Activity 10.5

Revisiting Your Project Plan  

During this activity, you will discuss ways to implement and manage projects that use the Showing Evidence Tool and continue working on your Project Plan. 

Step 1: Understanding Best Classroom Practices

Start small. Consider using the simplified version of Showing Evidence first to help your learners get used to the tool and the basics of making an argument. 

Try out your ideas. Practice with your project before assigning it to your learners. Gather evidence yourself to be sure that your project ideas will work. 

Establish project expectations. Before starting work with Showing Evidence, make expectations clear. Discuss your expectations of the kinds of evidence learners can use, how to rate the evidence, and what can be done with the claim. You may want to provide some additional scaffolds, such as rating rubrics, checklist of requirements, vocabulary definitions and examples, basic tool instructions, or a working document for gathering research (including the topic, prompt, claim focus, and questions needing answers to support claim). 

Set up teams to succeed. Consider assigning certain roles within the team and have learners rotate through them. For instance, one learner could use the computer to enter new evidence items, while another gathers evidence from print references or Web sites. Remind learners that only one team member can be logged into the workspace at a time. If instant messaging is approved for use in your school, it can be an effective way to transfer information from a researcher using online sources to the learner logged into the project.  

Assign teams and reviewers. Give some thought to how you assign teams. Sometimes, you may want to assign like-minded learners to the same team to facilitate the decision making process. Other times, try creating teams where the learners will need to negotiate their claims. If you will be assigning different topics for each team, consider having two teams per topic. You can then assign those teams with the same topics to act as each other's reviewer. Peer-review teams would then have the content knowledge to comment on the other team's case effectively. If you are doing a joint project with another class, you will need to set up one project and assign teams from both classes. You can then assign reviewing teams from the other class. Be sure to provide your teacher login information to the other teacher, as well. Consider assigning an expert or outside reviewer to work with your learners, especially in the case of an independent science research project. 

Consider creating an initial set of sources for evidence. To help learners use research time effectively, you may want to give them a resource list of suggested Web sites, other electronic media  (e.g. encyclopaedias), and print resources. This will be particularly important for younger learners. After they have exhausted your list, you may want to give them more time to conduct research using other sources. 

Consider a practice case. After discussing the parts of an argument, you may want to demonstrate each part of Showing Evidence and then have your learners work briefly on a practice case. Create a practice project that requires very little prior knowledge and/or supply easily accessible evidence. learners should work through the case from beginning to end to learn how to use the workspace, see the difference between a claim and evidence, understand how to rate the evidence, and practice looking at the body of evidence to come to a conclusion. Consider the following prompts for practice projects:

• Should parents pay their children to do chores?
• Should there be a curfew on school nights for youth under 16?
• Should junk food be sold at school?
• Should learners be required to wear school uniforms?
• What theme should we use for the school matric dance?

Use Multiple Methods of Assessment Throughout the Project

Assess learners using multiple forms:

• Multiple assessors—such as the learners themselves, peers, the teacher, and mentors
• Multiple projects of assessment—such as individual learners, groups, the whole class
• Multiple formats—such as written work (formal assignments and informal journal entries), observations (of group activities and individual work), presentations, informal discussions and questions, project designs, and the final product

During the project, focus on assessing your learners' thinking and the quality of their arguments. Ongoing learner assessments could include:

• Pre-planning documents
• Reflection logs or daily journals
• On-task behavior/participation points
• Major assessment points as learners develop ideas (collection of evidence, identification of a viable claim, final case)
• Quality of peer review
• Self- and peer-evaluation
• Observation of learner discussions and development of ideas while learners use the Showing Evidence Tool

Consider how learners will develop and present answers to the significant questions and issues of the project as a whole—beyond the use of the Showing Evidence Tool. learners should use the information learned through the use of Showing Evidence to create an outcome that demonstrates their understanding. Some ideas include:

• Have learners create a final project, such as a presentation, report, essay, or publication that analyzes, evaluates, and proposes a solution, verdict, conclusion, or new action.
• Set up a role-play, experiment, scenario, or other hands-on activity to assess skills and knowledge.
• Use debates, interviews, mock trials, or other oral presentations to uncover the depth of learners' understanding and comprehension.

Some of the information above is modified from:
Rubric to Assess a PBL (Project-Based Learning) and Rubric
www.idecorp.com/assessrubric.pdf 

Project Based Learning with Multimedia
http://pblmm.k12.ca.us/PBLGuide/AssessPBL.html 

Next: Proceed to Step 2 of Activity 10.5