presentation of the unit. Be sure to include the following information:

• Team members
• Driving question(s)
  • Where does this unit fit into your curriculum and how will this approach help students learn important STEM content in authentic ways?
• Unit outcomes
  • Content standards
    • STEM objectives
    • Disciplinary skills
  • 21^st century skills
• Required equipment, technology, resources, materials
  • List of relevant web links, book titles, video titles, etc.
  • List of outside experts
• Unit activities
  • Timeline of major unit events
  • Entry event
  • List of required and optional student activities
  • Potential student investigations
    • Link to higher order thinking skills
    • Link to STEM content
    • Opportunities for students to make decisions
• Facilitation of unit
  • Facilitation and questioning strategies
  • Debriefing strategies
  • Grouping strategies, classroom layout/seating arrangements
  • Student reflection strategies
  • Scaffolds
  • Addressing misconceptions
    
• Formative and summative assessment measures - Possibilities include:
  • Formative feedback plans – when and how feedback will be provided
    • Rubrics
    • Checklists
    • Quizzes/Exams
    • Group Presentations
  • Summative evaluation and feedback tools
    • Rubrics
    • Checklists
    • Quizzes/Exams
    • Group Presentations
• Practiced and professional presentation
  • Aesthetics of dissemination tool
  • Ease of use for implementation and dissemination
  • List of relevant citations
  • Presentation within time limit
  • Time evenly distributed among team members

Peer Evaluation (Formative Due: Fri, June 10, 2016; Summative Due: Thu, June 16, 2016)

Working collaboratively as a group to create the best possible unit is an important part of the creation of your PBL unit. Your group members will provide feedback on your individual contributions to the unit at two points during the course. On Friday, June 10, you will have the opportunity to provide formative feedback to your group members regarding their collaboration and contributions. On Thursday, June 16, you will provide a summative evaluation of the contributions of each team member to the unit. The instructor will evaluate your comments and perceived contributions to determine a “peer evaluation” score for each individual. Note, this score will include both giving qualitative feedback as well as the scores received from peers.

Participation (assessed throughout the course)

Participation is an important part of any course but it is particularly important in this course which relies on active involvement in the learning process. You will receive a participation grade for the course based your preparation, quantity and quality of participation, and listening/cooperation (see rubric).

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

Week/Date	Topics			Assignment/ Readings
Week 1
	9:00-12:00	1:00-2:30	2:30 – 3:30	Due at start of class
Monday June 6	Introduction to the course Immersive PBL Activity • Problem introduction • Group brainstorming of questions • Investigation planning • Research and data gathering	Immersive PBL Activity, cont’d. • Data analysis and interpretation • Preparation of group presentations • Group presentations	Debriefing • Characteristics of PBL experience • Roles of students and teacher • Pros and cons	Prensky • Introduction • Chapters 1-2 Savery, J. (2006)
Tuesday June 7	What is PBL? • Overview of PBL • Review videos and characteristics • Small group assignments	The Driving Question • What makes a good driving question? • Practice creating questions related to STEM topics	Work on driving question in teams	Prensky • Chapters 3-4 Norton & Wiburg (2003) Kolodner, et al. (2003)
Wednesday June 8	Gallery Walk • Share driving questions • Revise driving question – instructor sign off Project website • Introduction and planning for development	Analysis of PBL • Review examples of past course PBL units	Work on small group presentations	Plagiarism Certificate Due Draft Driving Question Due Prensky • Chapter 5 Ertmer & Simons (2006)
Thursday June 9	Entry Events (examples, etc.) Small Group Presentations Content/Process Standards • What will the students learn? • How will they demonstrate mastery of those objectives?	Posthole activities (examples, etc.) Making Thinking Visible: The Border Problem	Group work time	Revised/Final Driving Question Due Prensky • Chapters 6-7
Friday June 10	Small Group Presentations Student Activities, Materials, and Timeline • What will the students do (activities)? • What resources and materials will students need to complete their work? • How will you organize student activities (timeline)?	Expanding Content Standards in the Timeline Did you include in your timeline: 1) content learned from the readings, other sources, 2) content required in standards and learning objectives, 3) placeholders for debriefing and reflection?	Formative Peer Evaluation (Teammates) Group work time	Standards and Objectives Due
Week 2
	9:00-12:30	1:00-2:30	2:30-3:30	Due at 9:00am
Monday June 13	Small Group Presentations PBL Facilitation –Discourse and Scaffolding • How will you facilitate classroom discussion? • How will you scaffold students’ efforts? • Using community resources • Using technology	PBL Facilitation – Grouping and Reflection • What will the students do (activities)? • How will the students work (grouping strategies)? • How will the students monitor their work (reflection strategies)?	Group work time	Activities, Materials, and Timeline Due Barell (2007) – teachers’ quality responding Hmelo-Silver & Barrows (2006)
Tuesday June 14	Small Group Presentations PBL Assessment • How will you assess student progress (formative) and learning (summative)? • Creation of assessment measures (rubrics, checklists, tests, etc.)	PBL Assessment: Creating Assessments • Rubrics and checklists • Tests and quizzes • Others	Group work time	Facilitation and Scaffolding Strategies Due Prensky • Chapter 8 Barell (2007) - assessment MacDonald (2005)
Wednesday June 15	Reflection on PBL • What do you know about PBL? • What do you still need to know?	Group work time	Group work time	Assessment Plan and Tools Due Prensky • Chapters 9-10 • Conclusion
Thursday June 16	Peer Feedback on Units • Review all units – what did you notice, what do you like, what do you wonder? • In-depth review of one assigned unit using Final Unit Presentation rubric.	Summative Peer Evaluation (Teammates) Group work time	Group work time
Friday June 17	Small group Presentations of Final PBL Units	Course Wrap-up and Debriefing	Course Wrap-up and Debriefing	PBL Unit and Dissemination Resource Due

