Analysis

Analysis
ABC's of Technology: Katelyn Brissey and Jason Cribbs EDET 746 Fall 2013 Analysis September 25, 2013

For this analysis, the targeted group is a 7th Grade Paul Knox Middle School science class. In this analysis, the targeted group is described, instructional problems are highlighted, the current subject content is evaluated with the current standards, and the use of iPads in an effective way is evaluated.


 * Targeted Group Analysis and Overview **

The class consists of 24 7th grade students, 10 are boys and 14 are girls. During the visits, the instructor varied between SmartBoard assisted lecture and activities. The learner characteristics in the class varied, but overall the students seemed to enjoy the hands on activities. Students were learning about genetics and Punnett squares, and seemed to enjoy the subject matter. The teacher put the students in pairs and gave the students different lists of various traits that were dominant and recessive. One student had the "dad" traits and the other students had the "mom" traits. Each student had to roll a die to determine which trait they had. After they recorded their traits, they had to see what the traits would be like if the mom and dad were to have a child. This required them to know which traits were dominant and which were recessive. The instructor allowed students to use the iPad to research which traits would be dominant. The students had to record their data in a worksheet, and then they had to color and draw an image of a face to show what those traits would look like. The students seemed to like this activity, but some students didn't want to draw because they were not confident in their drawing ability. Other students had a hard time finding good research online.


 * Learner Characteristics **

Students liked the hands on learning, but did not seem to like the research because they were getting frustrated about not finding what they needed right away. Also, some students seemed to dislike drawing. Perhaps the students would prefer using the iPad for applications that have the information and the ability to customize traits on a character. For the upcoming lessons, this group will look to make the iPad use more hands on instead of just for research. The small groups seemed to work fine because there was not much off topic discussion between the students. The groups should probably remain small, however.


 * Subject Content **

==== Genetics and Punnett squares were the topic of the observed analysis. This is directly tied into the standards which state: " 7-2.5: Summarize how genetic information is passed from parent to offspring by using the terms genes, chromosomes, inherited traits, genotype, phenotype, dominant traits, and recessive traits. 7-2.6: Use Punnett squares to predict inherited monohybrid traits." The research portion seems to fall in line with the Common Core literacy integration standards as well. ====

Instructional Problems
==== While the test scores have not been graded yet, the students seemed to understand the subject matter, but were also disengaged during lecture and research. The objectives will serve to make learning more efficient by making it more engaging to the students. Assessments will be compared as well as a survey of enjoability and practicality among the students and teacher. ====


 * Instructional Objectives **

Future objectives for these learners will include more hands on activities, iPad use for more than just research, and improved assessment scores as a result. They will be moving to a new unit, but the new unit's assessment scores will be calculated along with the survey results and compared to the results of the lesson that was analyzed. The design should serve to work towards these objectives