Moursund's Planning for Year 2004 ICT Coursework in Teacher Education



Given below is a 2004 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) planning document developed by David Moursund.The goal was to facilitate the development of a sequence of 1-credit (quarter hour system) graduate-level joint preservice and inservice courses to be taught at the University of Oregon.

This work has been preserved for historical purposes because it contains a year 2004 snapshot of what David Moursund felt were examples of 1-credit inservice courses whose content and requirements met both the requirements of the University of Oregon and the needs of current inservice K-12 teachers.

This document was created in April 2004, revised in December 2004, and added to the IAE-pedia in June 2014.



Introduction
The College of Education at the University of Oregon makes use of a large number of one-credit courses as part of its program of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Education. The great majority of these courses are taught by adjunct faculty. Such faculty receive a temporary contract for specified teaching duties, such as for the teaching of a specific course or several courses during a year.

The intent in having a wide variety of one-credit courses is to better meet the diverse needs and interests of preservice and inservice teachers. One of the “downsides” of this situation is that quality control and consistency within and across these courses is a challenge.

This document was created to facilitate discussion about this issues of quality and consistency, and to help the instructors of the various one-credit courses. It has two main parts.


 * 1) Some general goals for ICT in Education.
 * 2) A Planning Template, with two illustrations of its use.

These illustrations are based on one-credit courses that I teach.

General UO Graduate Course Guidelines
The UO is on a quarter system, with three quarters in an academic year. A quarter-length course has 10 weeks of class meetings; final exams are scheduled during the 11th week of the term. One quarter-hour of credit is 2/3 of a semester hour of credit.

The UO has published general guidelines that a 1-credit undergraduate course has 10 hours of class meetings and that students are expected to do approximately 20 hours of work outside of class. Thus, a one-credit undergraduate course corresponds to about 30 hours of student time and effort.

The guidelines also suggest that graduate courses require 20% to 25% additional time. That is, one quarter hour of graduate credit corresponds to approximately 36 to 37.5 hours of student time and effort. However, there is a huge variation in this among different parts of the University. A rough rule of thumb that many faculty in the College of Education at the University of Oregon follow is that a graduate course requires three hours of work outside of class for each hour in class, or a total of about 40 hours of time and effort for a one-credit course. The two examples given in this document are for graduate courses and are based on the 40-hour guideline.

Finally, please note that this document represents my personal opinions and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of other faculty in the Teacher Education unit of the UO College of Education.

General ICT in Education Principles
These are ideas that the entire teacher education faculty should understand.

From a PreK-12 teacher point of view and from a teacher education faculty point of view there are three major general aspects or Goal Areas (GA1-GA3) of ICT in education:


 * GA1. ICT knowledge and skills that PreK-12 students are able to learn and “should” be learning as they progress through the grades and the specific courses they select when they have choices. ISTE has developed National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Students, and these provide a good starting point from what one might expect students to learn.


 * GA2. ICT as an aid to teaching PreK-12 students and as an aid to PreK-12 student learning. The ISTE NETS for Teachers provide us with some guidance in this area. However, this is a large, complex, and rapidly changing field.


 * GA3. ICT as an aid to increasing the personal productivity of a teacher. This might include such areas as learning to make use of an electronic gradebook, using a word processor when developing lesson plans, using the Web to do research on content areas to be taught, using email to communicate to parents and professional colleagues, and using ICT as an aid to one’s own personal lifelong learning and capacity building.

I believe that we (the teacher education faculty) can agree on the need to set goals for our students in each of GA1-GA3. However, we have not developed and implemented such a set of goals.

Our students can make progress in all of these Goal Areas through a combination of Vehicles (V1-V4):


 * V1. Their own informal and formal education before they enter a teacher education program. Informal and formal educational experiences outside the College of Education while they are in a teacher education program. Miscellaneous other informal and other ICT and ICT-in-education learning opportunities that are available to our students during the time of life when they are in our teacher education programs.


 * V2. ICT that is integrated into Methods courses.


 * V3. ICT coursework provided in their teacher education program. This may include some of the 1-credit courses that motivated the development of this document.)


 * V4. ICT that is integrated into non-Methods and non-ICT coursework, including “content” courses, practicum courses, student teaching, Capstone Projects, and Work Samples.

We (all of the teacher education faculty) have individual and joint responsibility for defining and understanding goals for ICT in education to be met by our students, and helping our students to meet these goals.

Here are a few general comments about the four vehicles listed above:


 * C1. We could (should?) establish ICT prerequisite knowledge and skills for admission into a teacher education program. A somewhat different approach would be to have clearly defined ICT prerequisite knowledge and skills, but to offer coursework that does not count towards the degree requirements, and other opportunities for students, so they can quickly meet these requirements once they are admitted to one of our programs. Finally, we have some possibility of input to courses such as the mathematics for Elementary Teachers sequence. Thus, we should examine each of these types of courses and work to have them be supportive of our ICT in education goals.


 * C2. ICT is now part of each discipline that is taught in schools. ICT is also and aid to teaching and an aid to learning in each discipline. To the extent that these observations are discipline specific, it is important that the Methods courses address these topics. To the extent that these ideas are broad based, essentially discipline-independent, they might be addressed in one or more 1-credit ICT courses.


 * C3. We need to ask ourselves what can and should be better accomplished in these courses than in any of the other approaches to helping our students meet our ICT in education goals. Generally speaking, each of these courses will be taught by a person who is highly qualified in the overall field of ICT in education—probably more qualified than most or perhaps all of the faculty who do not teach ICT in education courses. The faculty will have breadth and depth of ICT in education knowledge and skills. Each course will address a clearly specified combination of GA1-GA3. The courses will be suitable for a wide range of students at both the preservice and inservice levels, both elementary and Mid/Sec levels, and perhaps also including Special Education students.


 * C4. We are all familiar with the idea of reading and writing across the content areas. The same ideas are applicable to ICT. Our success in meeting goals for ICT in education is highly dependent on:


 * A. Having all faculty members role-model appropriate uses of ICT in education.


 * B. Expecting all students to make routine and appropriate use of ICT in their coursework.


 * C. All faculty members providing appropriate feedback to their students on the appropriateness and quality of their ICT use.

In brief summary, as a faculty we need set student goals for ICT in education, and we need to agree on what we will do to help students achieve these goals.

General Planning Template
This template is an outline of the required form(s) that need to be submitted in seeking to offer a 1-ccredit course.


 * 1) Course title, 25-word catalog copy description.
 * 2) Prerequisite, stated in a form understandable to students and faculty.
 * 3) Expanded course description, approximately 150 words.
 * 4) List and briefly discuss the Big Ideas from the field of ICT in Education that underlie, unify, and justify this course. In your discussion, make it clear how the Big Ideas relate to: A) Increasing the personal productivity of the preservice or inservice teacher; and/or B) Improving the quality of education to be received by students of the preservice or inservice teacher.
 * 5) Software and Hardware. If this course includes a strong focus on one or more specific categories of software and/or hardware, list/describe the categories and briefly describe how they are central to the Big Ideas listed in (3).
 * 6) Instruction About Software and Hardware. If this course includes specific instruction on one or more pieces of software or hardware, name the specific pieces, indicate how they fit into the specific categories named in (4), and discuss the choices from the point of view of suitability and availability to preservice and inservice teachers, and to their students. Discuss whether this course needs to be taught in a computer lab or in a Computers-on-Wheels (COW) environment.
 * 7) Time Spent on Software. What percentages of the in-class instructional time and of the student learning efforts will be spent on each of the specific pieces of software named in (5)?
 * 8) Other Content Areas. Name the other major content areas of the course. Estimate the percentages of in-class instructional time to be spent on each.
 * 9) Alignment with ISTE NETS. Briefly discuss how the course helps prepare preservice and inservice teachers to meet the ISTE National Educational Technology standards for Teachers and/or other relevant state and national ICT in education standards.
 * 10) Resourcces. Provide a brief list of resource materials from which the general course content and the required readings will be drawn.
 * 11) Sample syllabus. Provide a sample of a syllabus for the course.

