Presentation for a conference on middle schooling Article June 2009 - - PDF document

Presentation for a conference on middle schooling

44

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

What students believe about themselves in school impacts strongly on how they approach learning.

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

3 Underpinning ideas

The best thing you can do for kids in school is to keep them believing in themselves as learners.

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

3 Underpinning ideas

Positive messages about learning can be enhanced by careful design of the schooling experience.

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

3 Underpinning ideas

• Accept that you can influence students’ beliefs about

their ability to succeed in school in a positive way.

• Believe that curriculum, pedagogy and assessment

can be designed so as to maximise positive messages to students about their beliefs.

• Understand some of the ways in which messages

can be tailored to meet students’ needs.

• Decide to be proactive in designing what you do to

send positive messages.

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

My agenda is for you to:

Theoretical basis for these ideas

• 1. Learning theory,
• 2. Psychology and
• 3. Sociology

with aspects of Cultural studies and Critical literacy

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

The first 3 theories - Learning theory, Psychology and Sociology, say that you develop understandings and beliefs:

• about the world (learning theory),
• about yourself (psychology), and
• about your place in the world (sociology)

through the conclusions you draw personally about everything that has happened to you.

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Theory in a nutshell (1)

Cultural theory says that you absorb beliefs and ideas from the culture that surrounds you, and that those beliefs and ideas affect the way you act. Culture acts on you through language, signs and symbols.

Note - culture can be big ‘C’ Culture eg indigenous, Chinese or small ‘c’ culture eg from Ipswich or Kenmore.

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Theory in a nutshell (2)

Critical literacy/Linguistics/Semiotics

These studies believe that language, signs and symbols carry meanings that are interpreted in terms of the reader/viewer’s context.

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Theory in a nutshell (3)

Anyone over 40 would have absorbed these ideas from the culture of the time. Anyone under 40 would have a completely different take on them

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

So: everything that has happened to you, and is currently happening to you, affects your beliefs and hence your future behaviours and actions.

Reference 14

Your total environment forms your beliefs, and your beliefs drive your actions

Putting it together

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Take action based on beliefs Adopt beliefs about the world Draw conclusions Make assumptions based on meaning Add personal meaning Select data from what is observed Observe - data and experiences Existing Psychological Sociological & Cultural beliefs affect ALL of these steps Reference 13

ACTION ENVIRONMENT eg to: try, avoid, behave, listen, misbehave, ignore, etc

And specifically in an educational context

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Everything that happens to students sends them ‘messages’ and they then interpret those messages in a way that reinforces or changes their belief system. These messages can be desirable or undesirable, intended or unintended, true or false.

‘Messaging’

• a working model

Action Environment

It is absolutely critical that we, as teachers, accept the truth of, and then learn to understand the complex interaction of our environment on our beliefs, and of our beliefs on how we choose to act.

So we can influence students’ beliefs about themselves at school at least?

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

So!!!!

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement Beliefs

You’ve got to - accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch onto the affirmative. Don’t mess with Mr In-between

HOW?

What specific messages do we want students to take

• about themselves at school,

and

• about their ability and need

to learn?

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement Beliefs

We need to accentuate positive beliefs like:

• I can ‘do’ school,
• School makes me feel good,
• Effort = success, failure = no effort,
• Learning at school will help me to DO a good job (note -not

perform in assessment nor get a good job),

• Success is worth the effort,
• Teachers help me do a good job,
• When I work I succeed, when I work harder I succeed better.
• The jobs I do at school are interesting and/or useful,
• Doing a good job makes me feel good,
• etc

Any others?

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

and eliminate negative beliefs like:

• Even when I try, I fail.
• If I don’t try, I can’t fail.
• School is boring/useless.
• Teacher likes me because I get A’s.
• It’s easy to get an A. I don’t need to try.
• School ‘sux’.
• I can’t do school.
• School makes me feel bad.
• There is no point trying if it doesn’t count.
• Learning at school is just to pass exams.
• My teacher hates me.
• I’m in a ‘vege’ class.
• etc

Any others?

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Why do I bother trying?

