DesignforInstruction

Studentsweregiventhepreassessmentknowingthattherewouldlikelybemanythings
theywouldnotevenknowhowtoanswer.Weaskedthemtoreadeveryproblemandattempt
anyproblemstheythoughttheycouldatleastbegintoanswer.Becausestudentsknewthiswas
forplanningpurposesonlythereweremanyunansweredquestions.Studenteffortwasapparent,
andtheunansweredquestionscanfairlybeattributedtogenuinelackofstudentknowledge.

HBlock
Student

LG1

LG2

LG3

LG4

C.S.

C.Z.

D.E.

D.H.

F.A.

F.J.

G.J.

G.K.

H.I.

J.M.

K.B.

Absent

Absent

Absent

Absent

M.C.

P.Z.

P.T.

S.P.

S.H.

T.T.

V.O.

W.S.

L.S.

DBlock
Student

LG1

LG2

LG3

LG4

A.I.

B.G.

C.C.

C.M.

C.M.

C.H.

D.K.

Absent

Absent

Absent

Absent

D.H.

F.M.

G.H.

G.B.

H.M.

H.S.

H.S.

K.J.

Absent

Absent

Absent

Absent

M.V.

M.B.

S.R.

T.G.

W.R.

LearningGoal1:
Therewasmixedsuccesswithstudentsbeingabletomapasamplespace.Manystudents
wereabletotellustheeightdifferentoutcomesofrollingafoursideddieandflippingacoinat
thesametime.Manysimplytoldusthetotalnumberofdifferentoutcomestherewouldbe.
Thoughitseemsthatthosestudentsperhapsknewtheindividualoutcomesisnoevidenceofthat.
However,iftheywereunabletodeterminethespecificoutcomesbutdiddeterminethenumber
ofoutcomesitwouldseemthattheyeitheralreadyknow,orarestartingtostumbleuponthe
basiccountingprinciple.Tounderstandhowtoorganizesamplespacesstudentswilllearnhow
tousetreediagrams,venndiagrams,probabilitydistributiontables,andtwowayfrequency
tables.

LearningGoal2:
Unsurprisingly,nostudentdemonstratedanyamountofunderstandingoftheaddition
rule.Itis,uponfirstglance,counterintuitive.Whilesomestudentsmaybemorereadythan
otherstodiveintoexplanationsoftheadditionrule,allstudentswillneeddirectinstructiononits
use.Tocreatedeep,meaningfullearning,studentswillnotjustlearnwhattheadditionruleisby
whyitworksthatway.Topromoteretentionanddeepunderstanding,studentswilldemonstrate
theirunderstandingofthisskillinascreencastproject.Intheirscreencasttheywillteachthe
additionruletotheiraudiencebyexplainingit,creatinghelpfuldiagrams,andworkingthrougha
fullexample.

Learninggoal3:
Theresultsoflearninggoal3wereverysurprising.Thislearninggoalassessesstudents
abilitytoreadtwowayfrequencytablesandcalculateprobabilitiesfromthem.ThoughImnot
surprisedthatmanystudentswereunabletocalculateprobabilitiesfromthetable,Iamsurprised
thatmoststudentswereunabletosuccessfullyreadentriesinthetable.Moststudentsshowed
somelevelofunderstandingofhowtoreadtheentriesofatwowayfrequencytable.Themost
commonmisconceptioninvolvedinterpretingthemarginalfrequencies.Tofindtotals,students
wouldoftenaddthemarginalfrequenciestothejointfrequencies.Tocombatthisanddeliver
instructiononthematter,wewillbeengaginginakinestheticactivitywherewecreatea
twowayfrequencytablebyseparatingthestudentsintocategories.Throughthistheywill
identifythattheymakeupthejointfrequencies,andthatthemarginalfrequenciesarejusta
summaryofthejointfrequencies.

LearningGoal4:
Theresultsoflearninggoal4aremostlyunsurprising,butoccasionallyunclear.Most
studentsdemonstratednounderstandingofthemultiplicationrule.Thiswastheexpectedresult.
Manystudentsattemptedtheproblembyeitheraddingthefractions,orcombiningthem.Atotal
offivestudents,acrossthecollectiveforty,multipliedthefractions.Itisuncleariftheychoseto
multiplybecausetheyareawareofthemultiplicationruleorifitisbecausemultiplicationisone
ofthefourbasicoperationstheycouldperform.Toaidindeterminingifthisistheworkof
understandingorluckyguesses,Icouldperformaquickformativeassessmentthrougha
warmupontheirindividualwhiteboards.

CFA:
ThecontextualfactorsanalysishasrevealedtomethatIamworkingwithaverydiverse
groupofstudents.Someofmystudents,suchasS.R.andF.A.,comefromverysupportive
familiesthatcanprovidemanyopportunitiesforthem.Otherscomefromfamiliesthatareless
supportiveandcanofferfewerresources,namelyP.Z.andD.H.Beyondfamilyfactors,thereis
alsoawiderangeinstudentability.

Whereassomestudentsenjoymathandeasilyacquirenewskills(P.T.,C.S.,F.A.),others
expressadislikeofmath(G.J.,D.H.,W.S.,F.J.,S.H.,G.K.,).Astudentidentifyinganactive
dislikeofmathematicsputsofbarriersthatmakesitmoredifficultforthemtolearnnew
mathematicalskills.Despitethatmanystudentsmaynothavethebestrelationshipwithmath,the
standardsbasedapproachoftheschoolpromotesstudentinvestmentinthetopicanyway.
Studentsknowthattheyneedtomastertheskillspresentedtothemandcannotignoreone
standardinhopesthatanotherstandardwillbalanceouttheirgrade.Tohelpthesestudents
engagewiththecontent,contentlinkswillbemadetocreaterelevanceforthosestudents.

UseofTechnology:
Technologywillbeusedconsistentlythroughouttheunitinavarietyofways.Foremost,
itwillbeusedintheclassroomtoaidandacceleratethecommunicationprocess.Bypreparing
theclasswarmupsbeforehand,theycanbequicklyandneatlydisplayedbytheprojector.
Furthermore,theclassroomwarmupsdocumentissharedwithstudentsintheirebackpacks.
ThisallowsstudentstoviewthewarmuprightfromtheiriPad,allowingthemtoscrollattheir
ownpace(ifnecessary)andenlargethetexttoadegreethatisreadableforthem(V.O.andF.J
have,butdonotwear,glasses).
Toperformformativeassessment,IwilluseKahoot!andandSocrative.Thiswillallow
metoquicklyassessstudentlearning,eveningameformat(Kahoot!isentirelyagame,and
Socrativehasthespaceracemodethatactsasateamgame).Ialsowillbeimplementingtheuse
ofRemind.ThisappwillallowmetosendnotificationsandremindersstraighttostudentsiPads
andcellphoneswhileensuringsecurityforallpartiesinvolved(Idonotfindoutwhattheircell
phonenumberis,andallcommunicationisstoredpermanently,providingprotectiontoall
involvedparties).Technologywillappearassummativeassessmentforstudentsaswell.
StudentswillbeusingtheShowMeappontheiriPadtocreateascreencastexplainingtotheir
audiencewhattheadditionruleisandhowitisuse.