Sample Course # 1: Roles of ICT in Problem Solving
1. TED 610 (1 credit). Introduction to problem solving and roles of computers in problem solving. Includes introduction to brain/mind science oriented toward helping you better understand human problem solving.

2. Prerequisite. The course assumes that students are facile with use of a Word Processor, Email, a Browser, and a Search Engine. It assumes a level of “teacher education maturity,” which means familiarity with what is going on in school classrooms, what teachers do, what students are capable of doing, and so on. This might come from informal or formal in-school field experiences, observations, assisting teachers, and so on.

3. Expanded Course Description. Each academic discipline can be defined by the types of problems and tasks it addresses, the methodologies that it uses, its history and culture, and its accumulated results. ICT is an important aid to representing and addressing the problems and tasks of each academic discipline. This course explores general ideas of problem solving and ICT in problem solving and addresses the questions:


 * • What types of problems can people solve better than ICT systems, and vice versa, and in what types of problems can the two working together far out perform either working alone?


 * • For situations in which an ICT system can solve or substantially help in solving a type of problem that we currently teach students to solve using paper and pencil or other non-ICT techniques, what changes might we want to make in curriculum, instruction, and assessment?


 * • How can we better teach students to be come more effective problem solvers?

4. ICT in Education Big Ideas. Perhaps the single most important idea in problem solving is that of building upon the accumulated knowledge and skills of others and oneself. Within each academic discipline, some of the accumulated knowledge and skill needed to represent the problems and tasks of the discipline, and to solve these problems and accomplish these tasks, can be substantially assisted (indeed, sometimes completely automated) through use of ICT systems. This makes it possible to increase the productivity of the learner (less details and procedures to learn) and the practitioner in the discipline. These types of capabilities of ICT are being steadily increased by:


 * A. Research in each non-ICT discipline.


 * B. Research in Computer and Information Science and Cognitive Science.


 * C. The development of better software and more powerful hardware.

5. General Categories of Software and Hardware. The Big Ideas of this course are independent of any general categories of software or hardware. However, specific examples in the course will discuss some general categories such as:


 * A. Calculators (4-function, algebraic, graphing) as examples of special purpose ICT systems that can solve or help solve a very wide range of problems, and are both inexpensive and easily portable.


 * B. ICT-enhanced scientific instrumentation, including probe ware that is now often used at the middle school and above in science courses.


 * C. Artificial Intelligence systems, including robots and Highly Interactive Intelligent Computer-Assisted Learning systems.


 * D. The Internet, including the Web. Together, they facilitate collaboration among problem-solvers and they provide access to a significant (and steadily growing) fraction of the accumulated knowledge of the human race.

6. Instruction on Specific Pieces of Software or Hardware. This course does not provide instruction on any specific software or hardware. It is not intended to be taught in a computer lab or COW environment.

7. Time on Specific Software or Hardware. No in-class time will be devoted to teaching specific software or hardware. No assignments require students to spend time learning specific software or hardware. [However, there is some exception to this. It is expected that assignments will be nicely and appropriately desktop published and turned in via email attachments. Students who do not know how to accomplish these two tasks are expected to learn them on their own or through other means. While the two topics will be mentioned in class, details will not be taught in class.]

8. Content Areas. Approximately equal amounts of class meeting time will be spent on each of the following content areas. (The remaining class meeting time gets spent on the mechanics of the overall course.)


 * A. Introduction to topics in Brain Science (neuroscience) and Mind Science (psychology) that help to provide a foundation for teaching and learning about roles of computers in problem solving. Introduction to intelligence and artificial intelligence (machine intelligence).


 * B. Definition of a formal, clearly defined problem. (The definition needs to be broad enough so that it can include problem posing and problem solving, question posing and question answering, task setting and accomplishing tasks, decision posing and decision making, etc.) Discussion of the idea that problem solving is an important component of each academic discipline. Importance of “ownership” and intrinsic motivation. Posing clearly defined and cognitively challenging problems, questions, and tasks.


 * C. Problem and Task Team: Roles of people, aids to the human brain, and aids to people's physical capabilities in solving problems and accomplishing tasks.


 * What types of problems can people solve better than ICT systems, and vice versa, and what types of problems can the two working together far out perform either working alone?


 * For situations in which an ICT system can solve or substantially help in solving a type of problem that we currently teach students to solve using paper and pencil techniques, what changes might we want to make in curriculum, instruction, and assessment?


 * D. Transfer of learning. Near and far transfer. Low-road and high-road transfer. Teaching for transfer. Roles of ICT in transfer. The general idea of strategies in high-road transfer. Some problem-solving strategies. Here we will emphasize strategies that tend to transfer across a number of disciplines, and strategies in which ICT makes a significant contribution.


 * E. Meaning of Expertise within a specific discipline. Domain specificity versus domain independent knowledge and skill contributing to increased problem-solving expertise. Roles of ICT in having expertise within a discipline.


 * F. Representations of a problem. There are advantages and disadvantages to various ways of representing a problem. Representing problems using computers. ICT aids to the “revise, revise, revise” or “hill climbing” approach to incremental improvements to a solution to a problem.

9. Standards. The ISTE Website http://cnets.iste.org/students/s_profiles.html contains profiles for students at various grade ranges, presented in a manner to help define the ISTE standards expected at these grade levels. The general ideas of problem solving and related ideas to be presented in the 1-credit course appear in each of the profiles.


 * The ISTE NETS for Teachers includes a strong focus on problem solving. See http://cnets.iste.org/teachers/index.shtml.


 * Problem solving is considered to be one of the major goals of education. This is nicely discussed in David Perkin’s 1992 book Smart schools: Better thinking and learning for every child. In brief summary, he indicates that the enduring goals of education are:


 * A. Acquisition and retention of knowledge and skills.


 * B. Understanding of one's acquired knowledge and skills.


 * C. Active use of one's acquired knowledge and skills. (Transfer of learning. Ability to apply one's learning to new settings. Ability to analyze and solve novel problems.)

10. Resource Materials. Resources are available in and through the following three books, and their extensive (mainly Web-based) bibliographies.


 * Moursund, D.G. (2005, 2014). Improving Math Education in Elementary Schools: A Short Book for Teachers. Retrieved 6/19/2014 from http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/43-improving-math-education-in-elementary-schools-a-short-book-for-teachers.html.


 * Moursund, D.G. (2007, 2014). Introduction to Educational Implications of Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved 6/19/2014 from http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/6-introduction-to-educational-implications-of-artificial-intelligence.html.

11. Syllabus.


 * Course Instructor: Dave Moursund.


 * Office: 124A College of Education


 * Office Hours: Thursdays 1:00 to 3:30. Also by appointment.


 * Office Phone: 541-346-3564


 * Email: moursund@uoregon.edu


 * Brief Description. This short course includes a solid introduction to problem solving and roles of computers in problem solving. While some people think that "problem solving" means solving math problems, the fact of the matter is that problem solving lies at the core of every academic discipline.

Each discipline can be defined by its unique combination of:

The types of problems, tasks, and activities it addresses. Its accumulated accomplishments such as results, achievements, products, performances, scope, power, uses, impact on the societies of the world, and so on. Its history, culture, language (including notation and special vocabulary), and methods of teaching, learning, and assessment. Its tools, methodologies, and types of evidence and arguments used in solving problems, accomplishing tasks, and recording and sharing accumulated results.

Thus, this course is not a math course, although math (and many other disciplines) will be mentioned from time to time. The course includes an introduction to brain science and mind science oriented toward helping you better understand human problem solving versus the aids that can be provided by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems. The course is specifically designed for preservice and inservice K-12 teachers. Others interested in the course must have permission of the instructor to enroll. Parents of school-age children may find the course quite useful.