Working backwards

• an outcomes approach

Think of the beliefs you would like kids to develop, then think - ‘What conditions would help me send messages that might develop those beliefs’

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Designing the school environment to send desirable messages

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

designing Curriculum

• r

‘What you do at school’

Curriculum is more likely to be successful when it is designed to develop the beliefs:

• School is about doing a job just like in ‘real life’.
• The job I am doing now is ‘real life’ (or ‘life like’).
• The job I am doing now is interesting.
• I can do this job.

What design will help develop these beliefs?

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement Curriculum design

Successful design features include:

Task based – a task is a ‘long’ term continuous effort where the completed product is also what is assessed. Negotiated – where students perceive that they have some opportunity to control the context of their work. Contiguous – The task, assessment and curriculum are the same thing.

What else?

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

View sample tasks

Curriculum design

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Designing Assessment

• r

‘How you know how well you have done at school’ AND more importantly ‘How you know what you need to do better next time.’

Reference 17

Assessment is more likely to be successful when it is designed to develop the beliefs:

• Assessment is about getting credit for what I can do.
• Assessment shows how I’ve improved.
• Assessment will help me know what to do to improve.
• I can do this.
• I will get credit for what I do.
• This will be my ‘personal best’.

What design will help develop these beliefs?

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement Assessment design

Successful assessment designs include:

• Honest – Students need to know clearly where they are

now and what they need to do to improve.

• Progressive - no reference to pass/fail. Progression

along a path or up a ladder. With a clear description of current position and next step. NB! ‘personal best’ approach is another approach to this.

• Focus on collection of positives – student ‘bank’ credits

for demonstrating what they can do.

• Focus on what to do next to improve – a clear reference

to the next step.

What else?

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

View assessment ideas

Assessment design

Reference 17

Designing Assessment

To send these messages, assessment and reporting should be based on a continuum of development, not on a comparative single measure.

ACER reference

One of the most important proponents of this is the Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER), who conduct educational research of the Commonwealth government

But currently we can’t quite do this, so are there other options?

1.Use ‘Concepts in levels’ as evidence of progression towards the essentials

• 2. Use ‘Personal best’ ideas to try to overcome

the negatives in A – E reporting.

Concepts in levels - Energy & Change Queensland Essential An unbalanced force acting on a body results in a change in motion and objects remain stationary or in constant motion under the influence of balanced forces Energy can be transferred from one medium to another and can vary according to the medium in which it travels and is conserved when it is transferred or transformed level EC_1 EC_2 3 EC3.1 describe the effects of forces (including magnetic) on the motion and shape of objects. EC3.2 identify forms of energy and describe their effects and characteristics 4 EC4.1 Explain how different forces affect motion, behaviour and energy of

• bjects.

EC4.2 collect and present information about the transfer and transformation of energy 5 EC5.1 analyse situations where various forces (including balanced and unbalanced forces) act on objects EC5.2 explain how energy is transferred and transformed (including convection and conduction) in common phenomena indicating conservation. 6 EC6.1 analyse everyday experiences using scientific ideas of motion (including net forces, action and reaction, mass and acceleration etc). EC6.2 model and analyse applications of energy transfer and transformation showing that energy is conserved.

E A S I E R H A R D E R

Use a Continuum of Success or Steps to Success

• Each student has their own map to fill in as they demonstrate
• successes. They use it to check teacher records.
• Teachers keep a digital copy (below).
• The map helps teachers and students make future decisions for an

effective and individual curriculum

The student ‘map’

This student is clearly comfortable at level 5 and new work should be targeted at developing levels 5 & 6

Comment: * ‘Collecting’ concepts sends the message that assessment is only positive. * The map sends a message of possible future goals. (each box is ‘just’ at the next level and so is accessible to anyone. * The process of checking sends the message that the teacher and student are ‘working together’ to help the student get the best results.

