Case 2: College Mentors for Kids STEM Activity Background: The College Mentors for Kids (CMFK) is an organization

that pairs college kids with at-risk children (4th 10th grade). Their mission statement is: to motivate at-risk children and communities to achieve their potential by fostering inspiration to transform lives, education to change attitudes, and connections to increase opportunities (http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~cmfk/). This organization is based on a service being provided by college students acting as mentors. Recently, the head of this local chapter has asked you and your small group for help in creating lessons that can be used to help mentor and teach a group of students in relevant subject areas within the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) disciplines. The goal is to bring a large group of these children to our campus to work with students in a STEM afternoon activity. In order for this to be accomplished, you have been tasked with creating a lesson that will be used on that afternoon. Planning: As you discuss the case, make sense of case content, and plan the lesson with your group members, you will select a Web 2.0 tool. For this case, your group may choose a Web 2.0 tool from the following list: Lino (http://en.linoit.com/), MindMup (http://www.mindmup.com/#m:new), or Trello (https://trello.com/). To help you make your selection, visit Blackboard where you can find short videos that provide an overview of each tool You and your group may use this tool in any manner that is helpful while planning your lesson and discussing the case. Note: You will be asked to share whatever you create using your selected Web 2.0 tool and answer/reflect on a few questions about your experience with the tool. You can find the questions on page 3 of this document and an electronic version of this document on Blackboard. Product. Before CMFK hires you and your team, they want to see a sample of your work. You and your small group will research, design, and develop a lesson plan that will focus on teaching a specific concept in one of the STEM disciplines. You can decide on the topic and age group (upper elementary, middle school, or high school) of the target students for your lesson plan. The finished lesson should take approximately 30-45 minutes for the students to complete. Your lesson should include the following elements: a. A description of all key elements of a properly constructed lesson planeach of these sections needs to be fully described (i.e., to the point that someone you do not know will be able to read your lesson plan and be able to successfully complete the lesson in its entirety with the desired results). 1. Overview of Lesson 2. Description of Learners, Learning Environment, Intended Learning Goals, and Lesson Content 3. Learning Objectives 4. Standards 5. Required Materials 6. Procedures 7. Assessment 8. References and Reference Materials -1-

b. A full description of what inspired your lesson including where you found information about the lesson content, technology, and teaching method (include how you searched and found the information). Make sure you use proper APA formatting for all references you access and use as a part of your plan. NOTE: This lesson plan needs to be unique (not a copy of someone elses) however, you can use others ideas, techniques, procedures as long as you carefully document where the information was accessed. c. Full APA style references of two different journal articles that discuss research on teaching within the STEM disciplines. Each reference should be followed by a brief (one paragraph) description/annotation of the articles content (what each is about and its value). Specifically, be sure to briefly discuss how the journal articles you found informed how you designed and developed your lesson (e.g., The journal discussed strategies for problem-based learning (x, y, z). We used these strategies in the lesson we developed by). d. On the Project 1 website, a clear, concise (250 word max) well-written blog post that includes thoughts on the following areas: Why do you think your lesson plan was valid, practical, and motivational? Looking at the lesson plan you created, what changes would you make to improve it? What was the biggest "take-away" that you gained by completing this case? e. Your lesson plan should be formatted professionally. To give your lesson plan a polished look, use word-processing options like tables, shading, ClipArt, etc.

Learners, Teacher, School: Your lesson plan should be designed with the following in mind: a) The teaching environment: As the students travel to campus to participate in this program, a large classroom with several round tables has been reserved for the STEM afternoon. b) Number of students per age group: You get to select whether you want to work with elementary, middle school, or high school students. You can count on having approximately 15-20 students during your lesson. c) Mentors: Each student has a buddy (the college mentor) who will be with them for the STEM afternoon. You can choose how you incorporate the buddy into your lesson. d) Technology: The room has small whiteboards (dry erase boards) available, as well as, wireless Internet. There is one instructor station with a projector in the room. *NOTE: An important part of this lesson plan needs to be the selection and use of specific technology and how it could be integrated and used to impact the learning of the students within your lesson.

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Things to Consider Consider who, besides the learners, has a vested interested or cares about the success of the lesson you create and what the key characteristics are of these individuals and/or groups. Consider what the ideal lesson would look like (e.g., what specific activities would be included) from each of these other individuals or groups that have an interest in the success of the lesson. Consider how you can design a lesson that meets the needs of all the groups and individuals you have contemplated. After you have decided what STEM content and age group you will use to develop your lesson, consider where you can gather ideas for the lesson you are planning. Consider how technology can be used as part of this lesson and how you can validate its use.

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Discussion Group Form

(complete as a group)

Group Members Names: Discussion Record Please provide an overview of what topics your group discussed as you planned your lesson.

How did you decide what topics to discuss as you planned your lesson?

What Web 2.0 tool(s) did you select?

Why did you select this tool?

What was your experience with using this tool? Was it helpful or was it a hindrance? Explain. Would you use it again? Why or why not?

Insert a screen capture (or a link to) of anything you created with your selected Web 2.0 tool.

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Lesson Plan Assessment Guide Criteria Topic of Lesson & Learning Goals Can the lesson reasonably be delivered in 30-45 minutes? Is the lesson topic appropriate for the learners, environment, & case requirements? Given the topic, do the lesson goals allow you to adequately cover the topic? Target Audience & Learning Environment Does the audience description address all relevant student characteristics? Does the description of the learning environment address all relevant characteristics? Instructional Objectives Does each objective include the following three elements: Performance? Condition? Criteria? Does each objective correspond to the lesson topic and learning goal(s)? Instructional Procedure Are the lesson procedures described in a logical, straight forward manner that could be followed with relative ease? Does the procedure correspond to the learning outcomes & objectives? Are the instructional procedures doablegiven the class structure and size? given age, abilities, and characteristics? Are students given the opportunity to apply lesson content in a meaningful way? Standards Do the selected standards align with the learning goals and objectives? Motivational Strategies Do motivational techniques align with student attributes and needs? Is an orientation activity used to captures the learners attention/set the tone for the lesson? Are motivational techniques used to maintain attention and enthusiasm throughout the lesson? Evaluation Does the evaluation approach require the same performance as stated in the objective(s)? Does the evaluation approach require the same condition as stated in the objective(s)? Does the evaluation approach measure the criteria as stated in the objective(s)? Is the evaluation approach appropriate for the described lesson and goals? Possible 1 1 1 1 1 Score

1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1

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Technology Integration Does the described technology use enhance the lesson outcomes and objectives? Is the described technology use feasible (within the class structure, size, & environment and with learners age/abilities)? Face Value Is the lesson formatted in a professional manner? Blog Post & Group Discussion Form On the Project 1 website, a clear, concise (250 word max) well-written blog post that includes thoughts on the following areas: Why do you think your lesson plan was valid, practical, and motivational? Looking at the lesson plan you created, what changes would you make to improve it? What was the biggest "take-away" that you gained by completing this case? On the Project 1 website, a clear, concise Discussion Group Form is posted with other Case 1 materials. References Is a full description of what inspired the lesson including where information about the lesson content, technology, and teaching method provided? Are summaries of two different journal articles discussing research on teaching English as a second language provided? Does this summary discuss how the articles helped with lesson plan development? Total Score

1 1

1 1 30

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