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People First Language – Proper Terms for Disabilities

Question 1:

There are many terms that have been used throughout history to describe people with disabilities. Some of the words I have heard are retarded, stupid, dumb, handicapped, inept, deaf, blind, crazy, insane, schizo and more. I believe that the above words are inappropriate. These words are used to describe their condition as a negative attribute. Many people do not view their disability as a negative attribute but just part of life. It is not our place to judge but to learn from people. We want to make sure that we are not conveying a negative attitude towards a disability just because it is different.

Question 2:

I was actually a bit surprised by my search because a lot of the terms that were used while I was growing up have been replaced with more social acceptable terms. I believe that the media has tried to change the terms that are used. However, you can still see disabilities conveyed in a negative ways in the media. Most of the time that you are hearing about disabilities in the media is when it is associated with a school shooting or gun ownership. Finding positive coverage of disabilities conveyed in a positive way are very limited. I think that we have made large progress in helping people to understand the need to frame things in a positive light. We need to avoid establishing self-fulfilling prophecies. A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, by the very terms of the prophecy itself, due to positive or negative feedback between belief and behavior. It is important that we do reinforce the person to view their disability as a negative.

Question 3:

I believe that reporters should use the proper terminology. They have a very public position and influence people’s understanding and use of language. Many people believe that if they hear it on TV it is appropriate to use in their social circles. I think a good example of the influence that reporters or public icons have is Donald Trumps video saying explicit things. He used a term that has been repeated across the nation, on CNN and has been normalized even though we deem it as inappropriate. It is important that reporters recognize their influence on their communities and try to use the proper terms.

Question 4:

I would hope to educate the individual on the proper terminology by pulling them to the side of class where I would explain to them how the term that they used can be hurtful and can cause another person stress. I would give them socially correct terms to use in the future. Additionally, I would push the importance of using the correct language in order to maintain a respectful learning environment and request they they use the proper language in the future while in my classroom.

Midterm Study Guide 501 Instructional Design Elements

Learning Objectives

learning objectives are brief statements that describe what students will be expected to learn by the end of school year, course, unit, lesson, project, or class period. In many cases, learning objectives are the interim academic goals that teachers establish for students who are working toward meeting more comprehensive learning standards.

Learning objectives are also a way to establish and articulate academic expectations for students so they know precisely what is expected of them.

What is the purpose?

OBJECTIVES articulate the knowledge and skills you want students to acquire by the end of the course
ASSESSMENTS allow the instructor to check the degree to which the students are meeting the learning objectives
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES are chosen to foster student learning towards meeting the objectives

What are important elements to remember when designing learning objectives?

What role do Bloom’s taxonomy and Webb’s DOK play in designing learning objectives?

Bloom’s Taxonomy was created in 1956 under the leadership of educational psychologist Dr Benjamin Bloom in order to promote higher forms of thinking in education, such as analyzing and evaluating concepts, processes, procedures, and principles, rather than just remembering facts (rote learning).

Bloom identified six cognitive levels: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, with sophistication growing from basic knowledge-recall skills to the highest level, evaluation.

Knowledge: rote memorization, recognition, or recall of facts
Comprehension: understanding what the facts mean
Application: correct use of the facts, rules, or ideas
Analysis: breaking down information into component parts
Synthesis: combination of facts, ideas, or information to make a new whole
Evaluation: judging or forming an opinion about the information or situation

These domains of learning can be categorized as cognitive domain (knowledge), psychomotor domain (skills) and affective domain (attitudes). This categorization is best explained by the Taxonomy of Learning Domains formulated by a group of researchers led by Benjamin Bloom in 1956.

The committee identified three domains of educational activities or learning (Bloom, et al. 1956): Cognitive: mental skills (knowledge) Affective: growth in feelings or emotional areas (attitude or self) Psychomotor: manual or physical skills (skills)

Webb’s Depth of Knowledge OVERVIEW

Webb (1997) developed a process and criteria for systematically analyzing the alignment between standards and standardized assessments. Since then the process and criteria have demonstrated application to reviewing curricular alignment as well. This body of work offers the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) model employed to analyze the cognitive expectation demanded by standards, curricular activities and assessment tasks (Webb, 1997). The model is based upon the assumption that curricular elements may all be categorized based upon the cognitive demands required to produce an acceptable response. Each grouping of tasks reflects a different level of cognitive expectation, or depth of knowledge, required to complete the task. It should be noted that the term knowledge, as it is used here, is intended to broadly encompass all forms of knowledge (i.e. procedural, declarative, etc.). The
following table reflects an adapted version of the model.

