The Paperless Classroom: The Future, or the “Future” is NOW?

Karla Hammond, MA, MSPennfield High School Science Instructor

Battle Creek, MICreated for “BLAST”

Presented at MSTA 03/06/09

Pennfield Stats: Approximately 2,000 Students in District, K-12

Overview of BLAST• Organized through Western Michigan University, Mallinson

Institute and Participated in the “Logistics” Small Group• Intent : BLAST-BC seeks to create a collaborative and supportive atmosphere for

high school science teachers who are interested in working to align their instruction more closely with the new High School Content Expectations (HSCE) and the National Science Education Standards. It is based on an action research model for

instructional improvement. http://www.wmich.edu/science/blast/• My Action Research focused on creating new lessons based

on the new HSCE, and presenting them in an Electronic Classroom, and documenting that process and its affect on the failure rate in my classes. – I completely created my “Moodle classroom” and lessons from scratch

this year while teaching the class and participating in BLAST!! – I have not typed out every page from our resource textbook!!

Pennfield High School, 2008

• Currently on an 8 block schedule (Next year 6)– “Maniac Monday”– 7:35-2:30 – Tuesday and Thursday “ODD”– Wednesday and Friday “EVEN”

• See students 3x/wk: 45 min; 90 min; 90 min• Electronic Classroom is set up this year by

week, but students can access it AT ANY TIME!

Why a Paperless Classroom? PHS “PUL”Rolled out 2007

Welcome to my Classroom…here’s the “door”!

Take a seat You are in Biology!This is where students click to upload the work they have saved. This allows me to access it from anywhere to grade it!

This is what I see when I grade! (I do not take papers home…)

Assignments I made up and posted for them to

complete!

Due Date

For our Paperless Classroom, we also use “CPS” for assessments. We began with a test over the Pre-Reqs

for Biology. This got them used to “technology”…• Students used a “clicker system” instead of paper and pencil

for an Assessment over what they remembered from Elementary and Middle School on: Biochemistry, Cells, Cell Energetics, Comparative Structures, Human Systems, and Homeostasis. – I created this using the State Standards at BLAST

• 58% (not passing by our 70% standard)…why?• From the automatic grading, we knew what they scored the

lowest on were specific plant terms the State has listed as required pre-reqs for Bio. We will make sure this is passed on to the Middle School teachers! (ex: Monocots and Dicots)

• The students did take the pre-req test seriously, but this was also the first time some students used the CPS!

Students also create movies and podcasts of their work, or as a reference for their labs!

Another Assignment: DNA Forum

Lab Write-ups occur at the desks

Paperless has been interesting and exciting to the students, and I see greater %s of work submitted, but as with ‘traditional’ work,

it can be incomplete, too, so you MUST check!

My Paperless Gradebook: “Zangle”

Our network is monitored by “LanSchool”. Each teacher has a different channel the student selects!

Student View of His/Her Grades for Biology. I have this on the Semester View.

Example question from an Assessment if taking as a class. If taking individually, they see the second picture.

We also use Moodle Quiz

PHS is starting to use “Data Director” in lieu of “CPS” and Moodle for District

Failure Data and a Central Bank for Assessment Questions

Our initial plan for our Paperless Classroom…how we are going “higher tech”

• Every question on every Unit Test is connected to a Biology Expectation (From State of MI)

• Students are to pass the Unit Tests with a 70% minimum, or must retake the test until at 70% in order to show mastery. Final grade is an average of each test taken.

• First semester covers the first 6 Units from the State of Michigan Expectations; 2nd, 7-12

• Grades primarily focus on Unit Tests, although MANY assignments in Moodle

For CPS, Moodle, and Data Director, Student Assessment information can be “broken out”

Notice where you can quickly identify which questions the students excelled at, and which ones they did not understand (or it wasn’t written well as a question!)

Benefits: Not just “automatic grading”, but also each question checked for individual and class and subject comprehension

An example of a Moodle Quiz Results Section (Essay not graded)

Frustrations of the Student• Must keep electronic work

backed up… “I can’t find it” is no excuse!

• Must complete work before taking Unit Test, so must stay organized and take responsibility for learning

• When absent, if trying to complete work at home, must have a reliable internet connection with good speed!

• Must remediate…can’t accept a non-passing score!

Frustrations of the Parents

• Having to purchase a good, updated Internet connection for educational purposes– Almost 90% of parents surveyed already have one

they are using for email and gaming!• Not “knowing” what the homework is because they

do not have a sign-in to Moodle– Have their students sign in weekly for them!

• Not being able to always refer to the Biology book to answer the questions at the end of the chapter, where you can find #13 on page 235!– Actual problem-solving not just regurgitation!!

Benefits for Parents: Paperless means they CAN check of their student submitted the work!

Frustrations of the Technology Department

• Students who download inappropriate material so the computer must be reimaged– Honestly, few students after the first batch!

• Students who do not care for the technology by the signed agreement (and therefore have maintenance issues)– Honestly, few, because then they are without!

• Teachers who do not really understand how the electronic gradebook or classroom work, so they send Maintenance requests when it really is a comprehension issue– Honestly fewer now 2nd semester, because we help each

other!

Each grading, if you set it up to do so, also tells the student why they got it wrong, so it is

IMMEDIATE feedback!

Frustrations of the Teacher

• Students who email daily who want to know when the assignments will be graded because s/he uploaded it at 11pm last night …where’s my grade???