 

Supplemental Readings

Week 1

Ertmer, P. A., & Simons, K. D. (2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning. 1(1)40-55. Retrieved from: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/ijpbl/vol1/iss1/5/

Kolodner, J. L., Camp, P. J., Crismond, D., Fasse, B., Gray, J., Holbrook, J., Puntembakar, S., & Ryan, M. (2003). Problem-based learning meets case-based reasoning in the middle-school science classroom: Putting learning by design into practice. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 12(4), 495-547.

Norton, P., & Wiburg, K. M. (2003). Teaching with technology: Designing opportunities to learn. Chp 5: Designs for problem solving (pp. 114-131). Belmont, CA: Thomson.

Savery, J. (2006). Overview of problem-based learning: Definitions and distinctions. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 1(1), 9-20. Retrieved from: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/ijpbl/vol1/iss1/3/

Week 2

Barell, J. (2007). Teachers’ quality responding. Problem-based learning: An inquiry approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Excerpts from Chp. 21 Teachers’ quality responding and Chp. 8 Assessment, application, and reflection.

Hmelo-Silver, C. E., & Barrows, H. S. (2006). Goals and strategies of a problem-based learning facilitator. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 1, 21-39. Retrieved from: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/ijpbl/vol1/iss1/4/

Macdonald, R. (2005). Assessment strategies for inquiry and problem-based learning. In T. Barrett, I. MacLabhrainn, & H. Fallon (Eds.), Handbook of inquiry and problem-based learning (Chp 9). Dublin, IR: Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching.  Retrieved May 12, 2010, from http://www.aishe.org/readings/2005-2/chapter9.pdf

 

Standards

Indiana Academic Standards. Retrieved from http://www.doe.in.gov/standards

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards. Retrieved from: http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards

International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) Standards. Retrieved from: http://www.iteaconnect.org/39197.aspx

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Washington, DC: Authors. Retrieved from: http://www.corestandards.org/Math/

NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Retrieved from http://www.nextgenscience.org/

Partnership for 21^st Century Skills. (2004). Framework for 21^st century learning. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/about-us/p21-framework

 

Course Policies

Expectations/Penalties. All assignments are expected to be on time, word-processed, and of the quality appropriate to graduate study. Late assignments will be penalized 20% of the total possible points.

Attendance. Please make every effort to attend all class sessions. The design of this course emphasizes class discussions and small group activities. Consistent attendance is crucial to your success. Given the compressed time frame of the course, missing a class is like missing more than a week during the regular semester. Missed classes cannot be made up. Purdue’s policy on class attendance can be found at: http://www.purdue.edu/studentregulations/regulations_procedures/classes.html.

Incompletes.  “I” grades will be given only in unusual circumstances. To receive an “I” grade, a written request must be submitted no later than June 15, 2016 and approved by the instructor. The request must describe the circumstances, along with a proposed timeline for completing the course work. You will be required to fill out and sign an “Incomplete Contract” form that will be turned in with the course grades.

Emergencies. In the event of a major campus emergency, course requirements, deadlines, and grading percentages are subject to changes that may be necessitated by a revised semester calendar or other circumstances. Here are ways to get information about changes in this course: BlackBoard course page, contact me by email at lehman@purdue.edu, or call my office at 765-494-7424. Information about campus emergencies is on the web at http://www.purdue.edu/emergency/index.html. Safety information for DLR is at http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/learningcenter/facilities/safety.php.

Special needs. Students with disabilities must be registered with Disability Resource Center in the Office of the Dean of Students before classroom accommodations can be provided. If you are eligible for academic accommodations because you have a documented disability that will impact your work in this class, please schedule an appointment with the instructor as soon as possible to discuss your needs.

Academic integrity. Purdue prohibits “dishonesty in connection with any University activity. Cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the University are examples of dishonesty." [Part 5, Section III-B-2-a, University Regulations] Examples of academic dishonesty and further information are available at https://www.purdue.edu/odos/academic-integrity/.

Course evaluation. You will be provided with an opportunity to evaluate this course and your instructor(s) using an online course evaluation system. Near the end of classes, you will receive an official e-mail from evaluation administrators with a link to the online evaluation site. You will have up to two weeks to complete this evaluation. Your participation is an integral part of this course, and your feedback is vital to improving education at Purdue University. You are strongly urged to participate in the evaluation system.