Problem solving is closely linked with critical thinking and higher-order thinking skills. This linkage is discussed in the assigned readings from Moursund's book on problem solving. Here is an additional reference that is not an assigned reading, but is of considerable importance to preservice and inservice teachers.

Pogrow, Stanley (2004). The missing element in reducing the learning gap: Eliminating the "blank stare." TCRecord.com. Accessed 10/7/04: http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=11381. (Registration required.)

Pogrow developed the H.O.T.S (Higher-Order Thinking Skills) program many years ago. This recent, relatively short paper, summarizes some of his years of research and practical experience in helping students improve their thinking skills. It also helps to explain why students from lower socioeconomic home situations tend to have so much difficulty in problem solving and higher-order thinking.

Disclaimer: This is a draft version of the Syllabus. Changes are likely to be made before the start of the course and during the course. Changes made during the course will mainly consist of corrections to errors, added information, and answers to questions raised by students.

Class meetings. The class is scheduled for five Tuesday meetings, 4:00 to 5:50, Room 201 Condon, UO Campus. The class meeting dates are September 28, October 5, 12, 19, and 26. Attendance is required.

Course prerequisites. This course is specifically designed for preservice and inservice teachers at the K-12 levels. Others may be admitted with the permission of the instructor. It is assumed that:

You have taken a number of education courses designed to provide you with general background knowledge on the theory and practice of teaching. Alternatively, you have gained quite a bit of knowledge about education, kids, and schools through volunteer work and being a parent with kids in school. You know how to use a computer for word processing, desktop publication, email, Web browsing, and Web searching. It is expected that you will submit assignments as attachments to email messages sent to the course instructor. The required reading assignments all come from materials that are on the Web. You are a mature and responsible learner, able to function well at a graduate student level. You are able and willing to commit the time that this course requires. The total amount of time required by this course is about 40 hours. This is based on about 10 hours of class meetings and about three hours of work outside of class for each hour in class.

Participants. There are five different categories of students who might be taking this course.

Students enrolled in TED 610 Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age I. The 1-credit course Roles of Computer Technology in Problem Solving constitutes 1/3 of the requirements of that course. Preservice teachers from the Middle School/Secondary School teacher education program at the University of Oregon. Preservice teachers in the Graduate Elementary Teaching (GET) program. Inservice teachers. Miscellaneous other people who are interested in the field of computers and problem solving, and who have the flexibility to fit into a course that is not specifically tailored to fit their needs.

Rules and Regulations. Yes, there are rules and regulations. See Rules and Regulations for details.

Resources and Reading Assignments. Essentially all of the required readings for this course are available free on the Web. If additional readings are required, copies will be provided free in class.

Moursund's book, Brief Introduction to Roles of Computers in Problem Solving, is required reading for the course. Click here to access a PDF version of the book.

Additional assigned readings come from Moursund's book, Brief Introduction to Educational Implications of Artificial Intelligence.

The reading assignments include:

Date and Comment

Materials

Before or very soon after Class meeting # 1 Prefix, and Parts 1,2 of Moursund's book on Problem Solving.

Before Class meeting # 2 Appendix A, Moursund's book on Problem Solving.

Chapter 1 of Moursund's book on Artificial Intelligence.

Before Class meeting # 3 Parts 3, 4, 5, 6 of Moursund's book on Problem Solving.

Before Class meeting # 4 Parts 7, 8, 9 of Moursund's book on Problem Solving.

Before Class meeting # 5 Appendix B, Moursund's book on Problem Solving.

Part 10 of Moursund's book on Problem Solving.

Outline of Course Content

Day

Major Content Topics for Class Meeting 														Each Content Topic Can Be Thought Of As Defining A Course Objective

1

Introduction to and overview of the course; requirements and expectations. Discussion of the idea that problem solving is an important component of each academic discipline, and that ICT is a powerful aid to problem solving in each discipline. Examples of problems in a wide range of disciplines. Introduction to the general topic of problem solving, critical thinking, and other higher-order cognitive activities. Definition of a formal, clearly defined problem. Domain-specific and domain-independent knowledge and skill needed in problem solving. Exploration of roles of ICT as an aid to problem solving from domain-specific and domain-independent points of view.

2

The general idea of learning facts versus learning to think using one's facts. What constitutes "fact?" Here, one aspect is research-based facts, where the research might be library-based or empirical. There are many different kinds of empirical research. Brain/mind science and problem solving. Theories of intelligence, with an emphasis on: the General factor "g"; the two-factor model of Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence, gF and gC; Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences; and Robert Sternberg's Triarchic Theory. What topic (B) tells us about how to teach for problem solving. Problem-solving expertise within a discipline from a point of view of four factors: Piagetian development; general knowledge and skills; discipline-specific knowledge and skills; and "maturity" within the discipline. Maturity includes a lot of factors such as: learning to learn; learning to find and build on the work of others (for example, using the Web and other publications); being able to solve problems within the discipline and problems related to the discipline from other disciplines; understanding the logic of arguments within the discipline, and being able to create and present such arguments; being able to communicate effectively in the discipline; and problem identification, recognition, and clarification; and problem posing. What topic (D) tells us about teaching for problem solving. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. Compare and contrast human and artificial intelligence, and explore implications for teaching and learning problem solving. Perhaps the key idea is to think carefully about curriculum that is designed to teach students to do what computers can do quite well. If a computer can solve a particular category of problem, what do you want students to learn about how to solve this category of problem?

3

Discussion of and feedback on first assignment. Special focus on problems associated with the discipline of reading. More generally, how does one identify "problems" within a discipline, and distinguish between lower-order and higher-order cognition? Posing clearly defined and cognitively challenging problems, questions, and tasks. Helping students learn to ask higher-order thinking skill questions. Breaking the pattern of teachers mainly asking lower-order questions. Distinguishing between problems that can be solved once and forever, and those that can't. What are characteristics of problems or categories of problems that can be solved once and forever? How does ICT fit into this? Problem and Task Team: Roles of people, aids to the human brain, and aids to people's physical capabilities in solving problems and accomplishing tasks. Transfer of Learning. Near and far transfer. Low-road and high-road transfer. Teaching for transfer, and the idea that every instance of teaching problem solving is an opportunity to teach for transfer. Roles of ICT in transfer. Meaning of Expertise within a specific discipline. Roles of a teacher or coach in helping a student move up an expertise scale. [What roles might ICT play in providing feedback that is helpful in increasing one's expertise in a domain?] Domain specificity versus domain independent knowledge and skill contributing to increased problem-solving expertise. How long does it take to achieve a very high level of expertise in a discipline or a limited part of a domain? Athleticism—a word for "natural talent" in athletics? Nature versus nurture in achieving a given level of expertise within a discipline.

4

Some Problem-Solving Strategies. Here we will emphasize strategies that tend to transfer across a number of disciplines, and strategies in which ICT makes a significant contribution. Representations of a Problem. There are advantages and disadvantages to various ways of representing a problem. Representing Problems Using Computers.

5

Computer programming. Summary, general conclusions, what else is there to be learned in this field, and final questions.

Homework Assignments. There are three assignments. The three assignments are related to each other. I suggest that you read all three assignments before starting the first. You will want to use ideas and materials from the first two assignments as you do the third assignment. Turn in assignments by appropriately attaching the completed document in an email sent to me . Remember that assignments are to be appropriately word processed and desktop published. When submitting via email attachment, please indicate in the body of the email what word processing software you have used.

