102086 Designing Teaching and Learning 2H 2016Assignment 2 - Lesson Plan Analysis

17218812 Aspasia Taktikos

Contents

Original Lesson Plan……...………………………2Adapted Lesson Plan…..….……………………...3Lesson Plan Analysis…….…..…………………...8Modified Lesson Plan………..…………………..12Academic Justification……..……………………20Reference List……………….…………………….22URL Link to ePortfolio…………………………...23

Author's note:Unfortunately, the Lesson Plan Template lost some of its formatting when it was

downloaded. I have cross-checked with other sources to confirm that all content is present.

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Original Lesson Plan

(Source: http://scienceweb.asta.edu.au/years-9-10/unit1/lesson-one/yr910-unit1-lesson-one.html)

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Adapted Lesson Plan

Topic area: Science – Living World (Ecosystems)

Stage of Learner: Stage 5

Syllabus Pages:

Date:

Location Booked:

Lesson Number: 1 /5

Time:

Total Number of students

Printing/preparation:

OutcomesACSIS170ACSIS174

ACSSU176

Assessment

Students learn about

Students learn toexplore interactions between organisms such as predator/prey, competitors, pollinators and diseaseexamine factors that affect population sizes such as seasonal changes, destruction of habitats and introduced speciesconsider how energy flows into and out of an ecosystem via the pathways of food webs, and how it must be replaced to maintain the sustainability of the system

Syllabus outcomes

Lesson assessment

Cross Curriculum themes & General capabilities Sustainability

Explicit subject specific concepts and skillsEcosystems consist of communities of interdependent organisms and biotic components of the environment; matter and energy flow through those systems (ACSSU176)

Formulate questions or hypotheses that can be investigated scientifically (ACSIS164)

Analyse patterns and trends in data, including describing relationships between variables and identifying inconsistencies (ACSIS169)

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Evaluate conclusions, including identifying sources of uncertainty and possible alternative explorations, and describe specific ways to improve the quality of the data (ACSIS171)

Communicate scientific ideas and information for a particular purpose, including constructing evidence based arguments and using appropriate scientific language, conventions and representations (ACSIS174)

Quality Teaching Elements (lesson focus) Highlight the appropriate areas

1Intellectual Quality

This refers to pedagogy focused on producing deep understanding of important, substantive concepts, skills and ideas. Such pedagogy treats knowledge as something that requires active construction and requires students to engage in higher-order thinking and to communicate substantively about what they are learning.1.1 Deep knowledge1.2 Deep understanding1.3 Problematic knowledge 1.4 Higher-order thinking1.5 Metalanguage1.6 Substantive communication

2Quality Learning Environment

This refers to pedagogy that creates classrooms where students and teachers work productively in an environment clearly focused on learning. Such pedagogy sets high and explicit expectations and develops positive relationships between teacher and students and among students.2.1 Explicit quality criteria2.2 Engagement2.3 High Expectations2.4 Social Support2.5 Students’ self regulation2.6 Student direction

3Significance

This refers to pedagogy that helps make learning more meaningful and important to students. Such pedagogy draws clear connections with students’ prior knowledge and identities, with contexts outside of the classroom, and with multiple ways of knowing all cultural perspective.3.1 Background knowledge3.2 Cultural knowledge3.3 Knowledge integration3.4 Inclusivity3.5 Connectedness3.6 Narrative

How are the quality teaching elements you have identified achieved within the lesson?Teaching element

Indicators of presence in the lesson

Time Teaching and learning actions Organisation CentredT/S

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Intro Write the words earth, ecosystem, community, population, species, organism, system, organ, tissue, cell, organelle, molecule and atom on sticky notes and place them on the board in random order. Ask students to arrange them from largest to smallest. Discuss how all these parts fit together. This is an opportunity for students to develop an understanding of the definitions used in this unit.

Teacher:

Student:

Resources: Sticky notes.

Body “Pictures of organisms and animals for food web activity. Ask students to find a classmate carrying an organism that their own animal will eat and link to it by both students holding the picture or linking arms.

