Key+Concepts+and+Contexts+-+NOTES

Key Concepts and Contexts - NOTES

I find this So IRRITATING, all these questions are the SAME as all the others....arghhhhh We don't have to answer every single question. They're only provided to guide (misguide?) us.


 * 1. What is the knowledge (both conceptual “know that”, and procedural “know how”, that is the focus of your design project?**
 * Conceptual: as teachers, we need to have some background in Science in order to create relevant and applicable strategies.
 * We need to be able to justify using these strategies to parents, counsellors, etc if they are put in place of other more traditional teaching approaches
 * Procedural: as teachers, we also need to derive assessment procedures that could prove that these strategies do in fact work and are worthwhile within our target group of learners.
 * We have to be able to identify students that may need to use these strategies even if they have not be officially designated as reading comprehension LD
 * ** Conceptual **
 * Teachers need to teach comprehension strategies - how to implement and apply the strategies - along with text and verbal comprehension.
 * A yearlong observational study found that, “In general, students were provided with opportunities to practice comprehension strategies, but they were not actually taught the strategies themselves nor the utility value of applying them” (Neufeld, 2005, p.302).
 * **Procedural**
 * Through our emphasis on teaching differentiated comprehension strategies, students will learn verbal and text comprehension techniques and will come to understand when, how, where, and why an individual strategy would be most effectively used.
 * The educational design will prepare the students for real world problem solving in that each student will learn how to draw meaning from both verbal and written data.
 * teachers need to know how to operate the technology and challenge students in doing so and they also need to know that sometimes their teaching strategy will not work and they need to have a back up plan or collection of strategies to resort to.
 * Having students draw images based on a short reading is very useful in science, where things that can't be seen because they are abstract ideas or microscpic particles are described in textbooks. Drawing an image helps a student to see how each of the described details fit together, and it unifies the information, making it one thing to remember instead of many different, seemingly separate ideas.
 * Self-monitoring is used to increase students' independence, and as such, could be used in any subject. However, science, like math, is a field that makes the majority of students (and adults!) feel even less confident when they don't grasp concepts. Self-monitoring is a way to remedy this problem: by seeing how much progress a student is making, he or she can gain confidence and motivation, sometimes to the point of truly enjoying science.


 * 2. What academic scholarship is relevant to thinking about this particular knowledge focus?**
 * I should answer this question in Key Frameworks. If not, you can refer to the notes under Key Frameworks and take whatever has not been used


 * 3. What is the context for your design project?**
 * **A website designed for grade 8 students that will provide both technologically and traditionally based strategies to improve student vocabulary and reading comprehension in Biology.**


 * //Do I understand this correct?// I will upload a very crude diagram that illustrates the process of our design project. In the diagram I only had room for 3 modules while I understand that we will have 4.
 * Students will progress through 4 learning modules. Each module will involve 4 stages, to represent the 4 different comprehension strategies, and will focus on one topic in grade 8 biology.
 * The students will eventually complete the biology unit, and in doing so, will progress through 4 modules each with 4 stages related to the BC science curriculum and to our instructional strategies.
 * The design project can be utilized within the classroom or at home and provides students with support as they work their way through their science units.
 * We are only producing activities for one subject in grade 8 science because of the limited amount of time at our disposal. Nonetheless, we will be providing enough material, activities and resources, that a teacher should be at ease in applying our methods to other science topics, and even to his or her general practise.
 * We are applying concepts used in Special Education and adapting them to reading comprehension in science education.


 * 4. What academic scholarship is relevant to thinking about this particular context?**

IS THIS ANY DIFFERNT THAN QUESTION 2???? I didnt' even answer that #2, because I already did in another section....ugh.


 * Ditto, look in key frameworks
 * Ditto that ditto.


 * 5. Who are the learners who will be the target of the learning experience you are planning?**
 * **Grade 8 students registered in Science 8 who have learning disabilities related to reading comprehension.**
 * **We will design our activities around the age and ability level of our group of learners.**
 * Grade 8 students who are falling behind in science and who have been acknowledged as in need of an accommodation to improve their understanding and overall comprehension (both verbal and written).
 * Our resources will be useful for teachers who would like to find ways to increase their understanding science, which is necessary if they want to be competent and confident science teachers.
 * Our activities and resources will be useful for teachers who lack materials to help their students to increase their reading comprehension. Ultimately, the materials may prove to be useful not only for students with special needs, but also those who are simply weak in science or reading.