If you do not know the meaning of "appropriately word processed and desktop published, you are well advised to seek help from someone who does. Very roughly speaking, appropriate desktop publication includes:

Use of a Serif font (probably 12 point) for the body of the text. Use of a Sans Serif font for headings. Use of styles that are either provided by the word processor or that you create. (It is important to know how to build a style sheet and to make use of a style sheet.) Use of appropriate headings and subheadings to break your paper into readable and understandable chunks. Use of only one blank space between sentences. It is easy to remove extra blanks. Do a global "serach and replace," searching for two blanks in a row and replacing by a single blank. Note that if you have three blanks in a row, the global search and replace needs to be done twice to correct this. No use of tabs for achieving indents at the start of a line or paragraph. Generally speaking, use of two tabs in a row is following spacing ideas used in typing. A global search and replace can search for two tabs in a row and replace by a single tab. (In Microsoft Word, the two characters ^t stand for a tab when doing a search. Similarly, the two characters ^p stand for a "return" or line feed. Spacing and other aspects of the layout and design that facilitate effective communication and aid the reader. Among other things this means not using a lot of different type faces, not skipping lines between paragraphs, and not using a nonproportional font such as Courier. Generally speaking, use of blank lines to force a page break is very poor desktop publishing. Learn to use a Page Break or a Section Break. Also, learn about keeping lines together. Microsoft Word has this feature available in the Paragraph option of the Format menu. Use of a hanging indent for a document's bibliography. Appropriate indentation for numbered and bulleted lists. Finally, please be aware that many word processors include a built-in style named "Normal" that is automatically used when no style is specified. Thus, as I read through a document and look at the styles being used in various components of the document, I can quickly see if the writer has made use of user-defined styles or a comprehensive list of built-in styles. Use of "Normal" tells me that the user is using the computer like an electric typewriter.

Nowadays, most students in the class are using Microsoft Word for their word processor. This word processor has a built-in set of styles. Much of the task of editing styles or adding styles can be done through the menus available in the Formatting Pallet. However, one can also make use of the Style item in the Format menu.

(Due before the beginning of the second class meeting, October 5.) Select an academic discipline and a grade level from the K-12 curriculum. For example, you might pick science at the third grade, or history at the 10th grade. (Most likely you will want to select a discipline that you know fairly well. You will use this discipline and grade level for all three assignments.) For that discipline, identify and discuss what students learn about problem solving during the year. What aspects of the curriculum, instruction, and assessment foster growth in problem solving. Be as specific as possible. This assignment requires that you focus on a specific discipline and that you have good insight into problem solving within that discipline. A good starting point is to think about the types of problems that people within the discipline have solved and are working to solve. From a problem solving, task accomplishing, critical thinking, higher-order thinking point of view, what distinguishes a novice problem solver in the discipline from a person who has made progress in moving up the expertise scale in the discipline? Next, think carefully about what contributions to increasing expertise in problem solving in the discipline are considered to be part of the year's instruction in the discipline and grade level you select. You might want to look at a scope and sequence provided by a school district or a state. How can you tell at the end of the year that students have become better at solving the problems of the discipline than they were at the beginning of the year? Notice that there is no mention of computers in this assignment. The focus is on non-computer-related aspects of problem solving, critical thinking, and so on within the discipline. The total paper that you product should be 450 to 600 words in length. Please do not make it longer. In both this assignment and assignment # 2 you are encouraged to discuss the ideas with your colleagues in this course and with others. You are encouraged to make use of resources such as the Web, state benchmarks and essential skills, and local benchmarks and essential skills. However, the final document must be your own writing. Please avoid any behaviors that might be construed as plagiarism. When writing papers to be turned in to Dave Moursund, you are strongly encouraged to include a short set of references that are relevant to and supportive of your work. (Due before the beginning of the fourth class meeting, October 19.) This is a follow-up to the first assignment. You should use the same discipline and grade level that you used in the first assignment. For that discipline, use introspection and metacognition to make a list of three or four "strategies" that you understand and that you routinely use in thinking about, communicating about, and solving problems within the discipline, Your list must include at least one ICT-based strategies and at least one non-ICT-based strategy. For each of the strategies in your list, write a brief paragraph explaining the meaning of the strategy to you, why this strategy is particularly useful to you, your thoughts on the usefulness of your students developing/learning a similar strategy for themselves, and your thoughts on why the grade level you have selected is a suitable grade level when a student might develop/learn such a strategy. The total paper that you product should be 450 to 600 words in length. Please do not make it longer. (Due by 5:00 PM on Tuesday November 2.) Use the same grade level and discipline used in the first two assignments. For that discipline and grade level, develop a unit of study on ICT and problem solving that is at least five lessons in length. (Here, I take the word "lesson" to be something that is perhaps 40 to 50 minutes of instruction.) The goal of the unit is to have students gain increased knowledge, skill, and understanding of problem solving and roles of computers in problem solving within the discipline. You want this increase knowledge, skill, and understanding to transfer into the future. The unit of study must include both an overview of problem solving appropriate to your student audience and also an introduction to roles of ICT in problem solving suitable to your student audience. One possible approach is to focus on the two ideas: strategies and "maturity." A unit of study might include an introduction to the idea of strategies in problem solving, review some strategies that the students have previously learned about or developed on their own, and cover one or two ICT-based strategies. All of this would be done in a manner designed to increase a student's "maturity" within the discipline. A good unit of study is apt to contain: An introduction that provides an overview of key ideas to be taught, why these were selected, why they are appropriate to the intended audience and instructional task, and so on. This includes goals and objectives for the entire unit. Abbreviated daily lesson plans. There is no specific required length for this overall assignment, and there is no specific length or format for a daily lesson plan. However, I am looking for the "guts" of the curriculum content, instructional process, and assessment in each lesson. A half page to a page per lesson will likely suffice. A limited amount of new material that is at an appropriate developmental and maturity level for the students. Many people developing lesson plans make the mistake of expecting that they will cover far more than students can learn and understand in the time available. It is easy to "teach over their heads." In many ways, "less is more." Strive for student understanding, rather than coverage of a lot of material. How you will assess the student learning and progress from the unit of study. This need not be a long discussion. However, it is not adequate to just say something like: "I will observe the students as they are doing the activities in the daily lessons." If you are going to do such an observational approach, what specifically will you be looking for? Can you observe the work or activity of each individual student during a lesson, and tell if the learning you are looking for is occurring or has occurred? [Note added 11/28/04. Think about both formative and summative assessment. During and at the end of a lesson, you will gather some formative assessment information. How will you do this? What will you learn from this information?. At the end of the unit, you will likely do some sort of summative assessment activity. What will you do, and how will you analyze the results? Thus, your overall report to be turned in is apt to contain a short statement about assessment as part of each lesson, and then a statement about assessment at the end of the entire unit.] Copies of reading material and handouts and for the students, if any. References.

Your unit of study needs to contain sufficient detail so that I can readily understand it. One way to think about this is, could another student in our class understand and teach the unit? There are no specific requirements on the length of this document. Grading will be based on quality, and will take into consideration the bulleted items listed above.

Grading. Grading in this course is based on a 100 point scale with possible points given in the table below. Each assignment is penalized 10% of its total possible points for each day (or fraction there of) that the assignment is turned in late.