Discuss how all organisms are interdependent. Discuss what ‘interdependent’ means.

Teacher:

Student:

Resources: Pictures of organisms and animals for food web activity

Review the definition of food chains and food webs from year 7. Record the agreed definitions.

Write the following organisms on sticky notes and place them randomly on the board – grass, cow, mosquito, fly, spider, frog, bird, human, snake. Ask the students to arrange the organisms into a food web.

Teacher:

Student:

Resources: Sticky notes.

Ask what would happen if all mosquitoes were removed from the food web. (Answer: In the short term, spiders would starve and we would be overrun with flies and other insects. In the long term, spider numbers would increase as they would feed off the increased number other insects.)

Describe how there are different types of relationships other than predator/prey. Introduce symbiotic relationships – mutualism, commensalism and parasitism. Watch the video clip Symbiosis: mutualism,

Teacher:

Student:

Resources: Video clip, images.

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commensalism, parasitism.

Symbiosis activity. Divide students into six groups and show each group an image of a symbiotic relationship (see gallery of images below).

Ask students to identify the type of relationship in each picture and to justify their answer by describing how each organism benefits. Rotate the pictures around the groups. Ask what would happen to one of the organisms if the other were removed from the ecosystem.

Students complete the worksheet Symbiosis Venn diagram.

Divide students into pairs and ask them to prepare a thirty-second mime of a type of symbiotic relationship. Each pair presents their mime to the class who guess the relationship being mimed.

Teacher:

Student:

Resources: Symbiosis Venn diagram.

Conclusion Discuss the importance of determining relationships between organisms. Show students the news article Attack of the rats. Discuss the implications of the relationship between the bamboo fruit and a rat plague that occurs every 50 years.

Teacher:

Student:

Resources: Attack of the rats page.

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ReflectionWhat have I learned about the teaching and learning process when preparing this lesson?

How am I measuring the outcomes of this lesson?

Learning Outcome Method of measurement and recording

Other considerations

Complete the table below by inserting the AISTL graduate standards that you are demonstrating and indicates the evidence from this lesson that should comply with the standard.

Graduate Standards

Evidence within this lesson

WHS What are the key risk issues that may appear for and need to be reduced/eliminated in this lesson? Using your syllabus and support documents as well as other WHS policy- Outline the key WHS considerations that are to be applied in this lesson?

References (In APA) You must list all references that you have used for the content and resources of this lesson in this space.

Resources Attached:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSmL2F1t81Q

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9198000/9198744.stm

Pictures of organisms and animals for food web activity (Word, 810 KB)

Symbiosis Venn diagram (Word, 391 KB)

An unusual ecosystem (Word, 321 KB)

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Lesson Plan Analysis102086 Designing Teaching & Learning 2H 2016Assignment 2: APST and QT Analysis Template

Student name: Aspasia TaktikosStudent ID: 17218812

Section 1: Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

Evaluate the adapted lesson plan according to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Only standards directly addressed in Designing Teaching & Learning that are relevant to this assignment have a rating scale. You can ignore the other standards for this assignment. However, this does not mean the other standards are irrelevant to lesson planning and evaluation more generally.

Standard Evaluation score1 (poor) – 5 (excellent)

Comments incl. evidence for evaluation score (2 sentences maximum)

1 Know students and how they learn

1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students1.2 Understand how students learn

1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA

Not mentioned. Could be improved with the use of images instead of words in activities.

1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA

Not mentioned. Could be improved with the use of images instead of words in activities, or integration of Indigenous contributions in field.

1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA

One extension worksheet, group activity may aid differentiation. Further group activity and small-group discussion as opposed to whole-class discussion may help.

1.6 Strategies to support full participation of students with disability

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA

Not mentioned. Some activities may exclude students with physical disabilities.

2 Know the content and how to teach it

2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area

2.2 Content selection and organisation

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Content follows syllabus, flows well and is organised in a way that makes sense. Venn Diagram may

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have redundant information.