Involve the students in ‘collecting’ their successes

Personal Best

A model put forward by psychologist, Andrew J. Martin, SELF Research Centre, University of Western Sydney, Australia

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

In Pedagogy

• r

‘How we help the kids know what to do and how to do it well’

Pedagogy is more likely to be successful when it develops the beliefs that:

• This is ‘my’ job and I am responsible for doing a good job
• f it.
• The teacher is working with me to help me do a good job.
• If I learn this, it will help me do a good job.
• I know how to do a good job of this.

(Note NOT get a good result)

What design will help develop these beliefs?

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement Pedagogy design

Successful pedagogy designs include:

Students doing more of the work and the teacher doing less. (It’s their task, let them do it. Your job is to help them to ‘do a good job’) Spending more time helping individuals work on a task and less time telling the whole class what to do. (Gives you freedom to truly ‘personalise’ teaching and reinforces the perception in the students that they are doing what ‘they’ need to improve) Focus on essentials ie developing core understandings and leaving responsibility for hack work to students. (Gives you more time to focus on how to work with what you know rather than busy work) Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

What else can help?

Pedagogy design

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

What can teachers do to be (truly) professional and still survive

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

The (truly) professional teacher

• Works in the students’ interests first.
• Is courageous in designing their teaching to

meet students’ needs.

• Develops self awareness to their own belief

systems and openness to change. BUT

• Does NOT live their work 24/7.
• Keeps themselves sane by accepting

responsibility for doing whatever they can within the limitations imposed on them.

To be effective in this model requires teachers to be continually aware of what they do and what messages

• thers might take from it by

considering:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Cultural theory, and
• Communication/Linguistics

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

‘Mindfulness’

combined with reflective practice provides a good model for an effective teacher

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Mindfulness

(a meditation concept)

Being mindful means continual

• penness to, and awareness of, your
• wn physical and emotional state.

eg

• ‘What is my face showing now?’/’What is

my body language’/‘What am I feeling?’

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Dictionary: Attentive; heedful: the trait of staying aware of (your inner self)

Reflecting

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement eg ‘Am I communicating the emotional and cognitive messages, I want students to get?’ ‘Are their (new) beliefs what I wanted?’ / ‘Have I failed to get across the point?’ This requires teachers to:

• empathise strongly with students and their belief systems,
• have deep self awareness and self critique,
• Be emotionally sensitive and stable,
• Be ready to change what they are doing quickly, in the

students’ interests.

using Psychology

YOU

• What are my beliefs about myself?
• Are my own emotions driving my behaviour?
• What are my beliefs and how are they influencing

my feelings?

• What are my feelings and how are they

influencing my behaviour towards individuals? THEM

• What feelings or attitudes does each student

have now and what beliefs do you want students to develop about themselves?

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

using Sociology

YOU

• What are my beliefs about my own role in

society?

• What are my beliefs about

(boys/girls/indigenous/quiet/noisy/well dressed) students and how are the beliefs influencing my behaviour? THEM

• What beliefs does each student have now and

what beliefs do you want students to develop about their current and future place in society?

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Language is more than words, and does more than transmit information. It also ‘sends messages’ about beliefs, values etc.

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

and understanding the role of communication and language

“Everything you do is assessable” “Everything you do is a chance to give you credit”

Which sounds better?

When asked “Does this count?” you can answer:

• r

• Am I being mindful of my use of language?
• Is my body language matching my words and

intent?

• Am I being explicit with my message or am I

expecting students to infer what I want?

• Is the emotion I am conveying appropriate for the
• utcome I desire?
• Is the message I am sending the only possibility or

could it be misconstrued?

• Is the totality of what I do consistent with the

messages I desire?

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Issues of miscommunication

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Everything that happens sends kids ‘messages’ Make sure they are the ones YOU want them to get,

by mindfully and reflectively designing every facet of their school environment (including your own behaviours).

Designing Curriculum as tasks

• some examples

NOTE! these are not just fun. They involve significant cognitive demand

Assessment ideas Bibliography

Forensic science

Use believable evidence to decide a suspect and justify your decision

The Principal

Messages: Science can be amusing. Science is involved in real life.

Making rockets (1)

Messages: Learning can help you do a better job. Science can be constructive. Science is involved in real life.