DOK Level

Title of Level
Recall and Reproduction
this category involve basic tasks that require students to recall or reproduce knowledge and/or skills. The subject matter content at this level usually involves working with facts, terms, details, calculations, principles, and/or properties. Ie show and tell, highlight words, fill in blank.
Skills and Concepts –
This level generally requires students to compare or differentiate among people, places, events, objects, text types, etc.; apply multiple concepts when responding; classify or sort items into meaningful categories; describe or explain relationships, such as cause and effect, character relationships; and provide and explain examples and non-examples. Ie explain series of steps to solve solution, real world application, concept maps, diagrams
Short-term Strategic Thinking
Tasks and classroom discourse falling into this category demand the use of planning, reasoning, and higher order thinking processes, such as analysis and evaluation, to solve real-world problems or explore questions with multiple possible outcomes. Ie Debates, essay, speech
Extended Thinking
Curricular elements assigned to this level demand extended and integrated use of higher order thinking processes such as critical and creative-productive thinking, reflection, and adjustment of plans over time. Ie Research report, play, presentation.

The DOK level should be assigned based upon the cognitive demands required by the central performance described in the objective.

The objective’s central verb(s) alone is/are not sufficient information to assign a DOK
Level. Developers must also consider the complexity of the task and/or information, conventional levels of prior knowledge for students at the grade level, and the mental processes used to satisfy the requirements set forth in the objective.

Assessment

Definition – the act of making a judgment about something : the act of assessing something : an idea or opinion about something

Educational assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skill, attitudes, and beliefs. It is a tool or method of obtaining information from tests or other sources about the achievement or abilities of individuals.

Formative assessment – Formative assessment is generally carried out throughout a course or project. Formative assessment, also referred to as “educative assessment,” is used to aid learning. In an educational setting, formative assessment might be a teacher (or peer) or the learner, providing feedback on a student’s work and would not necessarily be used for grading purposes. Formative assessments can take the form of diagnostic, standardized tests, quizzes, oral question, or draft work. Formative assessments are carried out concurrently with instructions. The result may count. The formative assessments aim to see if the students understand the instruction before doing a summative assessment.[5]
Summative assessment – Summative assessment is generally carried out at the end of a course or project. In an educational setting, summative assessments are typically used to assign students a course grade. Summative assessments are evaluative. Summative assessments are made to summarize what the students have learned, to determine whether they understand the subject matter well. This type of assessment is typically graded (e.g. pass/fail, 0-100) and can take the form of tests, exams or projects. Summative assessments are often used to determine whether a student has passed or failed a class. A criticism of summative assessments is that they are reductive, and learners discover how well they have acquired knowledge too late for it to be of use.[5]

Importance in the instructional design process

Assessment is an integral part of instruction, as it determines whether or not the goals of education are being met. Assessment affects decisions about grades, placement, advancement, instructional needs, curriculum, and, in some cases, funding. Assessment inspire us to ask these hard questions: “Are we teaching what we think we are teaching?” “Are students learning what they are supposed to be learning?” “Is there a way to teach the subject better, thereby promoting better learning?”

Helps educators set standards
Provides diagnostic feedback
Evaluates progress
Relates to a student’s progress
Motivates performance

Difference between formative and summative assessment

Formative assessment
The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More specifically, formative assessments:
help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work
help faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately
Formative assessments are generally low stakes, which means that they have low or no point value. Examples of formative assessments include asking students to:
draw a concept map in class to represent their understanding of a topic
submit one or two sentences identifying the main point of a lecture
turn in a research proposal for early feedback
Summative assessment
The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark.
Summative assessments are often high stakes, which means that they have a high point value. Examples of summative assessments include:
a midterm exam
a final project
a paper
a senior recital
Information from summative assessments can be used formatively when students or faculty use it to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent courses.

Objective Vs subjective
Base of comparison
Formal or informal
Internal or external

Reliability
Validity

What is the interchangeability between the two.