2.3 Curriculum, assessment and reporting

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Links to curriculum present in unit outline. As this is the first lesson, there should be informal/diagnostic assessment present.

2.4 Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies

2.6 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Integration of YouTube clip and online newspaper article is substantial. Introduces idea of being able to access academic information online.

3 Plan for an implement effective teaching and learning

3.1 Establish challenging learning goals

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Challenge appears in discussion about the removal of mosquitoes from food chain, miming presentation and in-class discussions.

3.2 Plan, structure and sequence learning programs

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Sequence mostly makes sense within lesson and topic. Requires diagnostic assessment.

3.3 Use teaching strategies

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Range of strategies evident. Certain strategies may need to be tailored to specific needs/diversities of students.

3.4 Select and use resources

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Mostly appropriate resources for lesson, though some links are broken and cannot be accessed. Resources could be improved with images.

3.5 Use effective classroom communication3.6 Evaluate and improve teaching programs3.7 Engage parents/ carers in the educative process

4 Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments

4.1 Support student participation

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Group and whole-class activities and discussion are good practices to engage students. However, if whole-class activities are voluntary, then the same few confident students may be the only students who participate.

4.2 Manage classroom activities

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Classroom activities are well organised, though delivery may be different.

4.3 Manage challenging behaviour

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Not mentioned, may be integrated into lesson flow.

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4.4 Maintain student safety

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Not mentioned.

4.5 Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Not mentioned, though students are not using ICT themselves. May be implied in teacher use of ICT.

5 Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning

5.1 Assess student learning

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Occurs informally throughout lesson. However, as this is the first lesson, there may need to be an additional introduction making reference to previous knowledge.

5.2 Provide feedback to students on their learning

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA May occur in discussion – lesson plan implies assessment. Again, as this is the first lesson on this topic, it may be advantageous to give individual feedback.

5.3 Make consistent and comparable judgements5.4 Interpret student data5.5 Report on student achievement

6 Engage in professional learning

6.1 Identify and plan professional learning needs6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice6.4 Apply professional learning and improve student learning

7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community

7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements7.3 Engage with the parents/carers7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities

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Section 2: NSW Quality Teaching Model

Evaluate the adapted lesson plan according to the following NSW Quality Teaching model elements. If you mark an element as NA (not applicable) please justify in your comments.

Dimension Element Code(refer to QT model documentation for criteria for each number)

Comments incl. evidence for code (2 sentences maximum)

Intellectual quality

Deep knowledge 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Students will engage deeply with different relationships between organisms, especially as this is the first lesson in the topic. May need more reference to students' background knowledge.

Deep understanding

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Activities (especially miming, discussions and arm-linking) should require students to show deep understanding.

Problematic knowledge

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Potentially addressed with mosquito removal discussion.

Higher-order thinking

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Required for mosquito removal discussion.

Metalanguage 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Will be used when discussing different relationships between organisms (image discussion activity), and throughout lesson.

Substantive communication

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA May be used when identifying miming presentations.

Quality learning environment

Explicit quality criteria

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Vague criteria present.

Engagement 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Group activities and discussion should engage students. However, conversation may be dominated by confident few.

High expectations 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Miming and discussion about mosquito removal would require high expectations of students.

Social support 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Miming, image discussion and arm-linking activities would provide students with social support.

Students’ self-regulation

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Self-regulation may appear in miming activity.

Student direction 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Choice given in miming activity, though this is minimal.

Significance

Background knowledge

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Briefly addressed.

Cultural knowledge 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Not addressed.Knowledge integration

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Plan briefly references student knowledge from Year 7.

Inclusivity 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Not addressed.Connectedness 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Connects ideas to outside world (rat

attack article, images of symbiotic relationships, video).

Narrative 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – NA Narrative is seen in rat attack article and miming activity.