1) Aim - to design an eco-tourism resort giving consideration to: a) Energy sources b) Conserving at least 1 endangered species in the local ecology. c) Consulting with indigenous owners of the land d) Seeking finances and approval from relevant government departments. 2) Final presentation is to be to the class as if they are a panel of government departments.

Your presentation is aimed at:

a) Demonstrating that you meet the requirements of the department of environment through your understanding of the science

involved in the design and development issues wrt energy usage, the local ecology and the conservation of an endangered species.

b) Demonstrating that you meet the requirements of indigenous owners. c) Demonstrating the idea that an eco-tourism resort is economically viable and seeking funding or tax incentives from the department

• f small business and finances and permission to build on a nature reserve.

3) You will be required to: a) Prepare a plan of action outlining what each group member is to be responsible for. This should not exclude anybody. Individual

strengths and needs should be considered. Each person will need to plan for and then try to demonstrate individual understandings throughout the module in your learning log and by learning from your other group members.

b) Maintain a Learning Log at the end of each research period (approx 15min will be allocated). The learning log will keep a record of what you found out each day towards your individual goal and what you need to do in the next lesson to meet the goals of your group. 4) Assessment opportunities. Note! You should check your profiles and the list of outcomes to determine the most useful outcomes to pursue individually and the level at which to aim for success. a) Conferencing with your teacher. A conference is an opportunity for you to seek guidance and help and to show what you

understand.

b) Learning logs. The more detailed your learning log the more useful it is to you and your group and also the more chance there is

that you will demonstrate outcomes.

c) Final presentation. The final presentation should confirm all of the work you have put into the research and design. 5) Consider. a) Did you demonstrate understanding of the science at an appropriate level b) Did you research adequate background information regarding indigenous issues and State and Federal laws concerning building and

using national parks.

c) Did you gather adequate background information on the needs of the species that you were trying to preserve. d) Did you synthesise an appropriate design response to meet the ecological requirements of an eco-tourism resort.

Plan an eco-tourism resort

Messages: Science is real life. Science supports practical endeavours.

Ant lion craters on Earth

‘The craters on the moon are made by enormous ant-lions, otherwise known as Myrmelion species’ says local chemistry teacher and amateur astronomer Mark Gould. For decades, astronomers have hypothesised that the craters on the moon were made by meteor impact or volcanic activity. ‘There has been no direct observable evidence to support this idea’ says Mr

• Gould. ‘I believe that the moon is home to enormous ant-lions that dig these craters. On Earth these insects are tiny

and feed on ants by digging holes that the ants fall into, but on the moon they can grow to enormous size. We have no direct evidence of meteor strikes on the moon, nor can we see any current volcanic activity. If meteor strikes are the cause, then why aren’t there craters all over the other planets like Earth? We can see evidence of ant-lion activity on Earth, so it seems likely that this is the same cause on the moon. Perhaps the reduced gravity is the cause of the large size of the ant-lions and therefore the large size of the craters. Of course it may also be another species entirely.’ Mr Gould has been a teacher at Bremer for nearly 15 years, and as a scientist he has promised to get together a team of researchers from the school to test his

• ideas. The results of these tests will be published in the first Bremer news after

the research is completed.

Bremer News Flash

Moon Craters are made by enormous ant-lions

Says Bremer Science Teacher

The ant lion Craters on the moon

The students try to prove me wrong. The audience is their parents.

Messages: Science can be amusing. Being wrong is OK.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS, RESEARCH AND PROJECTS

Bibliography

1. ACEI, Beyond benchmarks and scores: reasserting the role of motivation and interest in children's academic achievement 2. Bryce Jennifer and Withers Graeme, Engaging secondary school students in lifelong learning, 2003, ACER 3. Education Queensland, Middle Phase of Learning 4. Education Queensland, Productive Pedagogy and Assessment 5. Forster Margaret, A Policy Maker's Guide To Systemwide Assessment Programs, 2001, ACER 6. Forster Margaret, Assessment & Reporting Conference October 2005 , ACER 7. Forster Margaret, Address to Educators, Brisbane City hall, 2004 8. Fuller Andrew, Don’t Waste Your Breath 9. Glasser William, Quality Schools