Activity

Points

Attendance & participation @ 7 points per class meeting. Three points is awarded for being present during the class meeting. Four points is awarded based on a very short quiz that will be given some time during each of the first four class meetings. Four points is awarded for completing the course evaluation form at the end of the final class meeting. 35

Assignment # 1, due before the beginning of the second class meeting, October 5. 15

Assignment # 2, due before the beginning of the fourth class meeting, October 19. 15

Assignment # 3, due by 5:00 PM on Tuesday November 2. 35

Total Possible Points ->

100

Percentage Letter Grade

78% or above P (Pass) on a P/N Basis

78% to (but not including) 80% B minus

80% to (but not including) 88% B

88% to (but not including) 90% B plus

90 % to (but not including) 92% A minus

92% to 97% A

Above 97% A plus

Frequently Asked and/or Very Relevant Questions Raised by Class Participants

Can I have permission to take the course if I am going to miss the first class meeting. Answer: No. The first class meeting in 1/3 of the entire course/workshop and provides the foundation for the remainder of the course/workshop. You talk a lot about increasing expertise within a discipline and as a teacher. Can you summarize some of your key ideas? Answer: If you watch a young child develop physically and mentally, you will see increasing physical and mental expertise. Crawling, walking, running… a natural progression along a physical movement expertise scale. Babbling, saying a few words, talking in phrases and whole sentences, carrying on an intelligent conversation …steps along a scale of increasing verbal communication expertise. Within any discipline one can think of an expertise scale moving from a very beginner (a novice) toward a personally useful level of knowledge and skill, and then moving toward ever increasing levels of knowledge and skills. We use the term "world class" to talk about a person who has achieved a very high level of knowledge and skill. As you help your students learn a particular discipline, think about what you are doing to move the student toward increasing expertise. Increasing expertise tends to be a mixture of gaining increased lower-order knowledge and skills, gaining increased higher-order knowledge and skills, and gaining experience in using the lower-order and the higher-order knowledge and skills. As a teacher, you want to create a learning environment that fosters this growth. Finally, think about your own growth toward increasing expertise as a teacher. Teaching is a very complex and challenging profession. There is a huge and continually growing Craft and Science of Teaching and Learning. Some of this you learn as a preservice teacher. However, much is learned on the job, especially during the first half-dozen years. Because of the complexity of the field, as well as the steadily growing Craft and Science of Teaching and Learning, the challenge to be a good teacher is never ending.

Sample Course # 2: ICT-assisted Project-based Learning
1. Teacher Education (TED) 610 (1 credit). Student-centered approach to curriculum, instruction, and assessment that focuses on students making routine and powerful uses of ICT as they develop products, performances, and presentations.

2. Prerequisite. The course assumes that students are facile with use of a Word Processor, Email, a Browser, and a Search Engine. It assumes a modest level of familiarity (a “talking knowledge”) with a wide range of computer hardware and software such as digital still and video cameras, creating and using presentation graphics and interactive multimedia, and science data-gathering instrumentation. The course assumes that students are familiar with modern school classrooms, students, teachers as well as general ideas of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and developing a lesson plan for a unit of study of significant length. That is, it assumes more “teacher education maturity” than does the 1-credit course Roles of ICT in Problem Solving.

3. Expanded Course Description. Project-based learning (PBL) is a teaching methodology in which the teacher is a “guide on the side” rather than a “sage on the stage.” It is a student-centered approach to teaching and learning that seeks to empower students and build upon their intrinsic motivation. In PBL, students work individually or in groups over an extended period of time to develop a product, presentation, or performance. Students gain increased skill in being independent, self-sufficient, intrinsically motivated learners.

This course is designed for preservice and inservice teachers at all levels and in all fields. It explores roles of ICT in both the theory and practice of project-based learning and includes a brief introduction to problem-based learning. It includes a detailed step-by-step approach to planning and implementing PBL lessons—the curriculum content, the instructional processes, and the assessment. There is considerable emphasis on the development and use of rubrics for assessment.

4. ICT in Education Big Ideas. There are three unifying ideas in this course:


 * * PBL is an effective approach to create multidisciplinary student-centered learning environments in which students learn to learn and learn by doing. ICT-assisted PBL can be used to create learning environments in which include routine use of ICT. This fits in well with both Situated Learning and Constructivism.


 * * ICT-assisted PBL provides an environment in which specific ICT topics can be learned and practices, and in which students can make progress on a wide range of the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Students.


 * * ICT-assisted PBL helps students to learn to make use of ICT as an aid to being an independent, self-sufficient learner as well as learning to work cooperatively in a group and to help their peers to learn.

5. General Categories of Software and Hardware. As PreK-12 students do ICT-assisted PBL, they draw upon their full range of knowledge and skills in the use of ICT tools. Thus, the course reading material and in-class discussions cover a wide range of hardware and software.

6. Instruction on Specific Pieces of Software or Hardware. This course does not provide any specific instruction in the use of specific pieces of ICT hardware or software. It is not designed to be taught in a computer lab or a COW environment.

7. Time on Specific Software or Hardware. No in-class time will be devoted to teaching specific software or hardware. No assignments require students to spend time learning specific software or hardware. [However, there is some exception to this. It is expected that assignments will be nicely and appropriately desktop published and turned in via email attachments. Students who do not know how to accomplish these two tasks are expected to learn them on their own or through other means. While the two topics will be mentioned in class, details will not be taught in class.]

8. Content Areas. Approximately equal amounts of class meeting time will be spent on each of the following content areas. (The remaining class meeting time gets spent on the mechanics of the overall course.)


 * A. Definition of and introduction to Project-based Learning and Problem-based Learning. Small group and whole class sharing of personal PBL experiences as a student and/or as a teacher, at the precollege and college levels. The general theory of Situated Learning, and the ideas of “guide on the side” and “sage on the stage.”


 * B. Research supporting PBL. This includes research on: 1) Constructivism and Situated Learning; 2) Motivation Theory (intrinsic motivation); 3) Inquiry & Discovery-Based Learning; 4) Cooperative Learning; 5) Peer instruction; 6) Individual & Collaborative Problem Solving; 7) Problem-Based Learning; 8)Rubrics--clearly defined (not hidden) expectations; 9) Multiple forms of assessment. Clearly defined rubrics facilitate self-assessment, peer assessment, assessment by the teacher, and assessment by outside experts; and 10) Direct research studies on PBL.


 * C. Examples of ICT-assisted PBL and sources of ICT-assisted PBL lessons and ideas. The PBL literature.


 * D. Planning a PBL lesson. Includes careful analysis of ICT-related goals and non-ICT-related goals in an ICT-assisted PBL lesson, and amounts of time to be spent on each.


 * E. Implementing an ICT-assisted PBL lesson. Timelines, formative evaluation, and summative evaluation (including a strong focus on use of rubrics) for a PBL lesson. Discussion of student involvement in creating rubrics in a PBL lesson.

9. Standards. Possible components of this section might include:


 * • An analysis of the student-centered approaches recommended by ISTE in its National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers. See http://cnets.iste.org/teachers/index.shtml.


 * • Recommendations by various organizations and researchers on use of Situated Learning and Constructivism. (I am not aware of any “standards” that have been developed in these two areas.)


 * • Recommendations by various organizations and researchers on cooperative learning. (I am not aware of any “standards” that have been developed in these two areas.)

10. Resource Materials. Resources are available in and through the following two book and Website, and their extensive (mainly Web-based) bibliographies.


 * Moursund, D.G. (1999). Project-based Learning in an Information Technology Environment. Eugene, OR: ISTE. Revised edition published November 2002 by ISTE.


 * Moursund, D.G. Project-Based Learning Website. Accessed 4/26/04: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7emoursund/PBL/.

11. Syllabus.


 * This page contains a Syllabus for a Spring 2005 University of Oregon 1-credit (quarter-hour system). Revised 4/21/05.


 * Course Instructor: Dave Moursund.


 * Class meetings. Room 151 Education, 4:00 to 5:50 Thursdays, for the first five weeks of the term, beginning 31 March 2005.


 * Office Hours: Spring Term 2005 office Hours are 1:00 to 3:50 Thursdays during the first five weeks of the term, and 3:30 to 5:50 Thursdays during the last five weeks of the term. My offices is in Room 124A, College of Education. Phone (541) 346-3564. Email: moursund@uoregon.edu. Office hours sometimes get canceled due to meetings and/or out of town trips. Please do not contact me at home except in extreme emergencies.


 * Rationale, Goals, Objectives


 * ICT is a powerful aid to representing and solving complex problems. An ICT-Assisted PBL teaching and learning environment can provide an authentic, situated learning, constructivist, interdisciplinary, cooperative learning environment that has many advantages over the traditional "stand and deliver" classroom environment. In this environment students can learn valuable lifelong skills such as self assessment, planning a task of significant length, budgeting time and other resources, working on a team, self-assessment, peer assessment, giving and receiving feedback from one's peers, and taking increasing responsibility for one's own learning. The environment allows also allows teachers to learn alongside their students as they facilitate and participate in a student-centered teaching and learning.


