USINGLEARNINGPROGRESSIONSTODEVELOPANDIMPLEMENTANINQUIRYMODELFORFORCEANDMOTIONATK‐5LEVEL

DianeJohnson,LewisCountySchools,KYMarHnBrock,EasternKentuckyUniversity

ForceandMoHonLearningProgression

ThankstoKentuckyDepartmentofEduca6onfortheMSPfundingenablingthisproject,PIMSERandtheUniversityofKentuckyforcoordina6ngit,andK‐5teachersofLewisandFlemingcoun6esinKentuckyfortheirforbearance.

IHEsciencefacultyandteachercurriculumspecialistsimplementedamodelforteacherdevelopmentwithintensiveinvolvementof34K‐5teachersfromtworuraldistrictsinNEKentuckyoveratwo‐yearperiod.TheKYsciencestandardswereusedasaframeworkforconstruc6nglearningprogressionsandlinkedguidedinquiryac6vi6esinthecontentareaofforceandmo6on.Ourresearchques6onsconcernthedevelopmentandstructureoflearningprogressions,theirimpactondevelopingcurricularmaterials,andtheeffecttheyhaveonteacherandstudentcogni6vedevelopmentintheareaofforceandmo6on.Thelearningprogressionsweredevelopedthroughanitera6veprocessduringwhichteachersineachgradelevelgainedfamiliaritywithcontentandpedagogyforallgrades.Thisenabledtheleadershipteamtolearnfromtheteacherswhatwouldbemeaningfulateachgradelevel,inaddi6ontotheteachersthemselvesgainingcomfortwithsciencecontent.Pre‐posttes6ngofcontentknowledge,ongoingforma6veassessment,feedbacksurveys,andclassroomobserva6onspermiRedinsightintoteachers’ini6alknowledgebaseintheseareasandchangesintheirconcep6onsofscien6ficideas,aswellastheimpactoftheprojectonstudentlearning.

Abstract

ThePartneringtoProgress(P2P)projectisaKentuckystateMathSciencePartnership(MSP),whichbeganinSeptember,2007andhasbeenextendedthroughSeptember,2010.Thepartnersconsistofthirty‐fourK‐5teachersfromeightelementaryschoolsintwosmall,ruraldistrictsinnortheasternKentucky,sciencespecialistsfromthePartnershipIns6tuteforMathandScienceEduca6onReform(PIMSER)oftheUniversityofKentucky,sciencefacultyfromUKandEasternKentuckyUniversity,andonedistrictcurriculumspecialistfromeachdistrict.Thegoalsoftheprojectareto1)enhancesciencecontentknowledgeofK‐5teachersinphysicalscience,specificallyproper6esofmaRer,heatandtemperature,andforceandmo6on;2)enhancetheabilityofK‐5teachersofsciencetoimplementinstruc6onthatleadstoeffec6vestudentlearningoftheiden6fiedcontent;and3)developadministrators’knowledgeandskillstoprovideeffec6veinstruc6onalfeedbackandsupportofhighqualityscienceteachingandlearning.Projectac6vi6esconsistofmonthlycadremee6ngswithallpartners,a5‐daysummerins6tute,classroomobserva6ons,analysisofstudentwork,andbimonthlyprincipalmee6ngs.Over2400elementarystudentswillbenefitfromthecoherentandprogressiveinstruc6onalunits. Principalsfromeachschoolselectedfiveteachersofscience(2primary,2intermediate,1specialeduca6on),exceptforthetwosmallestschools(onefromeachdistrict),whichhaveoneprimaryandoneintermediaterepresenta6ve,toaRendthemonthlycadremee6ngs,whicharefocusedonenhancingthesciencecontentandpedagogicalcontentknowledgeofthepar6cipa6ngelementaryteachers.FromSeptember,2007toMay,2008,thecontentfocuswasonforceandmo6on.ForfivedaysinJune,2008,thepar6cipa6ngteachersworkedthroughtheforceandmo6oninstruc6onalunitsfortwogradelevels(Kand1,2and3,4and5)thatweredevelopedbytheuniversitypartnersanddistrictcurriculumspecialists.Par6cipa6ngteachersimplementedtheunitsandtrainedallotherelementaryteachersofscienceacrosstheirdistricttousetheunitsfromAugust,2008toJanuary,2009.Atthis6me,allstudents,K‐5,inbothdistrictshavebeentaughtusingthedraainstruc6onalunits

ProjectDescripHon

LearningProgressionsLeadtoAcHviHes

KentuckyCoreContentforAssessment

Bytheendof4thgrade

CorrelatedLearningProgressionStatement

GradeLevelAcHvity

Studentswillinterpretorrepresentdatarelatedtoanobject’sstraight‐linemo6oninordertomakeinferencesandpredic6onsofchangesinposi6onand/or6me.Anobject’smo6oncanbedescribedbymeasuringitschangeinposi6onover6mesuchasrollingdifferentobjects(e.g.,spheres,toycars)downaramp.Collec6ngandrepresen6ngdatarelatedtoanobject’smo6onprovidestheopportunitytomakecomparisonsanddrawconclusions.

Interpretposi6onvs6megraph;beabletotelltypesofmo6onwithgraph(fast/slow)

UsingaGo!Mo6ondetector,studentscollect6meanddistancedataforeitherametalballrollingdownatrack,aKick‐Distravelingdownthehall,orasuperballrollingacrossatable.Studentgroupsposttheirdata,andtheteacherleadsadiscussiondescribingthedata,lookingforpaRernsinthedata,andgeneralizingaboutuniformmo6onfromthedata.Studentscalculatetheirobject’sspeed.

ComparisonofStudents’PreandPosUestScoresforForceandMoHonofParHcipaHngTeachers

Conclusion

*Pre/postdifferenceisnotsignificant**Pre/postdifferenceissignificantatp<0.005

ApartnershipofteachersandcurriculumspecialistsworkedwithIHEfacultytodevelopanovelapproachtothinkingaboutforceandmo6onstandardsusinglearningprogressions.Weshowedthatwell‐craaedprogressionshaveadirectlinkwithcurricularplanningforteachersandthatstudentworkisposi6velyimpactedthroughthislinkage.Wearecurrentlyapplyingthisgeneralapproachtotheareaofthestructureandtransforma6onofmaRer,andinthefutureexpecttoapplyittoothersciencedisciplines.