IO Session #1 - field testing
We have been challenged to develop STEM tasks for our students. Tasks develop a valuable skillset that is important to the future of our economy and country. The research says:
“High-level STEM skills are important to advancing the frontiers of scientific knowledge, but so is having a broader STEM-literate population. The adoption of new technologies is often not possible without STEM-literate individuals with complementary skills who can turn ideas into products and services, and put them to use. Hence, improving the quantity and quality of all types of STEM skills can be important in increasing economic productivity of Canada’s labour force and fostering long-term growth of living standards.” Some Assembly Required: STEM Skills and Canada’s Economic Productivity The Expert Panel on STEM Skills for the Future http://www.scienceadvice.ca/uploads/ENG/AssessmentsPublicationsNewsReleases/STEM/STEMFullReportEn.pdf
To fulfill this responsibility, we need to develop these skills as a literacy.
Developing STEM Literacy
“A STEM-literate student is not only an innovator and critical thinker, but is able to make meaningful connections between school, community, work and global issues… There is solid evidence to suggest that the fastest-growing and highest-wage jobs in future years will be in STEM fields and all employees will need to utilize STEM skills for problem solving in a wide range of industries.” CALIFORNIA STEM LEARNING NETWORK http://www.cslnet.org/our-agenda/what-is-stem/
OUR GOAL: to engage students in STEM skill development using a Coding Application as a part of INQUIRY BASED LEARNING using the ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES for science, math, technology and social studies
Royal Oak School: Grade Two students
Curriculum connection: Arctic Investigation to develop an appreciation of the landscape and animals, as well as Inuit way of life. Also, to identify connections between the land, people and animals.
Arrangement: students are organised in partners
Demographic: two classrooms were combined to include 40 students, 10 ELL and 3 IPP students
Outline of Task:
Students have been participating in an investigation to learn about Inuit connections in the Arctic. While building background knowledge, students were engaged in activities to learn about Inuit travel and hunting. Our STEM activity was developed through the use of a Coding (programming) app on the iPads called Scratch Junior. The task for students was to move an Inuit hunter from the tundra where his igloo was, to the edge of the water to go fishing. Students were challenged to help their hunter avoid obstacles and animals such as polar bears, along the way, and arrive at the water’s edge through the most efficient route possible.
About the App:
“ScratchJr is an introductory programming language that enables young children to create their own interactive stories and games. Children snap together graphical programming blocks to make characters move, jump, dance, and sing. Children can modify characters in the paint editor, add their own voices and sounds, even insert photos of themselves -- then use the programming blocks to make their characters come to life.”
STEM components:
The science, engineering and technology components involved are referencing the front matter of the Program of Studies that includes the use of technology for problem solving. The curriculum states: “The skills of problem solving include identifying what is needed, proposing ways of solving the problem, trying out ideas and evaluating how things work… Challenging problems require persistence. An idea may not work at first; but with careful observation, adjustment, reflection and refinement, a solution that is close to the original idea may be found. Student success in inquiry and problem solving is enhanced when students have the opportunity to explore materials in an unstructured way, before starting formal investigations.”
We also made connections to the learning outcomes from the Hot and Cold unit for Grade 2 when selecting program characters and talking about the hazards of a northern climate.
Suggested Engineering Outcomes from the Canadian Engineering Accreditation
- Problem Identification: Identify known and unknown information, uncertainties, and biases when presented with a complex ill-structured problem
- Problem Analysis: An ability to use appropriate knowledge and skills to identify, formulate, analyze, and solve complex engineering problems in order to reach substantiated conclusions. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) http://www.scienceadvice.ca/uploads/ENG/AssessmentsPublicationsNewsReleases/STEM/STEMFullReportEn.pdf
The mathematical component involved is referring to the use of patterning in mathematical reasoning. The curriculum states: “Mathematics is about recognizing, describing and working with numerical and non-numerical patterns… Working with patterns enables students to make connections within and beyond mathematics. These skills contribute to students’ interaction with, and understanding of, their environment… Students must learn to recognize, extend, create and use mathematical patterns. Patterns allow students to make predictions and justify their reasoning when solving routine and nonroutine problems. Learning to work with patterns in the early grades helps students develop algebraic thinking, which is foundational for working with more abstract mathematics in higher grades.” Other math components that will be used include recording data (the amount of time it took their hunter to travel), collaborating and analysing strategies that were used. As part of a Math Congress, students will discuss strategies they use and debate over the efficiency and effectiveness of the strategy that they highlight.
Application and Observations:
Students began using Scratch Jr. in an open-ended way to learn how to use the program and what coding involves. They were given directions to create a character and obstacles, and learn how to move them. Once students were given the task of moving the hunter to the ocean in the most efficient time possible, they were observed using a number of strategies to make this happen.
- problem finding, solution formation, evaluation and adjustment: this was evident while students were trying to determine the number of steps the hunter needed to make before each turn around an obstacle, adjusting to increase or decrease the distance of travel. They also found problems in adjusting the turn sequences to move their hunter in the desired direction. Students recognised when the hunter went ‘into the air’ that there was a mistake that required correcting. They persevered to create solutions and adjust their strategy to become more effective at their task.
“It is hard to figure out the way my hunter should go. I’ve used lots of arrows now and he’s still not in the right spot. I’m not sure how to make him go backwards. I think I need to delete some arrows and make him go back to the spot where he was facing the right direction and try it over.”
“We’re trying to figure out how to get him to the iceberg because that’s the best fishing spot. I’m doing it so that when I see where it goes so I can edit it to see where it goes next. The hardest part was trying to make it jump over onto the iceberg.”
“We noticed that if the hunter-inuit guy is facing down the screen, we have to change the arrows to make him choose a new direction.”
- developing and extending patterns: students were observed copying codes from successful parts of their route so that they didn’t have to spend time rewriting the code each time. The number of steps for the hunter was adjustable, and as students recognised that movements could be adjusted in distance and angle of movement, they changed the numbers to represent the desired movement. As they worked, they recognised that they could not only copy code they had created to repeat in several places, but also to increase the number of steps to get around obstacles that were farther and farther away.
“I wanted it to go five steps to start, and that got me past the polar bear, but I had to go farther next time so I moved it to six steps to get past the cracked ice so that I wouldn’t fall in. (Why did you decide to do six steps?) I used six because five wasn’t far enough. I just copied the arrow from before and I added numbers to it to make it longer. I tested it each time. Six was just right.”
Next Steps:
Students will be responsible for keeping track of the time that it takes for their hunter to move from the igloo to the water’s edge, and improve that time through the use of different strategies. This tracking will be done in a chart format in a notebook with anecdotal comments regarding the coinciding strategies. For each iteration, students will share their strategies to decrease the travel time for the hunter. The students will be allowed more time to learn to use the program, and then will be given five attempts to ‘beat their time’.
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