Identifies and analyzes learning and performance problems
Design, plans, and develops instructional interventions using appropriate strategies and techniques
Artifacts: Student Assignment and Presentation
As a service learning project, I volunteered to create an instructional presentation for families at Renaissance Academy, a public school in East San Jose. The school focuses on preparing at risk students for high school and college, a task which includes teaching students to manage homework loads and work independently. I selected this task after a conversation at a staff meeting about the number of students who were struggling with homework.
With input from my teaching colleagues, I created a list of common areas of difficulty in homework completion. This list formed the basis of a questionnaire completed by 8th grade students. At the end of the questionnaire, students were instructed to take pictures of various homework scenarios. The conversations surrounding this activity proved to be just as helpful as the students’ written responses; their body language clearly showed their attitudes toward each aspect of the homework process. After collecting the students’ writing, I synthesized the student and teacher contributions, refining my list of homework areas of difficulty and creating a PowerPoint presentation. The presentation is embedded on my teacher website, and after the principal approves it, I hope to place the slideshow on the school’s landing page.
In this project, I have used my knowledge of learning theories to present only the necessary information in a concise manner, reducing the cognitive load of incoming students. I also followed a modified version of the Dick and Carey design process, especially in identifying the discrepancy between desired and actual performance and selecting an appropriate instructional strategy. Finally, I used an online slideshow presentation in order to enable interactivity, make information accessible at all times, and allow families to work at their own pace.
Develops an evaluation plan for a project based on stated goals and recognized standards
Artifact: Evaluation Plan
For EDCI 577, Evaluating Training Programs, I created an evaluation plan for the Kinship Center in Salinas, CA. Kinship Center works with families who are preparing to adopt children from foster care. One important training topic is how to recognize and respond to attachment disorders.
As I participated in this training, I noticed areas that could be improved. The training program was developed by social workers who used their decades of experience to address the issues. Their value and efforts cannot be understated. However, the cost of training in commitment of both time and financial resources requires an evaluation process to identify areas that could be improved.
I was not in a position to make recommendations to the Kinship Center, so this evaluation plan was an exercise in the hypothetical. It includes a possible evaluation timeline, evaluation instruments for all of Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels, data collection procedures, a plan for analysis and reporting, and potential recommendations.
My growth in this area is evident in evaluations that I have redesigned for my workplace. The school recently gave a student survey, but the results were difficult to interpret. I worked with a colleague to identify the objective of each question and select the most effective question wording and format. We were able to make the form more concise by combining questions, and we used sequencing to help students recall information that would give a more accurate response. For example, the original survey asked students how many adults on campus they felt comfortable approaching with if they had problems, with the response possibilities “none,” “one,” or “more than one.” When we analyzed the data from the original survey, we were surprised at the low numbers because we had observed students approaching adults much more often than indicated. On the revised survey, we changed the question to “If you have a problem at Renaissance, which adults do you feel comfortable talking to for help?” and listed with checkboxes the names of all adults with whom the students interacted regularly. We discovered that the responses were much closer to what we had observed.
Amanda Westman 