Titan AE

Grading Rubric & Assessments Used in Project

Assessments Implemented:

Assessing Skills Analysis & Critical Thinking

CAT 11: Content, Form, & Function Outlines

This CAT is a feasible way to have the students being held accountable for the notes that they are taking throughout the project.  Seeing that a major portion of their grade during the project is due to them taking notes to help them through the research part of the project, This technique is a good way to show the students how to organize their notes in a way that is easily readable as well as an asset when the students need to look back upon the notes and gain the knowledge that they have learned throughout the project.  This form also allows the teacher some liberty as to see what the student is taking away from the lessons and applying it to their group projects by being able to see thoughts laid out in a clear manner.

Assessing Skills in Synthesis & Creative Thinking

CAT 16: Concept Map

In my project, I believe that CAT 16, concept maping, would be a great tool to know what the students are working on at the later end of the project. By the end of the project, the students will have been through four weeks of general study in the topics of biology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy. A concept map would be a easy way for the students to show how these four subjects interconnect with each other and how they rely on each other in natural practices. Also at the end of the project, we are wanting the students to actively build a presentation from what they have learned. A concept map would be a great way to organize ideas of what is needed to be included in the presentation for how a person can sustain an earthlike existence.

Assessing Skill in Problem Solving

CAT 22: Audio and Videotaped Protocols

For this portion, I believe that CAT 22, audio-and videotaped protocols, would fit nicely into our project based instruction lesson. AT the end of the project, we are hoping that the students make a multimedia presentation to present to the class over a period of 3 days. After the three days are up, the students will then be asked to review what the presenters had said in their presentations and evaluate them seeing who had the best strategy on sustaining an earthlike existence as well as where they would go if it had to be accomplished. The students might be a little hazy as to what was said by each group, so a video taping of these presentations would be good for the students to refresh their memories a little bit. It would also aid the teacher to help look back over all the presentation and see if anything was missed or overlooked the first time around.

Assessing Skill in Application & Performance

CAT 23: Direct Paraphrasing

I think that the technique of directed paraphrasing would work due to the fact that the students have to first find out what they need to sustain an Earth-like existence and then compile what they have learned and present their findings in a presentation during class. The students will be finding various parts of interest through out the six week project and each week they will be learning about various items that deal with the subjects of physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy. They will not be able to talk about all those aspects given the time period allotted to each student so directed paraphrasing would let them talk about the key points of their findings as well as some of the underlying aspects of those key points in their own words.

Assessing Course Related Learning & Study Skills, Strategies, & Behaviors

CAT 39: Process Analysis

I would choose the Cat # 39: Process Analysis for use during the ÒSearch for another EarthÓ project. Because this project is so heavily involved with research, it can be seen as a repetitive skill, such as homework or a lab is. If this technique is carried out perhaps twice during the first portion of the project, the students will begin to be able to analyze their own work habits. Once the problems are addressed, they can revise their methods and move forward in the project research more successfully.

Assessing Learner Reactions to Teachers & Teaching

CAT 41: Chain Notes

For our project purposes, I believe that the Classroom Assessment Technique of the Chain Note is a great way to gain information from the class as a whole. The teacher can obtain a greater understanding of what the students have comprehended and/or are still needing to comprehend by the responses to the question that he gathers. This technique, although gives a wide spectrum class response, also yields towards the students' own individual responsibility to answer the question prompted. The students, by giving each a chance to answer the question, are given ownership over their responses, but in a nonaggressive way. This technique gives ways to students that are not always actively involved in classroom discussion a chance to speak what they feel without harm to their ego as well as a chance to feel like part of the discussion they usually miss out on.

Assessing Learner Reactions to Class Activities, Assignments, & Materials

CAT 47: Group-Work Evaluations

The Classroom Assessment Technique that would work in our project is the Group-Work Evaluations. Throughout the project, students are collecting data, through research, to use in a presentation at the end of the project. Before the true research begins in the fifth week of the project, however, the students are put into groups and are each asked to take on a role that would be beneficial to the end presentation. Through Group-Work Evaluations, the students are responsible for their own actions, gaining ownership, as well as grading their peers, subjectively, over how they handled their portion. Several GW Evals throughout the research week of the project will lead a teacher to see which groups are on task, above task, or lagging behind in work loads.