Standard 4.4 - Assessing/Evaluating
"Candidates design and implement assessment and evaluation plans that align with learning goals and instructional activities." (AECT, 2012)
&
Standard 4.5 - Ethics
"Candidates demonstrate ethical behavior within the applicable cultural context during all aspects of their work and with respect for the diversity of learners in each setting." (AECT, 2012)
Description of Artifact
The artifact that I am using to demonstrate my proficiency in both Standards 4.4 and 4.5 was create in Dr. Joseph Kush’s GDIT 715: Instructional Learning Theory, course taken during the fall 2017 semester. The objective of this assignment was to create a learning unit using the one of the learning theory models we had learned about during the semester. Therefore, I created a four-lesson unit plan to be used in an eleventh-grade physics classroom. The unit plan highlights the learning goals and objectives, the instructional strategies, and the assessments that will be used to teach the students. Furthermore, the paper discusses my rationale for using the Backward Design Model (BDM) created by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe in 2000, and a description of how learner characteristics and federal and state polices are considered at each stage of the planning process.
Reflection and Rationale
​
This was one of my favorite assignments to complete as it was also the assignment that I learned the most from. I decided to use BDM for the project as I thought the steps matched the process that I was already using to create my lessons. However, this course helped me realize that I was doing it incorrectly. Prior to learning about the different learning models, I planned my lessons by first looking at the standards, creating the objectives to match the standards, designing the instructional strategies, and then creating the assessments. However, many times I noticed that the assessments ended up misaligned with the standards and objectives. The BDM, on the other hand, focuses on first identifying the goals and objectives of the unit by looking at the standards, then creating the assessments to match the objectives, and finally designing the instructional strategies. Once I completed this project it seemed obvious that this should be the correct order of planning.
Another challenge that I encountered while planning this unit was creating proper assessments. A final project where students build a roller coaster, and a lab activity on the conservation of energy are used as the summative assessments for this unit. The formative assessments for the unit only included the practice problems from the textbook. With the help of my peers I was able to develop two rubrics I could use to evaluate the two summative assessments. However, I knew then that these three methods of assessment and evaluation were lacking which further motivated me to learn more about assessment and take a class in assessment. As I mention during my reflection for Standard 1, I am taking a course with Dr. Helga Stokes on the Foundations of Assessment (GFDE 500) in fall 2019. By doing so I know I will be able to demonstrate my proficiency in AECT’s Standard 44, which states that “Candidates design and implement assessment and evaluation plans that align with learning goals and instructional activities.”
The final requirement of this assignment was to describe how the local, state, and federal polices and ethical practices apply to this lesson plan. I had to ask my peers for help on clarifications about the state and local policies and how they can affect my students. Additionally, the paper describes how the various learner characteristics are accounted for and the learning strategies incorporate the diversity of learners. Therefore, I believe this artifact fully demonstrates my proficiency in AECT’s Standard 4.5: “Candidates demonstrate ethical behavior within the applicable cultural context during all aspects of their work and with respect for the diversity of learners in each setting.”
Artifact 17 - Physics Unit Plan designed using the Backward Design Model