Values of blog in senior science Biology

The term, weblog, is defined as a “frequently updated website, normally with dated entries and usually with the newest entries at the top”. With advancing technology, use of blogs is becoming increasingly important. In one of the reports by Mary Beth Adomaitis  Weblogs are used as educational tools to not only teach students, but also as a means of keeping parents informed of what is going on in the classroom, as well as the entire school. One of the benefits of a blog is the feedback that can be provided. Various issues can be "talked out" through a blog's comments or forum. Teachers can also provide answers to homework questions, as well as respond to other concerns parents or students may have. A teacher's response via the Internet is a lot quicker than waiting until class starts the next morning. Weblogs are also being used as a teaching device. Middle and high school students are creating blogs during various classes as a way of learning from each other and dispelling the negativity blogs may have. Students can create weblogs and present ideas on a variety of subjects including: Teachers can set up private accounts for each student, keeping them secure by allowing only limited accessibility. These blogs can then be accessed during class time where they can be updated, edited or graded. Students can critique each other's weblogs, which can provide valuable feedback for both the students and the teacher.

In biology classrooms blogs can be used to promote higher order thinking to pose questions based on topics discussed in the classroom, Visual and audio stimulus material. The teachers can provide opportunities for higher order thinking using blogs by

• setting challenges and posing big questions that require analysing and evaluation and more research using internet.
• encouraging students to respond sharing opinions ideas and research
• including reflective tasks

Higher order thinking skills include creating, evaluating and analysing (Atherton,

2002) and pedagogies that promote these skills are varied but include challenging the learner, promoting active participation, argumentation, problem solving, conducting investigations and tackling subject matter that is complex (Tytler, 2004).

As noted by Tom, one of teachers who participated in the case study in the article ‘The use of web technologies in higher order thinking skills’ by Gail.C, to promote higher order thinking the Weblogs’ can be used to provide choice that fostered motivation and interest. The questions should set challenges within boundaries and students must have the capacity to answer - with the web as the source of information, thereby giving students greater control and ownership of the task. (Tom, 2008)

Deb, another teacher who participated in the case study, said Blogs can be used as a site to present science as fun and engaging. Some common characteristics are: personalizing the site with photos of students conducting activities; a motivating or attention grabbing clip. (Deb, 2007)

Using short clips that go for 5 minutes, like from You-tube rather than videos that go for half an hour.

• The blog  can be used as an additional forum - that helped manage students’ questions in class.
• Students have been given much more choice and opportunity to direct the curriculum.
•  The questions on the blog can be addressed at a number of levels allowing all students the opportunity to respond. (Deb, 2007)

Blogs were very interesting part of assessment in biology during this semester. This gave opportunity to every student to express their views about the particular topic discussed in the class the same week. Every week would be a new topic to discuss research and reflect on. I felt it more like learning through experiences.ie every individual put up what they have understood from the lessons the lecturer have taught in the class. There are positives from both sides, from teachers and students. Teachers will be able to know how much students have got from the particular lecture and the same time involves students to learn through computer technology. Teachers design the marking guidelines such a way that every student who blog gets at least minimum marks. Higher marks are given to more reflective at the same time higher order thinking answers. Teachers are able to give individual comments and opinions to improve on the topics the students have blogged. From student’s side it was worth spending time each on the particular topic. Get to learn a lot more new things by getting involved in writing answers to the blog.

When creating Blog in future for your students there are few things that you have to keep in mind, the first and the foremost is the focus on attaining the learning objectives. Weblogs would be an efficient way to communicate information on class expectations to our students. They would create opportunities for engaging students in conversation with teachers, with their fellow classmates, and with outside resources. Blogs create an environment where students not only experience the subject matter but also learn how to find credible sources for learning in the future. This invaluable skill of learning how to read, evaluate, and respond to information found on the Internet would help the students update both their explicit and tacit knowledge throughout their lifetimes. (Delany, 2010)

There are  a few different routes you can take when setting up a classroom blog. The first question to ask yourself is whether you want your blog to be viewed publicly over the interent or only by the class involved. If you want a public blog. then you can sign up at one of the many free blog hosting programs available.

