Introduction |
| Anchor Video |
| Concept Map |
| Project Calendar |
| Lesson Plans |
Letter to Parents |
| Assessments |
| Resources |
Modifications |
| Grant |
Abstract, Rationale, Description, Calendar, Budget, Project Goals, Evaluation
Unfortunately, many high school students leave freshman biology with a disconnected view of topics that should be seen as interrelated. This is often due to too many topics being taught at a shallow level. Our project allows students to deeply explore the many aspects of reproduction via new and innovative teaching practices. These include inquiry-based labs, cooperative learning, unique lectures, and guided research. After six weeks of learning experiences such as using genetic technology and evaluating its ethics, looking at human chromosomes, and preparing a debate, students will demonstrate their learned expertise by playing the role of a genetic counselor in a simulated session. We anticipate that this project experience will create an increased sense of interest and accountability in the classroom, a broader knowledge base about reproduction, and higher TAKS scores. We hope that these project-based teaching methods will serve as a model for other teachers in our school and community.
Despite a national move towards hands-on science, U.S. science scores remain low. Eighty percent of U.S. twelfth graders are still not meeting the National Governing Board's definition of proficiency in science (NCES, 2000). Based on detailed analysis of TIMSS data, William H. Schmidt, attributes this low performance to a disconnected curriculum containing too many topics that are not covered in depth. This problem has yet to be solved.
One topic that is often underrepresented in the classroom is reproduction. We have created a project that deeply covers all aspects of reproduction while reinforcing key themes in biology namely evolution, genetics, and structure/function relationship. By utilizing a high interest topic, sex, students will grapple with key biological concepts that are often viewed as dry and unrelated to everyday experience. The goal will be to foster connections between biological concepts and real world applications.
This project takes what might seem like a simple topic and has the students deeply explore it over six weeks. By the end of the six weeks, the students will become experts who must demonstrate their knowledge by playing the role of a genetic counselor. This expertise proves that the students have thoroughly explored reproduction and connected it to real world applications.
For students to have a better understanding of aspects of reproduction and see how they relate to each other, we have designed a unique six-week project. The topics covered during the six weeks are all interconnected and will therefore allow the students to obtain a strong conceptual basis of all types of reproduction. The project connects many topics that might normally be taught at different times over the course of the year or in a disconnected fashion.
Our project begins by discussing the different types of reproduction beginning with asexual reproduction and moving into sexual reproduction, with an emphasis on human reproduction. The discussions begin at a molecular level and move from there to consider the broader picture. The project pays attention to errors in sperm and egg production, the genetic technology used in this field, and the ethics surrounding it. The project will include a mixture of inquiry-based labs, research, stimulating lectures, debates, and culminates with the students playing the role of a genetic counselor.
Our class is currently equipped with a single computer, several light microscopes, and a basic supply of lab equipment. The laptops we are requesting for interactive labs would be supported by the school's already existing wireless internet network. The requested TV adaptable microscope would allow for us to teach the students about what they are learning by projecting the images for the entire class to see. This would be used in a large variety of microscope labs. We would like our arsenal of resources to grow so that students are better equipped to tackle these topics.
Our team of teachers preparing to implement this project is a well qualified group of individuals. All have biology degrees from The University of Texas at Austin and have unique experiences in the field of reproduction and genetics ranging from lab work to genetic counselor shadowing. This has opened us to a wide array of resources, especially our colleagues in the field, which can serve as support to the project. When students need resources or have unique questions that the teachers do not have the ability to answer, we will know where to go for answers. So for us, the last piece of the puzzle needed to implement the project successfully is some wonderfully valuable resources for the classroom.
Back to topThe major goal of this project is to create an interconnected set of experiences all relating to the central topic of reproduction. We believe that a solid incorporation of many aspects of reproduction will allow the students to walk away with a great level of understanding regarding the topic. We strive for several outcomes as a result of this unique teaching perspective.
First, we expect a large knowledge base to develop that can be evaluated using a traditional method such as a test or a less traditional method such as the simulated genetic counseling sessions that we plan to use. Because we are giving the students multiple hands-on lessons, we are creating experiences to which students can attach knowledge. According to the inquiry method of teaching, this increases the amount of information that students are able to learn and retain. Since this topic will be covered in such great depth, we will emphasize the relations between the subtopics and even encourage students to hypothesize about them themselves.
We will also expect an increase of interest and accountability in the classroom. We believe that the students will have many unique classroom experiences over the course of the project. They will have the opportunity to watch fertilization of a sexual organism occur. They will see human chromosomes. They will express their knowledge and opinions regarding the use of genetic technology. These unparalleled experiences will trigger student curiosity. Since they will be working in groups from day one, they will have an increased sense of responsibility in the classroom with their group members depending on them.
Lastly, we hope that this idea of creating an interconnected curriculum with a great amount of depth will spread into other topics in science and subjects throughout our school. We must overcome the Òmile-wide, inch-deepÓ problem with curriculum that seems to penetrate so many educational institutions today in our country.
The project will be monitored throughout the unit to make sure we are meeting our goals. We will know that our goals have been met when the students successfully play the role of a genetic counselor, incorporating concepts such as ethics, technology, and biological processes. We also expect the students who take the project-based course to score higher on the TAKS because the science concepts are taught in a real world context rather than disconnected facts from a textbook.
To measure our progress, we will look at student participation, attendance, and benchmark assignments and concept maps. We expect student participation and attendance to increase because the shift from teacher- to student-centered learned creates a learning environment where the students take ownership of the material.
The students will fill out surveys before, during, and after the unit. These surveys will include questions over the science concepts as well as student attitudes toward science. In addition, concept maps will be used throughout the project. At the beginning of the unit, the concept map will serve to bring forth students' prior knowledge. When the concept maps are done during and after the unit, we expect to see great improvement from the ones turned in before the unit began. Both the surveys and concept maps will serve as records to show progress made over the course of the project.