• 10. Lisa Legault,Isabelle Green-Demers, Luc Pelletier, Why Do High School Students Lack

Motivation in the Classroom? Toward an Understanding of Academic Amotivation and the Role of Social Support, University of Ottawa, Universite´ du Que´bec en Outaouais, University of Ottawa, 2003

• 11. Masters Geoff N & Forster Margaret, The Assessments we need, ACER
• 12. QSA, KLA syllabi and Essential Learnings
• 13. Senge et al,The F

he Fifth D Discipl pline ne Fieldbook dbook

• 14. Bandura – Social Learning

Reference 1

Beyond benchmarks and scores: reasserting the role of motivation and interest in children's academic achievement: an ACEI position paper. THE ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDHOOD EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL (ACEI)

What is disregarded in the frantic quest to attain higher test scores is that an emphasis on motivation, interest, and metacognition--the ability to analyse one's

• wn learning needs and processes - make

a collective and profound contribution to academic achievement.

Reference 2

How can we increase student engagement in lifelong learning?

• by increasing the sense of belonging, safe social environments

and meaning (to the student) and ensure that every child receives affirmation. Impo portant que questions to

• as

ask of

• f a

a school: To

• wha

hat ex extent can an it be be sai aid that hat al all students in n the he school hav have pos positive pi pictures of

• f them

hemselves as as lea earners? Are students grouped according to ability? Are e some mad ade to

• feel

eel that hat they hey ar are ‘failur ures es’? Do assessment exercises take account of different styles of learning? Is most assessment formative rather than summative? How much self-assessment takes place? Are students able to discuss their progress with a mentor? Is it safe for students to take risks/ to expose lack of knowledge?

Bryce Jennifer and Withers Graeme, Engaging secondary school students in lifelong learning, 2003, ACER

Reference 3

Middle Phase of Learning

1. Student/teacher relationships; constructivist learning involving students in negotiation and decision-making; presenting students with authentic learning tasks; providing for diversity (cf inclusive education) (MPL, 8) 2. Allowing time for in-depth study by reducing the amount of content; developing problem-solving tasks; using authentic assessment tasks; involving students in deciding content, structure and

• assessment. (MPL, 8)

3. Curriculum needs to be uncluttered, to be reduced in breadth and allow opportunity for depth of study (MPL, 8) 4. Curriculum needs to engage students' needs, interest and emotions and has connection to students' world (MPL, 8)

Reference 4

Dimensions of Productive pedagogies from UQ project QSRLS for New Basics

Recognition of difference is perhaps the most theoretically and practically significant dimension for explaining how to systematically improve the achievement of students from scholastically disadvantaged sociocultural backgrounds. Key dimensions: Inclusivity, Narrative, Active citizenship

Connectedness: studies of cognition, curriculum design, and school restructuring all question the degree to which classroom practices address issues or problems which have salience outside of the school. Key dimensions: Knowledge integration, Background knowledge, Connectedness to the world, Problem- based curriculum Supportive classroom environment: focus on high intellectual quality in and of itself will not be a sufficient condition for improved student outcomes, especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Key dimensions: Student direction, Social support, Academic engagement, Explicit quality performance criteria Intellectual quality: when students from all backgrounds are expected to perform work of high intellectual quality, overall student academic performance increases and equity gaps diminish, relative to conventional teaching practices. Key dimensions: Higher-order thinking, Deep knowledge, Deep understanding, Knowledge as problematic, Metalanguage

From EQ ‘Productive Pedagogies’

References 5, 7, 11

ACER

1. Meaningful assessment and reporting must always be based on well understood continua. (Forster) 2. Assessment design principles (Masters and Forster) * designing assessment procedures primarily to establish where all students are in their learning; * including a variety of assessment methods and procedures to provide information about a range of valued learning outcomes; * reporting results in ways that encourage high

• achievement. (maybe should also add ‘in ways

that encourage continued motivation’)

Reference 6

ACER

Assessment & Reporting Conference October 2005 Margaret Forster - ACER We need to develop a research-based understanding

• f what it means to make

progress within that area. We need to understand growth and recognise evidence of growth

Uses title and illustration to pr edict story setting. Uses book title and illustration to identify key elements of story . Recognises how elements of an illustration support text in a story . Interpr ets pictur e to pr edict what happens next in illustrated story . Decides whether writing is fact or fiction based on described events. Pr edicts a plausible ending for an illustrated story . Recognises main idea in paragraph of factual text. Makes connections between pieces of factual info. in simple text. Recognises text genr e fr

• m book titles.