Once you decide on a host, have your class help you decide on a name, background, graphics, etc. You can then decide how you will run the blog, how often it will be updated, and who can have access to it and whether or not to enable comments. As a teacher, you also decide if your students will be allowed to access it during school time and what type of content is and is not acceptable. It's best to have ground rules in place before the blog is live. You can use the blog for:

• Personal Journal
• Online notebook
• Class discussion
• Reflection

Bibliography

• Atherton, J. S. (2002). Learning and teaching: Deep and surface learning. Retrieved March 2003, from http://www.dmu.ac.uk/~jamesa/learning/deepsurf.htm
• Kirk, L.D.(2010). 1, 2, 3, BLOG: THE USE OF WEBLOGS AS AN EFFECTIVE AND         EFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TOOL IN THE CLASSROOM. Retrieved from http://delaney.typepad.com/files/kirk-johnson-swam-2010-proceedings-1-1.pdf
•  Ley, D. (2007). Ubiquitous computing. In Emerging technologies for learning (Vol. 2,pp. 64-79). Coventry, UK: British Educational Communications and TechnologyAgency.
• March, T. (2006, 15/8/08). CEQALL - learning in a Web 2.0 world. from http://tommarch.com/ceqall/
• Tytler, R. (2004). Higher Order Thinking: Support Reading for EME244/502 (pp. 1-7)  Deakin University.

Sample exam style questions

3 Marks question

Module – 8.3

Focus point - 8.3.5 - Maintenance of organisms requires growth and repair

Outcome Addressed: P6

Band level targeted – 2-4

1. John was observing a fast growing onion root tip under a microscope. Help him to identify the various stages of mitosis and give reasons to why do you think each cell exhibit the particular stage of its mitotic division.

Identify the cells (by number) and characteristics which are in the following stages of mitosis:

interphase _____________

prophase _____________

metaphase _____________

anaphase _____________

telophase _____________

Marking Guidelines

• Identifies the cells by number and characteristics of each stages correctly in all 5 stages of mitosis– 3 Marks
• Identifies the cells by number and characteristics correctly in any 4 or 3 stages of mitosis                                                          - 2 marks
• Identifies the cells by number and characteristics correctly in any 2 or 1 stages of mitosis – 1 Marks

Sample answers

Interphase- 4, 5, 6,8,10,13,15,16,18, characteristic observed- it’s the non mitotic phase or the resting phase.

Prophase- 2, 14- chromosomes condense and become visible. The nuclear membrane starts to dissolve.

Metaphase- 1,11,17- The chromosomes line up in the middle of the cell or equator and nuclear membrane completely dissolves .

Anaphase- 7 , 9- chromatids move to the opposite side of the poles.

Telophase- 3, 12- The chromosome decondenses, Nuclear envelope forms and two daughter cell forms.

The values of mapping skills and outcomes in terms of assessment

The Outcomes express the specific intended student learning that results from the teaching of the syllabus. Outcomes are derived from the objectives and provide clear statements of knowledge, understanding, skills, values and attitudes gained by most students by the end of a stage as a result of effective learning and teaching. (Years7-10 support document, 2009).

Each unit of work the teacher develops must include the selected PFA, knowledge, understanding and skills essential content relevant to the stage outcomes and appropriate to the chosen context. It would be expected that the learning experiences within the teaching program provide opportunities to assist students to work towards the achievement of the values and attitudes outcomes.

The Mapping Grids has the syllabus outcomes and essential content arranged in tables and columns that can be adjusted to allow for the number of learning units in each year of the school program. The content mapping grids provide a useful tool for planning where the PFA and Domain: knowledge, understanding and skills essential content will be explicitly addressed in a year. These grids can also be used to demonstrate the development of the syllabus essential content (Student ‘learn about’ and ‘learn to’) across a stage in relation to the scope of targeted outcomes identified for each unit in the sequence.