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Modified Lesson Plan

Topic area: Science – Living World (Ecosystems)

Stage of Learner: Stage 5

Syllabus Pages: https://syllabus.bostes.nsw.edu.au/science/science-k10/content/989/

Date:

Location Booked:

Lesson Number: 1 /5

Time: 60 minutes

Total Number of students

Printing/preparation: Have readily available links to YouTube clip “Symbiosis: mutualism, commensalism, parasitism” and BBC article “Attack of the rats” to access in class.

A worksheet per student of “Symbiosis Venn diagram”.

Three (total) of “Pictures of organisms and animals for food web activity” (NOTE: The number of the Pictures resources printed depends on class size. The are eleven total organisms, so for every 11 students, print a copy).

Print one of each “Images of symbiotic relationships”.

One worksheet per student of the words earth, ecosystem, community, population, species, organism, system, organ, tissue, cell, organelle, molecule and atom in random order. (Earth to atom size worksheet).

Print one per student of “Images of animals worksheet” – containing cow, mosquito, fly, spider, frog, bird, human, snake.

(Extension resources) One worksheet per student of “An unusual ecosystem”

Make sure that “Useful Links” resources are still accessible before lesson.

OutcomesACSIS170ACSIS174ACSSU176SC5-2VA, SC5-4WS, SC5-8WS, SC5-9WS, SC5-14LW

AssessmentObservation of activities throughout lesson about conceptsDiscussion with students about activities about concepts throughout lessonIn-class presentationVenn diagram worksheet

Students learn about

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- interactions between organisms- interdependence- food chains and webs- different interactions: predator/prey, parasites, competitors, pollinators and disease

Students learn toexplore interactions between organisms such as predator/prey, competitors, pollinators and diseaseexamine factors that affect population sizes such as seasonal changes, destruction of habitats and introduced speciesconsider how energy flows into and out of an ecosystem via the pathways of food webs, and how it must be replaced to maintain the sustainability of the system

Cross Curriculum themes & General capabilities SustainabilityLiteracyCritical and creative thinkingPersonal and social capability

Explicit subject specific concepts and skillsEcosystems consist of communities of interdependent organisms and biotic components of the environment; matter and energy flow through those systems (ACSSU176)

Formulate questions or hypotheses that can be investigated scientifically (ACSIS164)

Analyse patterns and trends in data, including describing relationships between variables and identifying inconsistencies (ACSIS169)

Evaluate conclusions, including identifying sources of uncertainty and possible alternative explorations, and describe specific ways to improve the quality of the data (ACSIS171)

Communicate scientific ideas and information for a particular purpose, including constructing evidence based arguments and using appropriate scientific language, conventions and representations (ACSIS174)

Quality Teaching Elements (lesson focus) Highlight the appropriate areas

4Intellectual Quality

This refers to pedagogy focused on producing deep understanding of important, substantive concepts, skills and ideas. Such pedagogy treats knowledge as something that requires active construction and requires students to engage in higher-order thinking and to communicate substantively about what they are learning.1.1 Deep knowledge1.2 Deep understanding1.3 Problematic knowledge 1.4 Higher-order thinking1.5 Metalanguage1.6 Substantive communication

5Quality Learning Environment

This refers to pedagogy that creates classrooms where students and teachers work productively in an environment clearly focused on learning. Such pedagogy sets high and explicit expectations and develops positive relationships between teacher and students and among students.2.1 Explicit quality criteria

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2.2 Engagement2.3 High Expectations2.4 Social Support2.5 Students’ self regulation2.6 Student direction

6Significance

This refers to pedagogy that helps make learning more meaningful and important to students. Such pedagogy draws clear connections with students’ prior knowledge and identities, with contexts outside of the classroom, and with multiple ways of knowing all cultural perspective.3.1 Background knowledge3.2 Cultural knowledge3.3 Knowledge integration3.4 Inclusivity3.5 Connectedness3.6 Narrative

How are the quality teaching elements you have identified achieved within the lesson?Teaching element

Indicators of presence in the lesson

Time Teaching and learning actions Organisation CentredT/S

Intro

10 min

Mark roll, ask students to take Earth To Atom size worksheet as they come in and to start cutting up the worksheet. Ask students to arrange them from largest to smallest. Ask students that when they are done to put hands up for teacher to check. If correct, tell students to glue in their books in that order. Discuss how all these parts fit together with visual representations of each item. This is an opportunity for students to develop an understanding of the definitions used in this unit.

