In AEE 412 this week, we dug deeper into the problem solving approach in agricultural education. We learned about four different types of problem solving techniques to use in our classroom. The first was the fork road problem which allows students to solve a problem one way or another, like yes or no for example. The next technique we learned about was the possibilities factor problem which offers many choices or options as solutions for a problem. Another technique we learned about was the situation to be improved technique which allows students to determine that better options are needed to solve a problem. The last technique we learned about was the effect-cause technique where students figure out the cause of a problem that led to the present effect.
I ended up using the situation to be improved technique in lab on Wednesday. I based my lesson out of the PA aquatic life unit in my aquatic resources class. The basis for the lesson was that an endangered species was found on a piece of land that was soon to be developed into a shopping complex. Students were tasked with determining how to go about solving the issue and presenting their ideas and solutions in a letter addressed to the local township supervisor. As I found in lab, my idea sounded better in my head. When I got up to actually present my lab, I don’t think the problem was clear enough to students. This was the topic of discussion in class on Friday, improving our ability and understanding of the problem solving approach in order to effectively teach it in our classrooms.
As I look ahead to next week, we will be discussing how to evaluate learning through different assessment methods. I am very interested in this because assessment is one area I am struggling with as I write my unit plans. I do not want to just give a typical exam at the end of each unit. I want to allow students the opportunity to show what they have learned in ways other than taking an exam. I feel that students are constantly tested and I know that they would often prefer other means of assessment.
One way I plan to assess my students in several of the units I am teaching is through projects. I read the University of Florida’s article on Creating and Working with Rubrics and found it very beneficial. I have already started creating rubrics for some of my lessons and can work to improve them with information in the article. I also found some other great ways to assess students in the University of Florida’s Evaluating Learning in Laboratory Settings. I like the idea of a concept map; however I would not use this as a final unit assessment. I really like the idea of using student portfolios to assess student learning. I think that I can incorporate the use of portfolios into my agricultural business class this spring.
After completing the readings for the upcoming week, I am excited to learn more about evaluating instruction and assessment! I think this is a topic we as a cohort are all anxious to learn more about. I speculate my peers have a lot of questions as to different variations of evaluating instruction and assessment. The semester is rolling along quickly and I can’t wait to put all of my knowledge and skills to use at Elizabethtown in a few weeks!
Bry, I think that you problem sounds like a great on, I can see where it might be difficult for students to understand the depth of the problem. I am not sure if this would have been at the beginning or the end of your unit. It might fit best near the end of the unit so that students will have a good understanding of what they need to think about while creating the letter.
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