In a learning program, skill development within and across Preliminary and HSC course needs to be carefully and systematically planned and tracked. The use of the content mapping grids helps to ensure that all aspects of each skill have been addressed by the end of each course. It is also useful during the planning and implementing of the program to alert teachers to the level of student independence required in performing the specific skills in each unit of work.

Planning the program involves a number of interrelated activities. The fundamental step is the establishment of a program overview with a scope and sequence plan that is based on the syllabus outcomes and the course requirements that are being addressed within the year across the syllabus. The elements that are included in the overview of the program are:

–     the sequence and title of each learning unit for the year

–     the time in weeks allocated to each learning unit

–     the placement of class time for at least one Student Research Project in the stage.

The mapping of the scope of the targeted outcomes in each unit in each year and across the stage identifies:

–     all PFA outcomes that are addressed at least once each year

–     a range of selected Domain: knowledge and understanding outcomes targeted in each unit

–     all of the knowledge and understanding outcomes

–     all skills outcomes are addressed at least once in each year

–     Values and attitudes outcomes are addressed across the stage.

Together, the sequence plan and the outcomes mapping grid provide a means by which teachers can ensure that the learning/teaching program established by the school addresses the syllabus requirements. In the content mapping grid the learning experiences are broadly classified into one of three developmental levels. In the learning phase (L) the teacher establishes the student’s prior learning and uses this as the basis for developing student understanding through appropriate explicit teaching of the relevant knowledge, understanding and skills components. In the practising phase (P) the student uses the knowledge, understanding and/or skills in tasks to achieve specific goals. The application phase (A) is when the student independently uses the knowledge, understanding and skills in the course of regular work and as a foundation for the development of learning.

By using the syllabus mapping grids, a clear overview is provided that identifies where the learning experiences are located that specifically target the syllabus essential content in each unit of work. The mapping provides a means of evaluating whether the learning/teaching program provides a comprehensive and balanced development of all knowledge, understanding and skills essential content within each year.

During the planning process a manageable number of outcomes for each learning unit are identified on the scope and sequence and these will be the focus of the organization of the essential content and learning experiences within the units. The targeted outcomes in the unit are also central to the decisions on the required evidence of learning. It is necessary to identify specific evidence of learning to be observed through the teaching, learning and assessment activities for the unit outcomes. The evidence of learning provides a basis for informing and adjusting the teaching/learning program.

Assessment is the process of identifying, gathering and interpreting information about student achievement. It occurs as an integral part of teaching and learning and involves using assessment activities to assist students in understanding their learning and the learning processes. An assessment focuses on the syllabus outcomes and clearly expresses for the student and teacher the criteria by which learning will be assessed. By integrating assessment for learning activities in the learning/teaching sequences, teachers are able to gather evidence of learning and make judgments about student achievement in relation to the outcomes. Assessment for learning enables teachers to plan ways to remedy students’ alternative conceptions or misconceptions, promote deeper understanding, and encourage the development of positive values and informed critical attitudes.  It is necessary to identify specific evidence of learning to be observed and that will be gathered for the targeted outcomes that are the focus of learning in each unit. In order to collect the desired evidence, a range of assessment strategies are selected that will:

·         provide valid and reliable evidence of student learning

·         enable students to demonstrate the extent of their knowledge, understanding and skills

·         provide a balance between informal and formal evidence gathering

·         Support the learning process and be manageable within the time allocated to the unit.

In overall outcomes are central to the decisions teachers make about the learning to be undertaken and the evidence of learning that needs to be collected. The evidence of learning assists teachers and students to decide if students are ready for the next phase of learning, or if teachers need to adapt programs to provide further learning experiences to consolidate students’ knowledge, understanding and skills.