Teacher: Mark roll and explain task.

Student: Cut up worksheet, get out glue and books.

Resources: Roll, Earth to atom size worksheet, images of each object to discuss with students.

Teacher

Body

5 min

Hand out “Pictures of organisms and animals for food web”.

Ask students to find a classmate carrying an organism that their

Teacher: Explain task, hand out images of organisms, move around room as required/requested.

Student

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own animal will eat and link to it by both students holding the picture or linking arms.

All students should be joined to each other by the end of the activity.

Student: Students get out of seats and find students with images of organisms their own would consume.

Resources: Pictures of organisms and animals for food web activity.

5 minDiscuss how all organisms are interdependent in relation to previous activity. Discuss what ‘interdependent’ means making reference to the previous activity and prompting students to consider their previous knowledge.

Teacher: Relate to previous task, initiate discussion about interdependence.

Student: Think about previous knowledge and contribute to discussion about interdependence.

Resources:

Teacher

2 min Review the definition of food chains and food webs from year 7. Record the agreed definitions.

Teacher: Prompt knowledge, record agreed definition on board.

Student: Knowledge from previous years, record agreed definition in books.

Resources:

Student

5 min Place prepared images of paper randomly onto board – grass, cow, mosquito, fly, spider, frog, bird, human, snake. Ask the students to discuss with a partner how they would arrange the organisms into a food web. Then ask students as a class what their results were, and record agreed food web into their books

Teacher: Give instructions, guide class input.

Student: Discusses food web with partner, contributes to class discussion.

Resources: Images of animals for food-web worksheet

Student

5 min Ask what would happen if all mosquitoes were removed from the food web. (Answer: In the

Teacher: Remove mosquito from food web on board, ask question, guide students to conclusion with further questions/hints.

Teacher

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short term, spiders would starve and we would be overrun with flies and other insects. In the long term, spider numbers would increase as they would feed off the increased number other insects.)

Student: Students in small groups prior to whole class discussion.

Resources: Sticky note food web.

10 min State that there are different types of relationships other than predator/prey. Ask students if they know of any. Watch the video clip Symbiosis: mutualism, commensalism, parasitism. (5 min) Define the different symbiotic relationships – mutualism, commensalism and parasitism using examples from the video and encourage students to share other examples they may know of.

Teacher: Introduce core concepts, play video, comment on video content.

Student: Watch video, listen to ideas about symbiotic relationships, draw on previous knowledge.

Resources: Symbiosis video.

Student

7 min

Symbiosis activity. Divide students into six groups and show each group an image of a symbiotic relationship (from image gallery).

Ask students to identify the type of relationship in each picture and to justify their answer by describing how each organism benefits. Ask what would happen to one of the organisms if the other were removed from the ecosystem.

Rotate the pictures around the groups.

Teacher: Hands out images, gives instructions

Student: Identifies and discusses different symbiotic relationships with other students. Moves around room.

Resources: Images of symbiotic relationships

Student

4 minStudents complete the worksheet Symbiosis Venn diagram and hand it into the teacher to check students have

Teacher: Gathers evidence to assess student understanding and plan next lesson with.

Student

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understood the concepts presented in the lesson. Student: Completes

worksheet to the best of their ability.

Resources: Symbiosis Venn diagram.

3 min

Divide students into pairs and ask them to prepare a thirty-second mime of a type of symbiotic relationship. Each pair presents their mime to another pair who guess the relationship being mimed. Pairs should briefly explain their thought process to each other.

Teacher: Gives instructions, informally assesses student understanding and communication as teacher walks around room.

Student: Interpret and communicate understanding of concepts through miming. Discuss understanding with other pairs.

Resources:

Student

Conclusion

4 min

Discuss the importance of determining relationships between organisms. Show students the news article Attack of the rats. Ask students to consider the implications of the relationship between the bamboo fruit and a rat plague that occurs every 50 years for the beginning of the next lesson.