 * The goal of the course is to substantially increase students' applied and theory-based knowledge and skills in ICT-Assisted PBL


 * More detailed objectives focus on topics such as:


 * Developing an authentic, student-centered, ICT-Assisted PBL unit of study.

Teaching interdisciplinary content, meeting the needs of diverse students, and learning to be a facilitator (guide on the side) as distinguished from a stand and deliver (sage on the stage) type of teacher.


 * Authentic formative and summative assessment in ICT-Assisted PBL.

Use of ICT-Assisted PBL to translate educational theory (such as constructivism, motivation, cooperative learning, cooperative problems solving, situated learning, peer instruction, peer feedback) into practice.


 * Learning to learn along side and from one's students.


 * Participants. There are three different groups of students who may be taking this Information and Communication Technology-Assisted Project-Based Learning (ICT-Assisted PBL) course:


 * Students enrolled in TED 610 Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age.

Preservice teachers, mainly from the Middle School/Secondary School or GET teacher education programs at the University of Oregon. Likely these students are taking the course as1/3 of a three credit requirement in their program of study. Inservice teachers.


 * Rules and Regulations. To the extent that the rules and regulations from the TED 610 Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age course are applicable, they apply to this course.


 * Late Work


 * Work must be turned electronically before the beginning of class to count as having been turned in on that day.


 * Late work will lose 10% for each day or fraction thereof that it is late. For example, if a class is scheduled to begin at 4:00 and you turn in an assignment (electronically) at 4:01, it is counted as one day late.

Special exceptions will be made due to illness and University-sanctioned trips (such as sports, band). Arrangements must be made in advance with the instructor.


 * Resources. There are no materials that you need to purchase.


 * Participants in the ICT PBL course/workshop will receive a free copy of the 375 page book National Educational Technology Standards for Students: Connecting Curriculum and Technology published by the International society for Technology in Education. (Note that this book can also be accessed for free online at http://cnets.iste.org/students/s_book.html.) This book is an excellent source of ideas for PBL lessons that make use of ICT.


 * In addition, the course will draw heavily from the Website http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~moursund/PBL/.


 * Reading Assignments. You are responsible for the information and general ideas in the readings listed below. You will be expected to show understanding of these materials during in-class discussions and in your term assignment.


 * A very good approach to these readings is to read them all early in the term. Then take a look at the Day By Day Course Content. A day or so before a class meeting, carefully reread and study the parts of the readings that are specifically relevant to the upcoming clsass meeting. You will want to pay attention to the information given in the Day By Day Course Content about what the quizzes will cover.


 * Read in detail, aiming for a high level of understanding, each of the eight parts of this Website that are listed as "Outline of these materials" and #1 through #8 in the menu on the left of this Web page. These cover materials included in the class lectures, discussions, and quizzes.

Read in detail, aiming for a high level of understanding, the following chapters from Moursund's 1999 book on PBL, available at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~moursund/PBL1999/index.htm.


 * Chapter 1: Introduction and a PBL Example.
 * Chapter 3: Some PBL Lesson Topic Ideas
 * Chapter 7: Assessment of IT-assisted PBL


 * Browse up through page 25 of National Educational Technology Standards for Students: Connecting Curriculum and Technology, paying particular attention to the materials at the grade levels you teach or plan to teach, and the grade levels lower than this.

Browse the lesson plans part of National Educational Technology Standards for Students: Connecting Curriculum and Technology, paying particular attention to lesson plans that might be relevant to your teaching. Browse the References section of this PBL Website you are currently browsing, looking for materials that seem relevant to you. For materials that look relevant and are available on the Web, go to their Websites and explore the materials. Do additional explorations on the Web and/or using other resources to support your work on the assigned project for this course.


 * Graded Activities (100 points Total)


 * The table summarizes the points. Some details are given after the table. Additional details are given in the next section. A score of 78 points is required to receive a Pass on a P/N basis in the course. A score of 78 or 79 points corresponds to a B minus grade. An A- is 88 or 89 points.


 * Date
 * Attend Class
 * Quiz
 * Assignment to turn in
 * Assignment Points


 * 3/31/05
 * 5

5
 * (Nothing Due)
 * (None)


 * 4/7/05
 * 5
 * 5
 * Detailed Topic & Needs Assessment
 * 5


 * 4/14/05
 * 5
 * 5
 * Progress Report # 1
 * 5


 * 4/21/05
 * 5
 * 5
 * Progress Report # 2
 * 5


 * 4/28/05
 * 5
 * (No)
 * Oral Presentation
 * 10


 * 5/5/05
 * (No class)
 * (No)
 * Final Written Report
 * 30


 * Totals
 * 25
 * 20
 * Total of 100 Points
 * 55

Attend Class: There are five class meetings, each worth five points.

Quizzes: The first quiz will be at the end of the first class meeting. It will be the question:

Write a short paragraph summarizing an idea or topic that was discussed in class today that you felt was particularly important from your point of view. Then write a short paragraph summarizing an idea or topic that was discussed in class today that you felt was not particularly important. A full five points will be awarded for completing this writing task.

Quizzes at the beginning of class meetings #2, #3, and #4 will be based on the reading assignments. See details in Day By Day Course Content.

Course Project: There is just one assignment for the course, but it has five graded components/activities. All written materials to be turned in should be nicely desktop published and should be turned in as email attachments to the course instructor. More details on the assignment are given in the next section of this syllabus.

Topic. Turn in a clear description of the topic you have selected for your course project. A full five points is awarded for a good faith effort to provide a clear, moderately detailed description of the topic. Progress Report # 1. Turn in a short report of the work you have done on your project during the previous week. A full five points is awarded for a good faith effort to provide a clear description of your progress, (provided you have made significant progress). Progress Report # 2. Turn in a short report of the work you have done on your project during the previous week. A full five points is awarded for a good faith effort to provide a clear description of your progress, (provided you have made significant progress). Oral Report given during the last day of class meetings. Each person will have about 5-6 minutes to present a report to the class on their project. Likely there will then be time for a question or two. Details of assessment for this report are given in the next section of this syllabus. Final Written Report. This is due no later than one week after the last class meeting. Details of assessment for this report are given in the next section of this syllabus.

Course Objectives and Assignments. There is only one assignment. It is relatively open ended so that you can do work that you deem useful. In essence, this assignment constitutes a summary of the objectives for the course. That is, the unifying objective is for you to learn to make effective use of ICT-Assisted PBL in your teaching in a manner that improves the quality of education that your students receive. The assignment is:

Develop a relatively detailed ICT-Assisted PBL unit (of at least five lessons in length) specifically designed so that you can use it in your current teaching assignment or in your first year on the job. The unit should have carefully defined goals based on the goals template discussed in the PBL Website, along with a careful discussion of what will occur to accomplish and assess the goals.

The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of education that your students are receiving or will receive. Thus, you should give careful thought (backed up by what you learn in the ICT PBL course readings and class meetings, your previous learning, the research literature, and so on) why use of your lesson will improve the quality of education of students.

Your lesson can be developed for group-based ICT-PBL or for individual-student-based ICT-PBL. The design decision you make should be carefully justified based on the overall aim to improve the education your students are receiving.