To site an example of a scope and sequence plan, during term 1 in school, week 1 starts with

Preliminary Module 8.2 – A local ecosystem. Allocated time to complete this module is 30 hours. Outcomes that need to be addressed in this module are P2, P3, P7, P8, P11, P12 and P13. At the end of week 8, students understanding, knowledge and skills are tested using a research assessment task based on this module. Various formative assessment strategies are designed by teachers during these 8 weeks to identify and collect student’s progress regarding their content understanding. Teachers are provided with stage 6 preliminary outcomes mapping grid and content biology skills mapping grid that specifies the outcomes that have to addressed during each module and the level of competence that each student must acquire regarding each skill i.e. either in Learning phase (L), Practicising Phase (P) or Application phase (A).

Bibliography

• NSW Board of studies. (2009).Science years 7-10 support document. Retrieved from http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_sc/pdf_doc/science-years7-10-support2009.pdf

Holistic Marking

Holistic Marking

Holistic marking is a technique that rests on the assumption that trained markers will respond to a composition in the same way if they are given a set of characteristics to guide them. (Vaughan 1991). Sets of characteristics are laid down in the marking schemes to guide markers in assessing the projects at different levels. This however is not empirically validated. The markers are concerned to fit a particular project in the standards and they are required to focus in marking rather than marking processes.

Characteristics of Holistic marking

·         Holistic standards embed criteria in a global description of the desired level of performance. Holistic standards judge the whole of the student’s performance rather than its isolated parts, and are more likely to provide a realistic representation of student ability (Biggs, 2003).

·         Holistic standards are likely to be useful when the sum of the student’s performance in a task is more important than their performance in component parts.

·          Holistic standards may be more suited to assessing complex higher order thinking tasks and to tasks where it is not easy to separate the performance of one criterion from another.

·         Holistic standards may be presented as a long description if a single standard, or may be presented in a table or a continuum if it contains multiple levels.

·         Holistic standards commonly allocate a single mark for the whole piece of work.

Holistic Marking can be, depending on their detail, standards may give only general or limited guidance to students about how to perform different characteristics of the task. Detailed holistic standards with multiple criteria may be more difficult for markers to apply.

The Marking rubric for young Scientist Awards had four levels of standards allocated for each year group, based on which marks are allocated to a project. For teachers marking criteria are put into words clearly and have been told what exactly to look in them.

At first a project is marked by an assessoràThe same project double checked by another assessorà Same Marksà no issuesà different opinion of marking by assessorsà given to senior assesors for their opinion.

All Mark 4 projects are looked over again by senior assessors.

The marking Rubrics guides the assessor what to look for in the project and award marks accordingly. There are border line projects which fit most into high level criteria but not entirely. That’s when it becomes difficult .Especially when deciding between high 3 projects and low 4.

I think Holistic marking is good for students; only if the students are made aware of the criteria’s that the assessors are looking for in their projects. That gives guidance to students and they would be able to choose a project which has relevance in future and that the same time complete their written work addressing the standards.

Even working as a mentor for My Science project I had no idea of the level of standard to be met in a project to be qualified for young scientist awards. I think my students got disadvantaged due to the fact that I was not aware of assessment criteria and therefore guiding students appropriately to approach their project.

Bibliography

Armstrong,S. (2008).University of Western Sydney. Assessment guide implementing criteria and standards-based assessment. Retrieved from http://uws.clients.squiz.net/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/53827/Assessment_Guide.pdf

Web Resources for Practical Activities linked to Syllabus - Module 9.9

Dot point focused – 9.9.3.1- Gather, process and summarise information from secondary sources to identify the products of photosynthesis and describe the function of these compounds in living organisms

Prior learning: Stage 4, Structures and Systems 4.8.2 (c), 4.8.4 (d) Interactions 4.10 (c); Stage 5, Interactions 5.11.2 (b), Structures and Systems 5.8.4 (b)
Preliminary module 8.2.2 module 8.3.4

Background: Photosynthesis is one of the most important biochemical reactions that can be studied. Photosynthesis is the process in green plants that captures light energy from the sun. It therefore is the basis of most life on Earth.

To elaborate on 9.9.3.1 dot point -

• Gather information from various sources such as a textbook or Internet site, evaluate the information and choose the relevant details. Summarise and collate the information to identify the products of photosynthesis and describe the function of these compounds in living things.
• Process the information by evaluating the accuracy of the data in relation to the area of investigation.