Teacher: Links to next lesson with use of article.

Student: Reads article, considering relation to next lesson and real-world parallels.

Resources: Link to Attack of the rats page

Teacher

ReflectionWhat have I learned about the teaching and learning process when preparing this lesson?

While I have attempted to implement some more inclusive and engaging activities, time is a limiting

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factor. I have struggled to find enough time to set up, have students complete activities, and then move to the next task. This lesson barely fits into the time frame, and if even a moment of class time is not spent on task, there will not be enough time to complete all planned activities.

The changes made were based on APST standards 1 (Know students and how they learn) with an emphasis on 1.4 (Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students), and 2 (Know the content and how to teach it) with an emphasis on 2.3 (Curriculum, assessment and reporting) and; QT Model elements 1.6 “Substantive communication” and 3.1 “Background knowledge”.

As noted in the analysis, I feel that whole-class discussions may be dominated by a few confident students. By breaking the class into smaller groups first, students can have their voices on the subject heard. In addition, Reynolds (2016) and Mayo, Sharma & Muller (2009) found that whole-class discussions led by teachers can discourage disadvantaged and minority students from engaging in discussion about the content, and can lead to less critical thinking than small group student-directed discussions. This is especially true when one considers the issues that may arise as a result of “personal and cultural representation, linguistic differences, and misunderstandings of the tacit “rules” for participation” between different students (White, 2011, Abstract).

How am I measuring the outcomes of this lesson?

Learning Outcome Method of measurement and recordingACSIS170 Group and class discussion; mosquito removal

discussionACSIS174 Presentation of understanding via miming

ACSSU176 Monitored throughout lesson, and through collection of Venn diagram worksheet.

Other considerations

Complete the table below by inserting the AISTL graduate standards that you are demonstrating and indicates the evidence from this lesson that should comply with the standard.

Graduate Standards

Evidence within this lesson

WHS What are the key risk issues that may appear for and need to be reduced/eliminated in this lesson? Using your syllabus and support documents as well as other WHS policy- Outline the key WHS considerations that are to be applied in this lesson?

Students will be using scissors to cut worksheets – they may cut themselves.

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Students are required to move around the class a lot this lesson – there are plentiful opportunities for them to trip over chairs.

As this is a Science lesson, it is likely to be conducted in a Science room. Thus, there may be ongoing experiments and equipment present in the room. While it is unlikely that any chemicals present would be dangerous, students may suffer cuts and chemical injury should they knock into equipment or an ongoing experiment.

References (In APA)

Mayo, A., Manjula, D. S. & Muller, D., A. (2009). Qualitative Differences Between Learning Environments Using Videos in Small Groups and Whole Class Discussions: A Preliminary Study in Physics. Research in Science Education, 39(4), 477 – 493. doi: 10.1007/s11165-008-9090-0

Reynolds, T. (2016). Striving for Discussion: An Analysis of a Teacher Educator’s Comments in Whole-Class Conversation. Studying Teacher Education, 12(2), 205 – 221. doi: 10.1080/17425964.2016.1192035

White, J, W. (2011). Resistance to Classroom Participation: Minority Students, Academic Discourse, Cultural Conflicts, and Issues of Representation in Whole Class Discussions. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 10(4), 250-265. doi: 10.1080/15348458.2011.598128

Resources Attached:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSmL2F1t81Q

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9198000/9198744.stm

Pictures of organisms and animals for food web activity (Word, 810 KB)

Symbiosis Venn diagram (Word, 391 KB)

An unusual ecosystem (Word, 321 KB)

Images of animals for food web (Word)

Academic Justification

As seen in the above analysis and modification of the original lesson plan, certain aspects can be

improved. The quality of the plan has been analysed and modified according to the Australian

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Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) and NSW Quality Teaching (QT) Model (AITSL,

2011; CurriculumSupport, 2011).