Some of the other things to think about when doing this assignment:

The starting point is to determine a teaching & learning problem that you feel might better be addressed by ICT-based PBL than by other approaches. The careful thinking, (data gathering if needed), and analysis done during this starting point is called a Needs Assessment. It results in a clear statement of the curriculum topic area your project will be about and what grade level of students it will address. This problem statement includes initial efforts to state learning outcomes and why they might well be better or more appropriate than learning outcomes produced by other approaches to this teaching/learning situation. The five point Detailed Topic & Needs Assessment is a summary of the results of the work described above. You can think of the course assignment as a Project that is five weeks in length, with each person doing their own project. Develop a plan for what work you will do during weeks 2-5 of the course, and during the week after the course ends. This plan should be a major part of what you turn in as Progress Report #1. Your Report # 1 should also include a first draft of a filled out PBL Lesson Planning Table. It is perfectly all right to make significant changes in your plan and your PBL Lesson Planning Table as you make progress on doing your project. Progress Report # 2 will contain considerable detail about how you are doing in implementing your plan and your PBL Lesson Planning Table. But, it might include a new or thoroughly revised plan and table, and progress you are making in implementing your new or revised plan and table. By the fifth class meeting, the expectation is that you will have made sufficient progress on your course project so that you can share it with your fellow students. Your presentation should include:

A handout that is 1 to 2 pages in length that includes a clear summary of your ICT-PBL unit. It should also include the most important components of the annotated bibliography for your project. Use of media or multimedia if you feel it is appropriate and will enhance your presentation. (You are not required to use an overhead projector or multimedia in this short presentation. However, you are encouraged to do so.) Your presentation should contain enough information so that class members can use it as a good starting point to develop and implement a somewhat similar project that would work with the students and topics they teach or plan to teach.

Note: In recent years there has been some good criticism of slide show-types of presentations. (Nowadays, they are often called PowerPoint presentations.) Here is a brief quote from a January 2004 interview of Donald Norman. Norman is highly respected as an expert in design for effective communication. In the quoted material, he is discussing criticisms put forth by Edward Tufte of a particular set of PowerPoint materials. Accessed 3/9/05: http://www.sociablemedia.com/articles_norman.htm

Tufte is correct when he complains about misleading data and bad summarization that oversimplifies and may even omit important footnotes and qualifications about the data. Tufte is wrong when he confuses great depth of detail with a good talk.

Tufte would overwhelm the talk audience with more data than can be assimilated in a talk. He doesn't seem to realize that there are really three different items involved here:

1. The notes the speaker will use (which should be seen only by the speaker).

2. The slides the audience will see.

3. Handouts that will be taken away for later study.

A talk can NEVER present as much information as a written paper. Talks should be pointers to the important material. But neither the spoken talk nor the accompanying notes - PowerPoint or not - should be confused with or used for the real information.

The written report must begin with a well polished version of your Detailed Topic & Needs Assessment. (This will likely be different from the one you turned in earlier during the class, as it will reflect insights you gained during the work on the project. The written report must contain a detailed PBL Lesson Planning Table. The written report must contain a careful discussion of how you will do both formative and summative assessment of student learning. The written report must contain lesson plans with enough detail so that they would provide a really good starting point if someone else were going to make use of your ICT-PBL. The ICT-PBL lesson must contain a discussion of how to modify the unit to accommodate Learning Disabled and TAG students. The written report must contain an annotated bibliography. Its scope should be appropriate to the depth, breadth, and scope of your overall ICT-PBL unit. The References section of this PBL Website serve as an example of an Annotated Bibliography. The following are some notes I made to myself after grading projects at the end of the course the last time I taught this course.

Your students need to be able to understand the assessment process. They need details that help them understand how well they are meeting the criteria. Some of the details are easy, such as a student meeting specific Milestone timeline requirements. Others, especially those focusing on higher-order knowledge and skills, are more of a challenge. However, keep in mind that an underlying goal in any PBL is students learning to take increased responsibility for their work and learning. To take such responsibility, students need to understand what constitutes good work and good learning. As we pointed out in class, there is a strong parallel between the steps of Process Writing and the steps in producing a product, presentation, or performance. A key aspect of PBL is providing for students to obtain feedback (formative evaluation) on the progress they are making, and then using this in the "revise, revise, revise" aspect of their work. Quite likely your students are not particularly skilled in PBL. What will you do to assess their knowledge and skills in effectively learning in this environment? What will you do to increase their level of expertise as a learner in this environment?

Day By Day Course Contents

Class #

Contents

For each of the detailed content listings given for a class meeting, all but the first and the last can be considered as Objectives For The Course.

1

3/31/05

Introduction of instructor and the course/workshop. Handout the handouts. Discussion of course requirements Each class member shares (for about 2 minutes) one personal experience with PBL, preferably from precollege. Discussion: What is ICT-Assisted PBL? Individual and team projects; short and long projects. Learning goals in an ICT-Assisted PBL lesson. ICT-PBL Planning Table. Final questions and comments, day # 1. Short quiz at end of the class meeting. Click here for the quiz question.

2

Return quiz from day # 1. Review of first class meeting contents; questions. Short quiz on planning, timelines, milestones, etc. based mainly of the content of 4. Planning a PBL Lesson and 6. Timeline and Milestones of this Website. ICT-PBL theory and practice. The published literature and other resources. Planning an ICT-Assisted PBL lesson. Emphasis on authentic content, including authentic product, presentation, or performance. Timelines and milestones in an ICT-Assisted PBL lesson. Final questions and comments, day # 2.

3

Return quiz from day # 2. Review of first two class meetings; questions. Short quiz based on the readings about assessment, such as Chapter 7 of Moursund's 1999 book and 7. Assessment of this Website. Review idea of authenticity of content and process in a project. Tie in with authentic assessment, self assessment, and peer assessment.. Individual and team responsibilities in a team term project. Assessing oral presentations. Formative and summative assessment. Debriefing a project with one's students and with oneself. Writing detailed notes to oneself for use in revising & improving the PBL unit and using it again in the future. Final questions and comments, day # 3

4

Return quiz from day # 3. Review of first three class meetings; questions. Short quiz based mainly on 5. Authoring a Hypermedia Document of this Website. Product, performance or presentation by students in a PBL Unit. Learning how to do them; difficulties in developing good hypermedia products. Final questions and comments, day # 4.

5

Return quiz from day # 4. Student presentations, 5-6 minutes each. Course evaluation.

Frequently Asked and/or Very Relevant Questions Raised by Class Participants

What is Project-Based Learning? Answer: Google has a feature that makes it easy to find definitions of a word or term. In Google, use the search phrase: define: XXXXXX to get a definition of XXXXX. Last year when I entered project based learning for the XXXXX, Google gave me a half dozen definitions. On 4/07/05, however, it merely told me it did not have a definition and suggested I just search the web using the term project based learning. I did so, and Google got 40,600,000 hits. A definition is provided in the readings. See http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7emoursund/PBL/part_3.htm. Note that project-based learning and problem-based learning are related, but are not the same thing. Here is q useful quote from Penuel, William R. and Barbara Means (1999). Observing Classroom Processes in Project-Based Learning Using Multimedia: A Tool for Evaluators. Accessed 3/9/05: http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/ techconf99/whitepapers/paper3.html

There are seven components of the Project Based Learning Using Multimedia model. Projects are expected to:

Be anchored in core curriculum; multidisciplinary Involve students in sustained effort over time Involve student decision-making Be collaborative Have a clear real-world connection Use systematic assessment: both along the way and end product Take advantage of multimedia as a communication tool

