1. The Mother of Invention: Involving upper elementary students in the invention process

2. The Mother of Invention: Involving upper elementary students in the invention process
Steve Coxon
Assistant professor of gifted education and Director of gifted graduate programs at
Maryville University maryville.edu/edgrad
stevecoxon.com
Lori Bland, Ph.D.
Director of Professional Development and Practice in Gifted Education
The Center for Gifted Education at The College of William and Mary cfge.wm.edu

3. Today
Participants will be engaged in the Problem-based Learning (PBL) process and employ it while receiving an overview of the unit and of the wider applicability of PBL.

4. Students should be given problems – at levels appropriate to their maturity – that require them to decide what evidence is relevant and to offer their own interpretations of what the evidence means. This puts a premium, just as science does, on careful observations and thoughtful analysis. Students need guidance, encouragement, and practice in collecting, sorting, and analyzing evidence, and in building arguments based on it. However, if such activities are not to be destructively boring, they must lead to some intellectually satisfying payoff that students care about.
-- from Science for All Americans, Project 2061
Center for Gifted Education
The College of William and Mary

5. Project Clarion overview
Principal investigators: Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Ed.D. and Bruce Bracken, Ph.D.
With a federal Javits grant, eight units for primary science were created, field tested, revised, researched in classrooms, disseminated, revised, and published.
The units combine the Wheel of Scientific Investigation, the Frayer Model of Vocabulary, concept mapping, pre- and post-assessment, and the macro-concepts systems and change.

6. Project Clarion research overview
Researched with over 3400 K-3 students in 48 classrooms in 6 Title I schools including urban, exurban, and rural in comparison to 43 classrooms using standard curriculum (e.g., Harcourt Brace) over 3 years.

7. Project Clarion research results
Gains were found for all student groups, including gifted students
The performance-based assessment results showed significant and educationally important gains for Clarion students in:
Macro-concepts
Scientific investigation
Content mastery
The Test of Critical Thinking showed significant and educationally important effects for the third grade students in the treatment group.

8. Invitation to Invent Concept: Systems
Processes: Scientific investigation
Problem-based learning (PBL)
Higher order questioning
Content: Simple machines; force, motion, and energy

9. What is PBL?
Problem-based learning is an instructional strategy (a curricular framework) that, through student and community interests and motivation, provides an appropriate way to “teach” sophisticated content and high-level process… all while building self-efficacy, confidence, and autonomous learner behaviors.
Center for Gifted Education
The College of William and Mary, 2009

10. PBL Roles Teacher: Present an ill-structured problem
Act as a metacognitive coach
Student:
Create a precise problem statement
Find information to solve the problem
Evaluate possible solutions
Create a final product
Center for Gifted Education
The College of William and Mary, 2009

11. Center for Gifted Education College of William and May
History of PBL
Medical school model (Barrows)
Used in both elementary and secondary classrooms with gifted students
Adapted for use with all learners
Used to educate school administrators
Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

12. Center for Gifted Education College of William and May
Research on PBL
Students show significant learning gains in experimental design through a PBL approach (VanTassel-Baska, et al. 2000)
Students show enhanced ‘real world’ skills with no loss in content knowledge as a result of using PBL (Gallagher & Stepein, 1996; Gallagher & Gallagher, 2003)
Students & teachers are motivated to learn using the PBL approach (VanTassel-Baska, 2000)
Students show enhanced higher order skill development using PBL over other approaches to teaching science (Dods,1997)
Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

13. Center for Gifted Education College of William and May
Features of PBL
Learner-centered
Real world problem
Teacher as tutor or coach
Emphasis on collaborative teams
Employs metacognition
Uses alternative assessment
Embodies scientific process
Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

14. Characteristics of the Gifted Characteristics of PBL
Desire for self-directed learning
Students are in charge of learning
Intense curiosity – what is the ‘real’ issue?
Requires problem finding
Metacognitive thinkers
Have we considered all possibilities?
What assumptions are we making?
Why is this strategy not working?
Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

15. Characteristics of the Gifted Characteristics of PBL
Capacity for learning quickly & absorbing new information
Requires students to make connections & create ‘new’ knowledge
Tendency to look beyond surface of problem
Requires deep thinking
Belief that problems have more than one answer
There is no single right answer
Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

16. Science Curriculum Framework
The Problem
Concept
Process
Understanding
“Systems” or “Change”
Using and Conducting Scientific Research
Content
Learning Science
Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

17. Problem Based Learning
State the problem
Decide what information you need
Conduct information quest
Complete scientific investigations
Review data & summarize findings
Communicate problem resolution
Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

18. Lower Primary Wheel of Scientific Investigation and Reasoning
Make Observations
Ask
Questions
Learn More
Design and Conduct the Experiment
Create Meaning
Tell Others What Was Found
SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION AND REASONING
Javits Project Clarion, Center for Gifted Education, College of William and Mary 18

19. Wheel of Scientific Investigation and Reasoning
Use your curiosity
Find something of interest to study.
Use your senses to learn.
Identify all the questions you have.
Select ONE question you want to answer.
Select an audience.
Decide on the best way to communicate.
Include data tables.
Report conclusions.
Make Observations
Tell Others What Was Found
Ask Questions
SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION AND REASONING
Organize your data.
Analyze data.
Make inferences and draw conclusions.
Check to see if you answered your question.
Think of related questions.
Create Meaning
Learn More
Find what you need to know
Find what others know.
Learn more through observations.
Re-examine your question.
Design and Conduct the Experiment
Form a hypothesis
List experiment steps.
Identify materials you need.
Conduct experiment.
Record data.
Javits Project Clarion, Center for Gifted Education, College of William and Mary 19

20. Center for Gifted Education College of William and May
Problem Statement
You have been appointed the architectural engineer for a new school. Many teachers and students have suggested that cafeteria noise is a major problem in the schools, making it difficult to converse and to think while eating. You have 2 weeks to draw up plans for a cafeteria in the school that would improve on what currently exists in this school. What will you do? Pg. 68
Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

21. How is noise muffled in nature?
Sample questions from the lesson:
How is noise muffled in nature?
How will the Wheel of Scientific Investigation help you solve the problem? Pg. 67

22. Handout directions:
At your tables, work in groups to brainstorm examples of the problem as well as 1-3 aspects of the problem (pg. 69). Be prepared to share with the larger group.

23. Use the chart at the top of pg. 70 to organize your plan of action.
Handout directions:
Having listened to multiple groups, record what you feel is the top solution (pg. 70).
Use the chart at the top of pg. 70 to organize your plan of action.

24. Handout directions:
Finally, restate your top solution as a testable question (bottom of pg. 70).
Be prepared to share.

25. Now that students are involved in the invention process, the unit moves on to simple machines and new possible inventions that employ them.
See handout 7A/7B

26. Students will create an invention as a final project after learning the invention process through PBL and exploring the 6 simple machines hands-on.
See rubric, handout 7C

27. Center for Gifted Education College of William and May
PBL Conclusions:
engages students' curiosity and initiates learning the subject matter.
provides excellent opportunities for students to think critically and analytically, and to find and use appropriate learning resources
promotes autonomous learning
Center for Gifted Education College of William and May

29. Steve Coxon
Assistant professor of gifted education and Director of gifted graduate programs at
Maryville University
maryville.edu/edgrad
stevecoxon.com

30. Center for Gifted Education
(757)
Center for Gifted Education, The College of William and Mary, 2009