To improve upon the APST Standard 1.4 “Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander students”, the lesson plan was modified to include paired discussion about how students

would organise a food web before sharing their ideas with the whole class (AITSL, 2011).

Lewthwaite et al. (2015) recognised the importance of group discussion for the learning of

Indigenous students. While the original lesson plan contained group discussion, this predominantly

comprised of whole-class discussion. In addition, White (2011) states that whole-class discussion

can be problematic for minority students, as students feel that there are rules and social

conventions attributed to these discussions that make them socially inaccessible and intimidating.

As a result, minority students may not engage in whole-class discussions as they may feel

intimidated by inaccessible social conventions of the activity. (Lewthwaite et al., 2015; White,

2011). In addition, Reynolds (2016) found that small-group discussions have several advantages

over whole-class discussion. Namely, small-group discussions invoke students to think more

critically, and minority students are more likely to involve themselves.

With reference to APST Standard 2.3 “Curriculum, assessment and reporting”, the lesson plan has

been modified to have students hand their Venn Diagram Worksheet back to their teacher (AITSL,

2011). This would introduce a way for the teacher to assess what their students already know and

what their students have learnt during this first lesson. Curriculum, pedagogy and assessment

should dynamically and simultaneously influence one another (AITSL, 2011). With this particular

modification, a teacher would be able to improve the way they plan future lessons of this topic. This

could be achieved by using the information obtained about their students' understanding from the

Venn Diagram worksheet. This is especially important as this lesson plan is the first lesson in a

topic (Crisp, 2010). Both Crisp (2010) and AISTL (2011) state that diagnostic tests are inextricably

tied to curriculum, and pedagogy. That is, without utilising diagnostic assessment, teachers would

not have timely information concerning the knowledge of their students. This is vital information for

a teacher to have as it directly influences subsequent lessons and pedagogy (AITSL, 2011; Crisp,

2010).

In consideration of the NSW QT Element 1.6 “Substantive communication”, the miming activity has

been modified to have student pairs present to another student pair, and then discuss the process

of composing their mime. Originally, students were to present their mime to the whole class, who

would guess which symbiotic relationship was being presented. This did not require any

justification on the part of the presenting students, and did not give opportunity for feedback. In

presenting to another pair, students would be able to immediately express and receive feedback

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about their knowledge, and the way they have chosen to present it. As previously stated, Reynolds

(2016) found that small-group work is correlated with critical thinking, and is more engaging for

some students than whole-class discussion following presentation. Thus, this modification could

open a dialogue between students about the different symbiotic relationships, which could be

fostered throughout the remainder of the topic.

Finally, an improvement can be made in regards to NSW QT Element 3.1 “Background

knowledge”. Before and after watching the Symbiosis: mutualism, commensalism, parasitism

video, teachers should ask students if they know of any relationships between animals that are not

predator/prey. The importance of prompting this background knowledge is outlined in the QT

Model guidelines (CurriculumSupport, 2011). It allows teachers to use engaging examples which

students are familiar with, and; it allows students to be engaged with the examples and apply

newly acquired information to pre-existing knowledge. Gore (as cited in Butcher & McDonald,

2007) describes the utilisation of background knowledge as a “starting place for addressing deep

knowledge” (p. 33). That is, the chance to invoke previous knowledge about new information is

critical to students' deep understanding.

To conclude, the modifications applied to the original lesson plan would result in improvement

towards APST Standard 1.4 “Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students”

by introducing small-group discussions, APST Standard 2.3 “Curriculum, assessment and

reporting” by introduction of using a worksheet as diagnostic assessment, QT Element 1.6

“Substantive communication” by asking students to discuss their understanding in small groups,

and QT Element 3.1 “Background knowledge” by explicitly asking students to share their pre-

existing knowledge concerning the different symbiotic relationships. These changes would improve

the score of the lesson according to criteria of the APST and NSW QT Model.

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2013). General Capabilities in the Australian Curriculum. Retrieved September 22, 2016, from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/pdf/overview

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Link to Weebly e-Portfolio

http://ataktikos.weebly.com/

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