Aligning Outcomes, Assessment, and Activities
In the 21st century, education has been evolving and today we have an education that is based on creating a goal, understanding it, and then putting what has been learned into practice. If we follow project-based objectives they help us improve knowledge acquisition and encourage critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving.
My innovation plan titled “Teaching STEM using makerspace in elementary” proposes incorporating the use of maker spaces in which a group of students or several groups come together to share knowledge, solve problems and collaborate to develop products. The maker space can include simple creative stations with basic construction tools, such as building tools, Legos, cardboard, wood, or even basic robot kits. Online applications such as Codemoji can be used to promote creativity and idea generation among students wishing to use electronics.
The unit we will be discussing is: Creating Circuits. Students will be challenged to create circuits with things we commonly use or eat, such as lemons. Students will be able to apply the concepts of exploration, creation, problem solving and final product.
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https://teachbesideme.com/lemon-battery-experiment/
The three-column table based on Fink L. Dee's Taxonomy of Learning that I will present below is a guide for teaching the components of STEM. This is intended to create an impactful educational experience and thus create that sense of wanting to explore and continue venturing into the STEM program, which prepares them for the most innovative careers of recent times.
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Course Goal
Recognize the interaction between all the subjects that make up STEM and understand how exploring and creating helps them in subjects, in the world in general, and in their personal lives.
Learning Outcomes
Aligning learning outcomes/goals with activities and assessment:
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How will the Course Outcomes planning process and 3 Column table influence or impact my innovation plan?
By doing this process of planning the course results and the 3-column table, I have realized that it has had a great influence on my innovation plan. This has served to give a twist to the plan and serve as a guide when starting to implement the proposal.
This has shaped the learning methods and activities to be carried out in order to implement STEM teaching in elementary school. This helps the student in the practice of learning through practice since they have to test what they have learned to achieve the objective: create a circuit or battery using lemons.
By setting clear objectives, students have a more concrete vision of what they hope to learn.
The 3-column table has been of great help since it has allowed me to clearly see the objectives by parts and in this way know what to expect from my students and how to help them achieve the objective.
With this work we hope to awaken that sense of exploration in students, encourage teamwork for the creation of a product. In this way they will gain experience of what they can expect if they choose to pursue a career in the STEM area. or even closer, enter the STEM program in middle school.
References:
Fink, L. D. (2005). A self-directed guide to designing courses for significant learning. Retrieved from: https://www.bu.edu/sph/files/2014/03/www.deefinkandassociates.com_GuidetoCourseDesignAug05.pdf
Harapnuik, D. (2016, November 28). 4 Keys to aligning outcomes, activities & assessment. Retrieved from: https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=6695.
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Harapnuik, D. (2016, November 20). Why Create Significant Learning Environments. Retrieved from: https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=6691.
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