• Parents who email daily who want to know when the assignments will be graded because s/he stayed up until 11pm last night to help their student uploaded it …where’s the grade???

• Parents who let their student loose on the computer at home without supervision, and then complain because the student’s computer isn’t available due to being reimaged …WHERE’S THE GRADE???

Seriously, the major complaint this year is the TIME it takes to re-create your classes (for example, when the cat takes over PT because you are still grading student work on the computer!!

The Paperless Classroom…how successful has the program been?

• Well, we survived first semester and the students were very happy with the format!

• For Pennfield this year, it was based on the number of failures of students percentage-wise compared to past years…– Do computers “better” organize and engage

today’s learners, so they do the work, and therefore are prepared for the Unit Tests?

– Are students passing the Unit Tests?

Statistics from last year (1st hour Bio)100%passing

As=2 7%Bs=9 32%Cs=8 29%Ds=9 32%Es=0

Statistics from this year (2nd hour Bio)

82% passing

As=0Bs=5 23%Cs=7 32%Ds=6 27%Es=4 18%

Statistics from last year (8th hour Bio)

96% passing

As=1 3.7%Bs=9 33%Cs=8 29.7%Ds=8 29.7%Es=1 3.7%

Statistics from this year (6th hour Bio)

89% passing

As=0Bs=7 27%Cs=8 31%Ds=8 31%Es=3 11%

Reviewing PUL at semester

• For Biology, the comparison for my classes did not show an increase in student achievement in terms of passing the first semester of Biology.

• This was true for all Biology classes, too.

• Is there a variable we are missing at the semester check?

• Is it simply “growing pains”?

Passing Unit Tests at 70%

• Most students for Unit 1 needed take the Unit Tests 3x before passing with at least a 70%– Teacher had to record initial score, then go back

and average each subsequent score and update the electronic gradebook

– Teacher had to email student and parent/guardian to secure student participation, including after-school remediations if the number of retakes past 3, or if s/he had been absent

Passing with a 70% continued

• For the subsequent units, students passed Units 2 and 3 usually after 2 retakes

• For Unit 4-6, the majority of students passed the first take– Students and teachers found retaking the tests

were…surprise, surprise…”getting old”!!– More assignments were uploaded and/or

completed by Unit 4 than Unit 1, even though it was nearing the Holidays

• So, again, we are seeing progress!

Comparison of Unit Test Scores to….

• The final exam:– It appeared that students who did not pass their

Unit Tests did not use the Moodle site to study for their Final Exams, as they also failed the Final

– Students average for the Unit Tests were also comparable to the Final Exam

– This is not surprising, as most questions from the Unit Tests were taken to make up the Final exam (approximately 10 questions from each Unit, representing the majority of standards for that Unit)

Remediation• Students were allowed to retake their

Unit Tests after they had shown that they remediated for their tests. This included:– Seminar/study hall sessions with

teacher– Monday after-school sessions for

an hour with a “Biology teacher” tutor

• If students needed to take the test another time in order to achieve the 70%, then they must complete another remediation session.

• Variable in addition to growing pains?? Suspensions: Students who didn’t show to remediation who were remanded didn’t pass their Unit Tests nor their Final!

Final Exam Assessment of Assessment

With the 2 days off immediately prior to Finals, we believe students were not as successful as past exams and this was a contributing factor. We did see Qs of “success”!

Paperless Classroom…able to identify misconceptions quickly!

• From the First Unit…did they review?– Function of Carbohydrates– Energy in bonds: Living vs Non-living– Macromolecules with high energy bonds

• From the 5th Unit—Level of organization– Read too quickly?

• From 3rd and 6th Unit- “Totipotent”• From 6th Unit- pH of Human Blood (PUL no lab)• From 3rd Unit- # of ATP from glucose • Interestingly, 6 of the 7 above I would have re-emphasized in

the past with a lab activity that we didn’t do this year, but instead did a computer simulation.

Ok, so if you hadn’t thought about this consequence yet…

• This program is extremely time-intensive on the teacher especially the first year…– Re-writing new Unit Tests, which align with standards AND

are common for all Biology teachers– Entering in Tests to CPS (They can easily be resorted)– Obtaining and posting scores from CPS to Zangle– Re-averaging each test and emailing student and

parents/guardians– Remediating– Preparing for the next Unit, and doing this ALL over again

Here’s the example of what we felt like, even with a work-in-progress!

However, because of the Online Experience State Requirement, the ISD sponsored workshops along PHS’ line of thought….

Student Progress

• Percent of students in 1st semester Biology class who passed last school year (2007/2008): 98% from representative classes

• Percent of students in 1st semester Biology class who passed this school year (2008/2009): 85.5% from rep classes

• Overall failure rate for Biology is: 13% from all classes…at semester we don’t see the success for which were were hoping, but this is the FIRST year! (Variable: suspensions)

Therefore, so far, we feel that this program has been…

• Somewhat successful…– It has caused a lot of work for the teachers, but it can be

used again this summer and next year, and lessons are aligned to HSCE (Long-term benefits)

– A LOT of buy-in by the parents to keep arranging rides for remediation (Benefit of communication)

– Increased skill set for students by daily using computers and problem solving and meets the Online State Requirements (Long-term benefits for careers)

• Preparation for success, as increased “science understanding” and retention on the MME is the ultimate goal!

Thank You! Questions? hammondk@pennfield.net