These two types of educational evaluation have significant differences, but there are some similarities when looking at formative vs. summative assessments. Both formative and summative evaluations require careful thought and planning about what knowledge or skills are being measured. And each type of evaluation collects useful, important information which fulfills a very specific purpose. A strong assessment program, whether it’s classroom-based, school-wide, or district-wide, will include both kinds of assessment.

Holistic vs. Analytic rubrics

Analytic rubrics identify and assess components of a finished product.
Holistic rubrics assess student work as a whole.

An analytic rubric resembles a grid with the criteria for a student product listed in the leftmost column and with levels of performance listed across the top row often using numbers and/or descriptive tags. The cells within the center of the rubric may be left blank or may contain descriptions of what the specified criteria look like for each level of performance. When scoring with an analytic rubric each of the criteria is scored individually.

Advantages of Analytic Rubrics

Provide useful feedback on areas of strength and weakness.
Criterion can be weighted to reflect the relative importance of each dimension.

Disadvantages of Analytic Rubrics

Takes more time to create and use than a holistic rubric.
Unless each point for each criterion is well-defined raters may not arrive at the same score

A holistic rubric consists of a single scale with all criteria to be included in the evaluation being considered together (e.g., clarity, organization, and mechanics). With a holistic rubric the rater assigns a single score (usually on a 1 to 4 or 1 to 6 point scale) based on an overall judgment of the student work. The rater matches an entire piece of student work to a single description on the scale.

Articulating thoughts through written communication— final paper/project.

Above Average: The audience is able to easily identify the focus of the work and is engaged by its clear focus and relevant details. Information is presented logically and naturally. There are no more than two mechanical errors or misspelled words to distract the reader.
Sufficient: The audience is easily able to identify the focus of the student work which is supported by relevant ideas and supporting details. Information is presented in a logical manner that is easily followed. There is minimal interruption to the work due to misspellings and/or mechanical errors.
Developing: The audience can identify the central purpose of the student work without little difficulty and supporting ideas are present and clear. The information is presented in an orderly fashion that can be followed with little difficulty. There are some misspellings and/or mechanical errors, but they do not seriously distract from the work.
Needs Improvement: The audience cannot clearly or easily identify the central ideas or purpose of the student work. Information is presented in a disorganized fashion causing the audience to have difficulty following the author’s ideas. There are many misspellings and/or mechanical errors that negatively affect the audience’s ability to read the work.

Advantages of Holistic Rubrics

Emphasis on what the learner is able to demonstrate, rather than what s/he cannot do.
Saves time by minimizing the number of decisions raters make.
Can be applied consistently by trained raters increasing reliability.

Disadvantages of Holistic Rubrics

Does not provide specific feedback for improvement.
When student work is at varying levels spanning the criteria points it can be difficult to select the single best description.
Criteria cannot be weighted.

Differentiation

is a framework or philosophy for effective teaching that involves providing different students with different avenues to learning (often in the same classroom) in terms of: acquiring content; processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas; and developing teaching materials and assessment measures so that all students within a classroom can learn effectively, regardless of differences in ability.

Content- what the student needs to learn or how the student will get access to the information
Process- activities in which the student engages in order to make sense of or master the content
Product- culminating projects that ask the student to rehearse, apply, and extend what he or she has learned in a unit; and
Learning Environment: the way the classroom works and feels.

Carol Ann Tomlinson (as cited by Ellis, Gable, Greg, & Rock, 2008, p. 32), is the process of “ensuring that what a student learns, how he or she learns it, and how the student demonstrates what he or she has learned is a match for that student’s readiness level, interests, and preferred mode of learning.”

Teachers can differentiate through four ways: 1) through content, 2) process, 3) product, and 4) learning environment based on the individual learner. Therefore, differentiation is an organized, yet flexible way of proactively adjusting teaching and learning methods to accommodate each child’s learning needs and preferences to achieve maximum growth as a learner

RTI –

response to intervention (commonly abbreviated RTI or RtI) is an approach to academic and behavioral intervention used in the United States to provide early, systematic, and appropriately intensive assistance to children who are at risk for or already underperforming as compared to appropriate grade- or age-level standards. RTI seeks to prevent academic and behavioral failure through universal screening, early intervention, frequent progress monitoring, and increasingly intensive research-based instruction or interventions for children who continue to have difficulty. RTI is a multileveled approach for aiding students that is adjusted and modified as needed.

