Final reflection for Inquiry I

 I learned about the importance of teaching with activities that involve different senses and modes of learning. By experiencing many of these activities in class and outdoors in the garden, I picked up a few activities that I look forward to trying with my own classes. My favourite was tracing the path of the Sun with our bodies and making a sun dial with a stick in the ground. I think it would be a powerful experience for my students to realize how much they can learn about the world by making simple observations without any fancy equipment.

I also learned about many important issues in education through the inquiry presentations. I was intrigued by Sheldon and Gio's presentation on including arts into STEM to promote more participation and engage students. I also think I might try the two-stage exams that Jun presented on despite the mixed results shown in his research. Lastly, I also found the presentations on math flow, anxiety, and engagement to be informative.

A suggestion for the course would be to make the connections to the curriculum more explicit. I had trouble seeing how I could include most of the activities we learned in a regular classroom.

Inquiry Project Reflection

Throughout my inquiry research, I learned a lot about standardized testing in BC. The abundance of published materials online show the amount of debate and opinions on this topic. The BCTF, the Ministry of Education, the Fraser Institute, the media, parents, students, and the public all have reasonable arguments for and against standardized testing. The polemic of the BCTF seems to be one of the most prominent voices, and the trend in BC in the last couple of decades does appear to be heading in the direction of lower-stakes assessments (no longer count toward grades or considered in post-secondary admissions). However, the government has held firm that standardized testing is necessary, and does not appear be willing to stop using the data for ranking schools. Further research into the standardized testing practices of other provinces and countries, seem to indicate that BC has a relatively low number of standardized tests, and that our assessments are relatively low-stakes.

For my inquiry 2 project, I would like to continue research into the validity and development of the FSA/GNA/GLA. Neither the BCTF's claims that the tests are unreliable, nor the government's claims that the tests are useful for evaluating and improving the education system appear to be backed up by strong data. How do researchers measure the validity of tests? How are the test questions created and who writes and vets these questions? Is the testing method supported by research?

The first part of my research did turn out as I expected because I have heard the BCTF's arguments repeated every time exam time comes around, and the arguments for standardized testing are quite straightforward and also often heard in the media. This debate has been going on for a long time without much progress made for either side. I am interested in learning more about the research and the attempts to quantitatively address this issue.

Inquiry Presentation

 Here is the link to the Google Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YbLlAdnNpkDpzwUdqdCoziK6AodkQA8iag1zWWrGv6Q/edit?usp=sharing

Exit slip: December 2, 2021

 I had a lot of fun with ringing the bells today. I think the activities were a great example of involving more of our senses in math, and I will definitely try to include more of this type of activity in my teaching.    Reflecting on what I've learned on my practicum about the math curriculum, I think it's rather unfortunate that combinatorics is no longer in the Pre-Calculus curriculum. To me, it feels like the the Foundations stream now has a greater range of interesting math topics. 

Inquiry Project Annotated Bibliography

My annotated bibliography can be found at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qPY3q8siPN96wFO7hA7kNcN5KtrJCXTwW-aOMFWztuQ/edit?usp=sharing

Exit slip: November 18, 2021 - Thinking about the Inquiry Project

Planning how to be in contact with the "real world of teaching and learning":

I think most people have a strong opinion on standardized testing, so I don't think I will have any problem finding people to talk to. I can ask my siblings, including my little sister who is currently in grade 7 and just wrote the FSA. I can also talk to my two school advisors.

Thinking about focusing topics, planning interactive activity:

I think we will focus our research on BC assessments including the Foundation Skill Assessment, the Graduation Numeracy Assessment, and the history of the Provincial Exams. For an interactive activity, we could have everyone try a practice test question in French to demonstrate how language could affect results in a math assessment.

Exit slip: October 21, 2021 – Gender equality and inquiry project proposal

I appreciated all of the different perspectives that my classmates shared about gender equality in math and physics. We watched videos about Donna Strickland, a Canadian female Nobel Prize winner, and Maryam Mirzakhani, a female Fields medallist. We also compared and contrasted a video celebrating female scientists working at a university and a video on a male mathematician. One female classmate found that the video on the female scientists did not present the scientists seriously and was too stereotypically feminine. However, another female classmate argued that perhaps the scientists wanted to present their feminine personality and that there is nothing wrong with a scientist showing that they are not always serious. Further, it was pointed out that the video on the male mathematician also showed him playing the drums and solving a rubik's cube. I think part of promoting gender equality is to also promote a diversity of people working in math and science. In my opinion, it is likely beneficial to show young students that they can be a successful scientist without giving up their personality and hobbies.

I also enjoyed listening to all of the different proposal for inquiry projects. Some of the ideas I found really interesting are:

1. Bringing theatre into science classes. Can theatre be a way to bring students who aren't traditionally interested in physics to try the class and perhaps discover a new interest. I think the idea is intriguing and I look forward to seeing the presentation. 
2. Two-staged assessments. I actually did a two stage assessment in my first year physics course and I really enjoyed the experience. I think it really promoted engaging discussions because everyone in the group has already thought hard about the problem before coming together to discuss as a group. I'm curious to see how this has been used in secondary classrooms and what the research says about this approach to assessment.