Catapults

Minute Paper - This assessment will be used at the beginning of the project (first or second day of class) to test the students’ prior knowledge of the subject. It will also give the students the chance to tell the teacher what they have had trouble with conceptually in the past.

Categorizing Grid - We will integrate this assessment into the second day of lesson 5. The students will use excel to make a grid that categorizes the different concepts they learned and to differentiate between the different types of catapults.

Concepts Maps - During the first week of class after the first lesson, the students will make a concept map that will help them with a plan to design, build, and use their catapults.

One Sentence Summary - At the end of each benchmark lesson, the students will provide the teacher with a one sentence summary of what they learned that day.

What’s the Principle? - This assessment will be incorporated into project plan as a section wrap up of the entire project. The teacher will give the students different problems and the students will have to provide the correct principles that best apply to those problems.

Direct Paraphrasing - During the course of the benchmark lessons, the teacher will use this as an attention grabber. The students will randomly have to paraphrase what the teacher is presenting to them that day.

Course-Related Self-Confidence Surveys - Given the first day of class, the students will take a survey that tests how confident they feel with the concepts that have been presented to them about math.

Double-Entry Journals - The students will keep an ongoing 2-sided journal that will include the topics/concepts/problems they come across in the project everyday on one side; and on the other side the students will provide their thoughts and concerns that will aid the teacher in helping them with the project.

Goal-Ranking and Matching - This assessment will also be used the last day of the project in such a way that the students will rank the different parts of the entire project in order of least to most important to them.

Punctuated Lectures - These will be used during the lessons as a tool to allow the students to reflect on what was just learned and how they are behaving.

Teacher Designed Feedback Forms - These will be given at the end of the first week of lessons to see how students relate to the way that the teacher relays the lessons. The questions will be non-biased and focus only on the techniques of the classroom.

Chain Note Feedback - The students can/will turn in anonymous feedback cards throughout the 6 week period that conveys how they feel about the course and work that is being done. The cards will be available at all times.

Exam Evaluations- After each exam that the students take, they will be able to evaluate the format/wording and let the teacher know if/where they had had trouble.