I am a "stand and deliver" type of teacher, although I try hard to generate a lot of interaction with and among my students. How does this differ from PBL? Answer: PBL is much more student oriented than what you have described. Students work individually or in groups over a period of time to produce a product, performance, or presentation. The role of the teacher becomes much more of a "guide on the side" as contrasted with being a "sage on the stage." Must a teacher be just one of "guide on the side" or "sage on the stage?" Answer: No. Even if a teacher is fully committed to PBL, it is highly appropriate and effective to interrupt the whole class's work on their projects and deliver a short (interactive) "sage on the stage" type of presentation on a topic that is relevant to all or most of the students. Most "sage on the stage" teachers who experiment with and come to enjoy PBL end up with an appropriate mix of the two teaching styles. Keep in mind that the goal is student learning, and you (the teacher) are a significant part of the environment facilitating that learning. On any given component or topic that you are teaching, you should select teaching methodology that will (in your opinion and experience) product the best learning. You have noted that the research on PBL is not overly strong. Thus, many of your arguments supporting PBL are based on research on topics that are only somewhat related to a PBL type of instruction. Why is this? Answer: There are a huge numbers of published articles on PBL. However, most of them are testimonials rather than research articles. Actually, it is relatively difficult to do a good research study on PBL. What do you compare it to, and how do you do the measurements? Suppose, for example, some of the goals you set for a PBL lesson include students gaining skills in working in a group (including peer assessment and peer instruction), students learning to become better as independent self-sufficient library researchers and learners, students becoming better at use of ICT in higher-order critical thinking and problem solving, and etc. Most of these goals are not explicitly stated and measured goals in a traditional classroom and are not well measured in the current statewide and nationwide assessments. Another type of answer is to say, "Show me the research that says our traditional ways of teaching are effective." How can I teach arithmetic facts using PBL? Answer: An educated student has an appropriate balance between lower-order and higher-order knowledge and skills. An appropriate balance is somewhat (or, to a large extent) dependent on the individual learner (since all people are different, and we are thinking from a constructivist point of view). Our schools tend to place a great deal of emphasis on lower-order knowledge and skills, and this leaves relatively little time and emphasis for higher-order knowledge and skills. Thus, we might look at traditional education and say that it has been "finely tuned" for teaching lower-order knowledge and skills such as arithmetic facts and a great deal of other memorized information. However, Computer-Assisted Learning (CAL) is more effective (on average) than this traditional classroom instruction My advice is: "Don't try to use PBL to compete with things that CAL can do well. Use PBL for creating higher-order knowledge and skills learning environments in which students may effective use of their lower-order knowledge and skills." Where can I learn more about ICT in math education? Answer: See my Website on this topic at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~moursund/Math/. Also, see my book: Moursund, D.G. (2005). Improving Math Education in Elementary Schools: A Short Book for Teachers. Access at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~moursund/Books/ ElMath/ElMath.html. It seems to me that many of the goals that you suggest for an ICT-Assisted PBL lesson can also be goals in a traditionally-taught lesson. Is that correct? Answer: Yes. Remember, the goal is to provide students with the best possible education with the resources we have available. One of our resources is the collected knowledge of educational researchers, and another is the collected knowledge and skills of teachers. Research on transfer of learning, constructivism, situated learning, cooperative learning, intrinsic motivation, and etc. is applicable to all of education. The question is, are there better ways than "traditional education" to effectively make use of the craft and science of these theories? PBL can be used to create a teaching/learning environment that is quite effective for implementing these teaching and learning theories. I hesitate to ask this question, but it bothers me when you suggest that there are some aspects of teaching (or, the teaching of some topics) that computers can do better than teachers teaching a classroom full of students. Should I be worried about my job in the future? Answer: My answer is "no"—provided that you are an effective teacher who is continuing to learn and grow (to build increased capacity) on the job. You are quite aware that there are all kinds of machines that can "out do" you in the area of physical capabilities. When the Revolutionary War began in the United States, about 90% of the population lived and worked on farms. Now, it takes less than 3% of the working population to feed the country and to produce a large surplus for export. At the height of the Industrial Revolution in the US, perhaps 55% of workers had industrial manufacturing types of jobs. Now, this figure is down to about 17%. Over time, huge changes have occurred in large sectors of the job market. Teaching is a very demanding job that requires a very wide range of knowledge and skills. Teachers have not been replaced by books, movies, or television. However, ICT brings us Highly Interactive Intelligent Computer-Assisted Learning (HIICAL). [A Google search on this term produced 18,200 hits on 11/27/04 and 33,900 hits on 3/8/05.] Such systems are, in a few cases, already better than one-on-one tutoring. Over time, we can expect that HIICAL will grow in availability, curriculum topics covered, and effectiveness. It provides a way to implement a some of the craft and science of teaching and learning that has been accumulated and continues to accumulate. Thus, you can expect that teachers jobs may well change significantly during the next few decades. You talk a lot about increasing expertise within a discipline and as a teacher. Can you summarize some of your key ideas? Answer: If you watch a young child develop physically and mentally, you will see increasing physical and mental expertise. Crawling, walking, running… a natural progression along a physical movement expertise scale. Babbling, saying a few words, talking in phrases and whole sentences, carrying on an intelligent conversation …steps along a scale of increasing verbal communication expertise. Within any discipline one can think of an expertise scale moving from a very beginning (a novice) toward a personally useful level of knowledge and skill, and then moving toward ever increasing levels of knowledge and skills. We use the term "world class" to talk about a person who has achieved a very high level of knowledge and skill. As you help your students learn a particular discipline, think about what you are doing to move the child toward increasing expertise. Increasing expertise tends to be a mixture of: a) gaining increased lower-order knowledge and skills; b) gaining increased higher-order knowledge and skills; and c) gaining experience in using the lower-order and the higher-order knowledge and skills to solve challenging problems and to accomplish challenging tasks. As a teacher, you want to create a learning environment that fosters this growth.									Finally, think about your own growth toward increasing expertise as a teacher. As noted elsewhere in this document, teaching is a very complex and challenging profession. There is a huge and continually growing Craft and Science of Teaching and Learning. Some of this you learn as a preservice teacher. However, much is learned on the job, especially during the first half-dozen years. Because of the complexity of the field, as well as the steadily growing Craft and Science of Teaching and Learning, the challenge to be a good teacher is never ending. This specific short course on ICT-Assisted PBL provides a good example. Through this course you can increase your repertoire of PBL teaching skills, and you can refresh your mind on a number of related topics such as constructivism, situated learning, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, teaching for transfer of learning, and so on. These topics are important in all areas and methodologies of teaching. Are there some other really important ideas about ICT-Assisted PBL that we have not spent much time discussing? Answer 1: Perhaps the most important idea that have not been adequately discussed is that of a teacher using ICT-Assisted PBL as a vehicle for his or her own learning. As a teacher, you can create within yuour classroom an environment that will facilitate your own learning. You can create an environment in which you interact substantially with your students on topics that they may well know more about than you do. Answer 2: A good teacher "grows" on the job. The job is a learning and capacity-building environment. Every day is an opportunity for learning. Some of this learning needs to be focused on keeping up with the progress that is occurring in the Craft and Science of Teaching and Learning in the disciplines you teach and the students you teach. [A Google search on this term produced 714,000 hits on 11/27/04 and 1,280,000 hits on 3/8/05.] There is a huge amount of research occurring on ways to improve education. ICT-Assisted PBL is but one (relatively modest) component of teaching and learning in which a teacher can grow and gain increased capacity. It is a good area to experiment in (practice in) because of the possibility of relatively rapid progress and improved education for your students. It also has the characteristic that it draws upon a broad range of the accumulated knowledge and skills of effective teaching. Answer 3: One of the most important goals in education is for students to gain a significant level of expertise in being an independent, self-sufficient, self-assessing, intrinsically motivated, lifelong learner. To a large extent, our PreK-12 educational system (and, much of our college educational system) places little emphasis on this goal. Instead, the majority of students say to the teacher: "Tell me what to do, tell me what to learn, tell me what you want… and I will do it." PBL can be used to create teaching and learning environments that contribute substantially to a student-centered, student-empowering educational system. How can PBL be used to help meet the needs of a very diverse set of students? Answer: Take a look at the work of Joseph Renzulli. A summary of some of this work in given in Chapter 2 of a book that I am currently writing about TAG education. Also, take a look at the literature on Differentiated Instruction. What roles can PBL play in students creating portfolios of their work? Answer: This is a "natural." Each student can be doing an individual year-length project that consists of building an electronic portfolio that represents their work for the year. Some of the entries in this portfolio can be PBL projects that the student has carried out during the wear.