Interpr ets idiomatic language (eg 'last but not least'). Recognises the connection between pr esentation style and natur e

• f information (eg question & answer format for interview data).

Infers meaning fr

• m figurative language.

Recognises how linguistic featur es (eg exclamation marks) support ideas implicit in a text. Selects several pieces of information fr

• m a complex pr

Recognises pr

• bable context for a piece of writing.

Explains an author's point of view . Recognises the tone of a simple poem. Or ders detailed events fr

• m a narrative.

Recognises conventional linguistic featur es (eg pr Interpr ets factual information. Recognises the r elationship between two pieces of text. Generates r esear ch question to explor e topic about which they have r W

• rks out meaning of unknown wor

d fr

• m context and pictur

Finds evidence to support a statement. Or ders instr uctions in a pr

• cedur

e. Extracts information fr

• m complex pr

esentation of text and pictur Infers missing step in a pr

• cedur

e.

Year 3 Performance Standard

Student achievement also can be r eported against a performance standard

Reading achievement – Scale shows development across grades

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Reading continuum

600 500 400 300 200 100

Adolescents:

• 1. Absolutely must have work that is meaningful and

relevant (to them)

• 2. need to be treated as adults but ARE NOT just young
• adults. They need structure but also need and demand

freedom and ‘respeck’

• 3. need (considerable) positive feedback to develop

resilience and stability.

• 4. need meaningful attachments to adults outside their

family.

Reference 8

From ‘Don’t Waste your breath’ Andrew Fuller

Reference 8 cont

Resilience is the happy knack of being able to bungy jump through the pitfalls of life, When challenges and adversity arise, it is as if the person has an elasticised rope around them that helps them to move from surviving to thriving.

School Risk Factors School & Individual Protective Factors Detachment from school A sense of belonging & fitting in Academic failure, especially in middle years

Work success during adolescence

Early & persistent antisocial behaviour

Positive achievements & evaluations

Low parental interest in education Having someone outside your family who believes in you

Reference 9

Glasser believed:-

• Despite dedicated teachers’ best efforts, no more than half of

secondary school students were willing to make an effort to learn, and therefore could not be taught.

• Students will (only) work in school because the work helps meet

their needs and they therefore find it satisfying.

• Students talk to others or walk about the room and generally act

in ways considered to be behaviour problems because it brings them more satisfaction than working in and successfully completing class activities.

• Only a behaviour management program that is also

concerned with classroom satisfaction will work.

Glasser William, Quality Schools

Reference 10

Amotivation Within Self-Determination Theory Ability Beliefs

• Students’ self-concept of ability has also been identified as a defining

factor in academic motivation (e.g., Eccles et al., 1993; Skinner et al., 1990). Accordingly, it has been found that poor academic achievement is

• ne of the strongest predictors of high school dropout (Battin-Pearson et al.,

2000; Cairns, Cairns, & Neckerman, 1989). It seems logical to assume, therefore, that poor belief in one’s ability is a driving component of academic disengagement. In the context of the current study, ability beliefs represent students’ self-appraisal of their ability to carry out the required academic tasks. Value Placed on the Task

• To this assertion, Murdock (1999) documented that students who

interpret their environments as conveying negative information about the value of school are more likely to develop motivational problems. Why Do High School Students Lack Motivation in the Classroom? Toward an Understanding of Academic Amotivation and the Role of Social Support Lisa Legault, University of Ottawa, Isabelle Green-Demers, Universite´ du Que´bec en Outaouais, Luc Pelletier, University of Ottawa

Essentials are the basis for the curriculum (only 12 in science). They were drawn from the KLA syllabi so link to the original outcomes.