 * 6. What are the relevant academic literatures that address the kinds of learners your design targets?**
 * Dexter and Hughes for the use of graphic organizers
 * **Carole Cox - using graphic organizers in Literature-based science instruction**
 * **C. R. Adler for seven strategies for reading comprehension (graphic organizers included)**
 * **Stahl and Bravo for Vocabulary Assessment methods for content areas**
 * Jitendra et al., 2011 - Students with learning disabilities struggle more as they transition into the upper elementary school years and when the focus of reading changes from “learning to read to reading to learn” (Jitendra et al., 2011, p.135)
 * Neufeld, P., 2005 - there is wide support that suggests teaching students how to summarize with visual and written form the content which they have read will improve their overall comprehension. (Neufeld, P., 2005)
 * Frederick et al., 2011 - Students with learning disabilities by definition have trouble understanding very basic text, and verbal instructions. Science texts are inherently difficult, they include unknown vocabulary and unfamiliar contexts and students with LD traditionally struggle more than their non-LD peers, to understand this content. ...
 * “Science textbooks have also been reported to introduce large amounts of new vocabulary, cover vast amounts of content in short time periods, and emphasize a factually based approach to evaluation. Given the language and literacy demands of textbook approaches, it is not surprising that that approach presents additional challenges for students with learning disabilities who by definition typically experience language and literacy deficits” (Frederick et al., 2011, p. 230)
 * Leopold & Leutner (2012) recommend having students draw images to make sense of text passages in science.
 * Joseph & Eveleigh (2011) suggest using self-monitoring to increase reading comprehension.


 * 7. What are the most important perspectives on the group of learners your design targets?**
 * **In BC, the movement from elementary school (grade 7) to grade 8 is a huge transition, and we find many students do not transition well. They are responsible for much more than they were in elementary school (i.e. moving from class to class, keeping 8 seperate binders and notes in order, 8 different teachers, classes and class expectations, homework from various classes). Students will LD will usually suffer even more with keeping up with all these changes and coping with their LD. We try to make this transition as easy as possible by focusing on the needs to students that require more adaptations, modification and attention.**
 * I agree with Emily.... Students will face new challenges in organization, socialization, and in the courses they take.
 * The focus changes from simply learning to write, read, and perform, to gaining an understanding and drawing inferences.
 * Students are suddenly asked to question their texts and to draw their own conclusions **.**
 * "Recognizing that it takes time for students with LD to learn strategies, explicit instruction and opportunities to practice are important components of vocabulary instruction." (Bryant, D., et al. 2003. Pp118).
 * In middle school, girls begin to lose confidence in their math and science abilities, while boys may be dealing with long-term reading problems. For students in Special Education, these problems are exacerbated, especially if they are combined. Hopefully, our approach will alleviate these problems.


 * 8. What are the points of contention in the academic literature regarding this group of learners, and kinds of educational design?**
 * **Obviously, all students have different needs and because of that some strategies will not be as effective if they are not applied to the right type of learner. Also, some students may require more time and teacher instruction and guidance than others. Some strategies we introduce may not be effective if the student does not get enough individual attention and instruction.**
 * Students will naturally gravitate to their favourite instructional strategy, and may be frustrated when having to complete a task using all four strategies even once they select a single strategy that works best for them.
 * Many researchers suggest that collaborative, integrated approaches work best rather than just one teaching strategy for students with LD.
 * Not all students are at ease when working with computers.
 * Some teachers may force students to do all the activities, even though that is not necessarily the best approach.
 * Many students do not get the help they need from Special Education staff, so all of the material we are producing may be completely ignored in some case.
 * If a student does not know how to draw, or isn't creative, the method of creating images to represent concpts could hinder more than it helps.


 * 9. What is your position regarding these discussions of point of view regarding this group of learners? How will this affect the design?**
 * **Although this project is set up to be components of a unit plan, we do think that using a site design like a wiki or wordpress will allow for more flexibility for teachers and students. Perhaps if a student is only struggling with the vocabulary from one section of the unit, they can explore that page only. If they find that strategy does not work for them, then they are able to go to our other pages and try other strategies. All of our strategies will work across the Unit, so they are not restricted to working in a linear mode if they do not desire to do so.**
 * We believe that the focus should be first on teaching the strategy and second on learning the content.
 * The instructional strategies have been carefully selected to improve the text and verbal comprehension of learning disabled students and can be used in a variety of contexts once mastered.
 * Our approach is self-correcting by the very fact that it contains a variety of strategies. Therefore, I fully stand by our project.
 * Some learners prefer to work with paper, which would defeat the purpose of using technology. Ultimately, the students' needs are the priority. That is why we are providing printable materials as part of our design.
 * We are including Teacher's guides to make sure that our approach is understood, which will benefit the learner when he receives clear and simple instructions.

**__References:__**

 Bryant, D., Goodwin, D., Bryant, B., & Higgins, K. (2003). Vocabulary Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities: A Review of the Research. //Learning Disability Quarterly.// (26)2, 117-128. Retrieved from: www.jstor.org/stable/1593594

Frederick J. B., Thomas E. S., & Margo A. M. (2011). Science education and students with learning disabilities. , v26 n4 p223-232 Nov 2011. 10 pp. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5826.2011.00343.x

 ,  &  (2011). Cognitive strategy instruction for improving expository text comprehension of students with learning disabilities: the quality of evidence. , v77 n2 p135-159 Win 2011. 25 pp. Retrieved from []

Neufeld, P. (2005). Comprehension instruction in content area classes.  , v59 n4 p302-312 Dec 2005. 11 pp. doi: [|10.1598/RT.59.4.1/abstract]