At first students should know the process involved in photosynthesis to later identify its products and describe its functions.

Students are shown an interactive video animation on photosynthesis. http://vcell.ndsu.edu/animations/photosynthesis/movie-flash.htm

This animation identifies the complexes involved in electron transport chain, mobile carriers and key components required for the photosynthesis process. This video explains in detail the process and help students to understand the abstract concept involved in this process.

A website is provided as a starting point

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/kling/energyflow/PSN_primer.html

Students are asked to identify the products of photosynthesis from this website and describe its functions. This website gives the information on Calvin cycle, photosynthesis, and metabolism- various pathways by which cells can obtain energy.

Students are asked to look up two other websites to check for reliability of the information gathered.

A sample answer would look like this-

Identify the products of photosynthesis.

The products of photosynthesis are oxygen gas, water and glucose. The glucose is     stored as starch in the plant. The reaction can be summarised by the equation:

6CO_2(g) + 6H₂O ^light→ C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O_2(g)

Describe the function of these compounds in living organisms.

Oxygen gas and glucose are required for aerobic (oxygen requiring) respiration in all living things. Aerobic respiration is the process in which cells break down glucose to provide energy for metabolic processes to support growth, movement and reproduction. The energy is stored in the chemical bonds in the glucose. It is released when the glucose is oxidised and stored as ATP (adenosine triphosphate) for use by the cell. Respiration can be summarised by the equation:

C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O_2(g) → 6CO_2(g) + 6H₂O + energy as ATP (~30 ATP in eucaryotic cells)

Water is the medium in which all cellular reactions take place because it is the main constituent (part) of the cytosol (cytoplasm). It also provides structure for cells by creating pressure against the cell membrane to retain the shape of the cell. Movement of water provides a way in which substances can be transported around the cell and through the organism. For example, water carries dissolved substances in the blood in mammals and dissolved substances in the xylem of plants. (New HSC online).

I think the animation video will help students in understanding the concept of photosynthesis in detail and the global change website will help students to give a start in gathering required relevant information.

Dot point – 9.9.3.2 - analyse information from secondary sources to discuss and evaluate the potential uses of photosynthesis in replacing materials presently obtained from other non-renewable resources

• Anayse information you have gathered from popular scientific journals and the Internet by making generalisations and use the information to justify your statements.

For this particular dot point students are to identify the non renewable sources of energy and identify the potential uses of photosynthesis in replacing these non renewable sources of energy. Biomass is an alternate source to other non renewable sources of energy.

Biomass is organic material made from plants and animals (microorganisms). Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. Plants absorb the sun's energy in a process called photosynthesis. The chemical energy in plants gets passed on to animals and people that eat them.

Biomass is a renewable energy source because we can always grow more trees and crops, and waste will always exist. Some examples of biomass fuels are wood, crops, manure, and some garbage.

1, http://www.forteachersforstudents.com.au/Origin/glossary.php#Biomass

This website basically provides the glossary of various terms related to energy. This help the students to familiarize with some of the terms used in energy related context.

2. http://205.254.135.24/kids/energy.cfm?page=biomass_home-basics

This website gives basic information on biomass energy, how can biomass be converted to various forms of energy, and how biomass be used as fuel. It provides information on how waste can be used to produce electricity.

3.  http://bioenergy.asu.edu/photosyn/education/photointro.html

This is another useful website giving introduction to photosynthesis and its application and future uses of the products from photosynthesis. This helps students in getting an overview of the process, structure and uses of photosynthesis.

4. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/abcs_biofuels.html

This website tells all about biofuels research by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Biomass Program. And how biofuels can make a difference in our lives compared to non renewable sources of energy.

In short all these websites guides students in comparing and providing relevant information on renewable and non renewable sources of energy and get them introduced to the term biomass, how can it be produced and used as a promising source of energy in future.