Reference 12

Essentials and KLA syllabi

The characteristics of an organism and its functioning are interrelated.

6 5 4 3 2 1

Strand - Life and Living

Evolutionary processes have given rise to a diversity of living things, which can be grouped according to their characteristics. Environments are dynamic and have living and non-living components which interact.

Harder Levels Easier

LL3. 1 LL4. 1 LL2. 2 LL5. 1 LL6. 1 LL6. 2 LL6. 3 LL2. 1 LL3. 2

Concepts in levels are descriptions of the intersection

• f conceptual ‘streams’ with

cognitive levels

LL2. 3 LL3. 3

Reference 13

‘Ladder of Inference’ from The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and tools for Building a Learning Organization by Senge, Ross, Smith, Roberts, and Kleiner

Take action based on beliefs Adopt beliefs about the world Draw conclusions Make assumptions based on meaning Add personal meaning Select data from what is observed Observe - data and experiences

Reference 14 Bandura – Social Learning

Overview: Bandura believed in “reciprocal determinism”, that is, the world and a person’s behavior cause each other, while behaviorism essentially states that one’s environment causes one’s behavior, Bandura, who was studying adolescent aggression, found this too simplistic, and so in addition he suggested that behavior causes environment as well. Later, Bandura soon considered personality as an interaction between three components: the environment, behavior, and one’s psychological processes (one’s ability to entertain images in minds and language).

Reference 15 What is empathic design?

Empathic design is generally presented as a user-centered design approach that puts special emphasis

• n observation of the emotional

aspects of user-product relationships (McDonagh and Lebbon, 2000; Fulton- Suri, 2003; Crossley 2003).

Reference 16 Personal Bests (PBs): A Multidimensional Perspective [R]

Andrew J. Martin, SELF Research Centre, University of Western Sydney, Australia Conclusion PBs are proposed as an important means to increase opportunities for students to achieve to their potential at school. PBs have the capacity to carry weight with many young people who routinely see PBs lauded by elite athletes they so

• ften hold in high esteem. Schools incorporating PBs into their reporting regime

can harness the intuitive appeal of PBs in a bid to provide their students with genuine experiences of success and give them a reason to dig deep on each new challenge. The Quadripolar PB Model holds that students are most likely to reach PBs on tasks/goals that are (1) specific, (2) challenging, (3) competitively self-referenced, and (4) focused on self-improvement. Such a model, it is proposed, provides clearer direction for educators as to the precise nature of PBs and the means to help students achieve them. Through consideration and application of the ideas presented in this article, it is envisaged that students can become more engaged in school and their schoolwork and more motivated to develop and improve themselves as students.

Reference 17 National statements

Within its many purposes, assessment should serve the purpose of learning. Assessment should encourage longer-term understanding and enable the provision of detailed diagnostic information to support student learning. It should show what students know, understand and can demonstrate. It should also show what they need to do to improve.

including

• physical factors, eg room layout, graffitti, mess etc
• frameworks, processes and procedures,

eg punishment regimes, reporting systems and language

• cultural norms and ideas as expressed through the

media, eg what boys do, what girls do, how bad kids from Loganlea

are.

• day to day activities eg lessons, lunch activities, and
• interactions with parents, friends, teachers and
• ther people. ie what they do, say, imply, how you look at them etc

What are the total environmental factors in a school?

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

The following is a statement from a researcher into assessment and success: The single most significant factor in each student’s educational success is their personal belief system about their abilities. This belief system then determines their level of acceptance of any learning opportunities offered.

Designing curriculum, assessment and pedagogy to maximise engagement

Reference 8 Reference 2 Reference 9 Reference 10

Designing Assessment

To send the messages:

• 1. I can improve.
• 2. I improve by working.
• 3. Effort leads to Improvement = Success
• 4. Handing in work gains me credit.
• 5. Improving and resubmitting work gains me

credit.

• 6. Doing a good job gets me more credit than

a bad job.

• 7. Doing more work gets me more credit than

less work.

END ARGUMENTS WELCOME!