Curriculum + Assessment

The context of my assignment UoW will focus on Australian curriculum year 1 science and understanding.

The aim of the Australian science curriculum is to provide students with a solid foundation in science knowledge, understanding, skills and values on which further learning and life can be built (ACARA, 2009).From this I understand Science is all about studying, finding out, and making sense of the "hows", "whats", and "whys" of the world that we live in.

 For young children, science mixes well with their natural sense of curiosity. Young children learn through their senses - smelling, tasting, touching, hearing and seeing.

Science uses all of these senses and it is also fun. Science can help children learn how the rocks are made, why do ships float, how the light from the sun helps flowers grow, how water becomes ice, and about other things in their environments.

 More Than Discovering Science has an even more important role for children than just showing them what and how things happen. Science teaches children how to learn. It uses thinking (cognitive) skills, and promotes creativity.

According to fleer and Hardy (2001) suggest that science can be characterized as a:

● body of knowledge

● set of values

● way of knowing the world

● humanising experience

● social institution

● social construction.

The decisions I have made for my unit plan is :-

Learning area : science

Class: year 1

Learning objects :

Science understanding

Light and sound are produced by a range of sources and can be sensed (ACSSU020)

Science as a human endeavor

People use science in their daily lives, including when caring for their environment and living things (ACSHE022)

Assessment

Formative and summative

I believe, every class consists of diverse group of students and each student’s characteristics are classified into cognitive, effective and psychomotor intellectual development (Dawson, 2012). Group task is one way of helping students to enhance their learning in a diverse classroom. Rubin (2008) states, frequent use of group work advocated as the best practice for teaching diverse learning groups.

Self reflection and evaluation

Peer evaluation when the students present their presentation to the class (the students will be assessing how well they present (fluency and creativity used) with teacher’s guidance. (The teacher should brief students on how to assess and clear instructions must be provided before presentation).

For more information about curriculum and assessment click below websites :-

http://www.ncca.ie/en/Curriculum_and_assessment/

http://www.acara.edu.au/default.asp

Reference

Dawson, M. (2012). Assessment principles [PowerPoint Slide]. Retrieved on 27^thJuly,2012,from http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/m2/mod/resource/view.php?id=31211

Rubin, B. C., (2008). Everyday Antiracism. Retrieved on the 27 th August from http://www.tolerance.org/tdsi/asset/grouping-detracked-classrooms

Fleer, M., & Hardy, T. (2001). Science for children: Developing a personal approach.

Frenchs Forest: Prentice Hall.

ACARA. (2009). Shape of the Australian curriculum: Science. Retrieved July 9, 2010, from

http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Australian_Curriculum_-_Science.pdf.

5E’s Model

In my earlier post I had mentioned that I will be using the 5E’s model in my unit plan.

The 5E’s is an instructional model based on the constructivist approach to learning .Constructivist teaching is based on the belief that learning occurs as learners are actively involved in a process of meaning and knowledge construction rather than passively receiving information. Learners are the makers of meaning and knowledge. Constructivist teaching fosters critical thinking and creates motivated and independent learners.

I believed constructivist teaching method is good method for teaching divers learners. It’s look at the way a learner learns. Constructivism believed that the learner learns best when he/she is actively engaged. The students are viewed as one who acts on objects and events within his /her environment and in the process gains understanding and derives meaning of those objects and events (Jonassen et al., 1995).

In my teaching practicums i have used teaching constructivist-teaching methods,in my the lessons. Students discover learning from their own experiences using concrete materials, and activities, which help to enhance their learning.

The 5 E's can be used with students of all ages, including adults.

Each of the 5 E's describes a phase of learning, and each phase begins with the letter "E": Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate.

The 5 E's allows students and teachers to experience common activities, to use and build on prior knowledge and experience, to construct meaning, and to continually assess their understanding of a concept. (Mesibov, Flynn, Vermette, & Smith; 2004).

Engage: This phase of the 5 E's starts the process. An "engage" activity should do the following:

ü  Make connections between past and present learning experiences

ü  Anticipate activities and focus students' thinking on the learning outcomes of current activities. Students should become mentally engaged in the concept, process, or skill to be learned.

Explore is to investigate children’s surroundings about objects or phenomenon and have    hand-on activities.

Explain is to provide clear understanding about the activity or the concept.

Elaborate is to extend children’s understanding and skills by giving an extra activity to build on.

Evaluate is to assess children’s skills, knowledge and abilities.

Lastly, you may refer dbroomfi.hubpages.com I believe going through this reading will help you understand more about the 5E’s model.

Reference

Mesibov, D, Flynn, P, Vermette, P, & Smith, R. M. (2004). Applying standards-based constructivism: a two-step guide for motivating middle and         high school students. New York: Eye on Education.

Jonassen, D., Davidson, M., Collins, M., Campbell, and Hagg, B.B. (1995) Constructivism and Computer-Mediated Communication in Distance Education. The American Journal of Distance Education, 9(2), 7-25.

Thinking about assignment 2

Actually I do not feel relaxed after I had done ASSIGMENT 1. Every week we are still required to post at least 3 posts in our blog.

As what I understanding for ASSIGMNET 2 there are 2 parts just like ASSIGNMENT 1.

• Ø  Part A is about the learning journal, same as assignment 1
• Ø  Part B is to think about a unit plan which can use for 3 to 5 weeks than create a task sheet and rubric for  assessment (not more than 8 pages)
• Ø  500 words essay to justify the ICTs selected in unit plan.

I don’t think this is a difficult assignment for us, because for most of my friends this semester is the last semester of this course. In previous courses we were exposed to unit plan and lesson sequencing a lot.

When I read the unit plan template I noticed that we have to write:-

Context, Stage 1 and Stage 2 and stage 3.

Context is about the school, students, special events and staff. I am thinking of choosing Unit Plan on Science subject for Year 1 students.

• Ø  Stage 1 is about what students will learn, the approach, constructing knowledge objectives, and transforming objectives. For approach, I will be using 5E’s Model.
• Ø  Stage 2 is assessment evidence that required us to think of what formative and summative.
• Ø  Stage 3 is learning plan.

Those are the parts I am thinking of using for my Unit Plan. Hope that I’m on the right track.

I hope that I will get a better understanding of assignment 2 and how to do it after attending this Saturday class. also i found lot of new information about assignment 2 in my friend kathleen blog. you may read her blog. 

The following link has a very good article to read and understand about the curriculum. I found this website  Educationscotland.gov.uk on  Kathleen's blog. She mentions that in this website, they said curriculum should be organised so that they will learn and develop through variety of contexts within both the classroom and other aspects of school life.