Bibliography

• New HSC Online. The Department of Education and Training and Charles Sturt University. Retrieved from http://hsc.csu.edu.au/biology/options/biochemistry/

Evaluating a Biology website using Berkeley Library Resource - Module 9.8

Skill dot point focussed

9.8.1.3.3 - Analyse information and use available evidence to identify technological advances and resulting new information that have changed scientist opinion about the classification of primates.

The webpage relevant to this dot point is  http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/T/Taxonomy.html

This web page has been evaluated using UC Berkley web teaching library resources using the techniques outlined below.

According this technique in order to evaluate a web site there are five questions that need to be answered: -

1.     1. What can the URL tell you?

a.     Is this somebody’s personal page? – The word ‘users’ in the URL indicate that it is a site offering personal pages. Personal pages contain valid and useful opinions, links to important resource and significant facts. There is no publisher or domain owner vouching for the information in the page

b.     What type of domain does it come from? – The domain name in the above URL is ‘rcn’ which is a commercial ISP. The domain name gives you information on who published a page, made it public by putting on the web.

c.      Who published the page? – The publisher is the agency or a person operating the server computer from which the document is issued. The publisher for this page is ‘rcn’ which is a commercial internet provider in the USA similar to Optus in Australia. Its not an educational site provider like National Institute of Health.

2.     2. Scan the parameter of the page, looking for answers to these questions

a.     Who wrote the page? – The author of these pages John W Kimball, a retired biology teacher has graduated from Harvard College and received his PhD in 1969. The first edition of Kimball’s General Biology text was published in 1965 and the most recent one in 1999.

b.     Is the page dated? – Is it current enough? The page was last updated on 11-May-2011. This means the information in this web pages are updated on a regular basis

3.     3. Look for indicators of quality information

a.     Are sources documented with foot notes or links? – The pages represent an online Biology textbook. Hyperlinks are provided within the text to give extra information on the content. Some of the information has been drawn from the 6^th edition of Kimball’s Biology text published in 1994.

b.     Are permissions to reproduce and copyright information provided? – All the materials in this page is protected by copyright of John W Kimball (Author of this website) and all rights are reserved

c.      Do the links to other resources on the topic work? – The links provided in this webpage works when open and they are tagged to reliable sources. The links are well chosen for e.g  ‘Link to a phylogenetic tree of living hominoids based on DNA – DNA hybridization”. This link when opened goes to another resource giving evidence to the relationship between living hominoids measured using their T50H values based on DNA-DNA hybridization

4.     4. What do others say?

a.     Who links to the page? – The web page when links to alexa.com, following information are obtained. Traffic ranking – 132172. Estimated percentage of global internet users who visit this website in 1 month is less than 9% of which most of them are females between age group 18 – 24. When looked in to the contact information in alexa.com regarding this website, no details could be found and no reviews are so far been recorded. A related link to this website is found to be a cell biology graduate program. Search queries were placed on a number of topics in this website. For e.g on restriction enzymes bacteria telomeres etc.

b.     Is the page listed in one or more reputable directories? – Yes. The Kimball’s Biology is listed in ipl2, infomine, about.com. It says that that much of the content of this website has been adapted with hypertext enhancements and updates as new discovers are reported from the 6^th edition of the authors General Biology textbook.

c.      What do others say about the author? – When searched in Google blog about this webpage results were found. One of them commented, “this site is an online text. It covers all aspects of general biology. It is searchable by term or alphabets. Pages include text and images. Direction for use of this website are clear. The submitter has also mentioned about the topics that are included in this website.

5.     5. Does it all add up? – To sum up, in my view this website is a reliable source of information. This page has been written and updated by a scientist graduated from Harvard University. It has been categorized under open textbook material type. The contents are made easy to understand and simpler to be used by any graduate student. This website seem to be updated on a regular basis. Even though there were no reviews on this website on alexa.com, good comments were found on Google blog and it also been listed on a couple of reputable directories. I think students can use this webpage as one kind of secondary source to obtain relevant information on technological advances and classification of primates.