Tier 1
The first tier states that all students receive core classroom instruction that is differentiated and utilizes strategies and materials that are scientifically research-based. Assessment in the classroom should be ongoing and effective in that it clearly identifies the strengths and weaknesses for each learner. Any necessary interventions at this level are within the framework of the general education classroom and can be in the form of differentiated instruction, small group review, or one-on-one remediation of a concept.

Progress monitoring in Tier 1 uses universal screening assessments to show individual student growth over time and to determine whether students are progressing as expected. In this process, data are collected, students are identified using benchmark scores, and measurable goals are set for the next data collection point for those who display difficulties.
Tier 2
In the second tier, supplemental interventions may occur within or outside of the general education classroom, and progress monitoring occurs at more frequent intervals. Core instruction is still delivered by the classroom teacher, but small groups of similar instructional levels may work together under a teacher’s instruction and/or guidance. This type of targeted instruction is typically for 30 minutes per day, two to four days per week, for a minimum of nine weeks. This targeted instruction may occur in the general education setting or outside in a smaller group setting with a specialized teacher (such as a Literacy Support teacher for struggling readers

In Tier 2, the main purpose of progress monitoring is to determine whether interventions are successful in helping students learn at an appropriate rate. Decision rules are created to determine when a student might no longer require extra interventions, when the interventions need to be changed, or when a student might be identified for special education.
Tier 3
Tier three is for students who require more intense, explicit and individualized instruction and have not shown sufficient response to Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventions. This type of targeted instruction is delivered for a minimum of two 30-minute sessions every week for nine to twelve weeks. If Tier 3 is not successful, a child is considered for the first time as potentially having a learning disability.

Discuss How Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory Explains Child Development

1. Discuss how Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory explains child development. List and explain the four stages of development discussed by Piaget.

Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory sets a solid foundation for understanding the underlying effects of how genetics, basic needs, environmental and social factors determine our early cognitive-development. The theory is broken down into 4 stages; sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational period.

Sensorimotor – Ages 0 to 2 years: simple relaxes, first habits, development of habits, first vision/eye-hand coordination, experiment with environment, internalization of behaviors = creativity/insight
Preoperational –
Symbolic function substage- Age 2 to 4: child begins to learn to speak at age two and lasts up until the age of seven, Children’s increase in playing and pretending takes place in this stage. However, the child still has trouble seeing things from different points of view, the questions of “why?” and “how come?” – Weakness of ages is ego, artificialism and transductive reasoning.
Intuitive thought substage – Age 4 to 7: children tend to become very curious and ask many questions, beginning the use of primitive reasoning. There is an emergence in the interest of reasoning and wanting to know why things are the way they are. Weakness – a>b>c hard time distinguishing categories and subcategories, size/volume comparisons etc.
Concrete operational – Age 7 to 11: characterized by the appropriate use of logic. Understands inductive but not deductive reasoning. Understand others perspectives. Weakness – understands concrete reasoning; not abstract.
Formal operational period – Ages 11 to 20: Intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. Use deductive reasoning.

My Thoughts / experiences:

Ultimately, I believe that this is a great model for child cognitive development but believe the limitation of the theory is its linearity. Humans do not develop linearly because genetic, environmental or social factors can limit/increase our ability to cognitively develop. For instance, my nephew was recently tested for autism which resulted in a negative result, however, it was determined that he had an issue with his ears. Essentially, his genetics had an effect on his language skills because he could not hear; after the surgery he became quite the talker. Additionally, I do not think that Piaget’s theory takes into account the social and environmental factors that can influence development. Humans don’t live in a bubble and our social and physical environment can affect our development, hence, divorces, lose of family members, wars, migrations can all have lasting effects on our cognitive development. Essentially, I believe that Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory is a great approximation of cognitive development but it is not the rule.

2.Describe the four main types of interaction between genetic and environmental influences on children’s development.

Humans have long been debating the merits of Nature Vs Nurture which has lead scientists and philosophers to develop four main viewpoints on the genetic and environmental influences on child development; Development by Nature, Development by Nurture, Development by Part Nurture and Nature and Development Results from the Interaction of Nature and Nurture. Each of the four views points have a place in human history as they were prevalent thoughts that dedicated many social, economic and environmental movements. Ultimately, it is important to understand the history of what lead to the discussion of Nature VS Nurture and how it continues to play a part in our political and educational systems.

Development is driven by nature:
Is driven by the early biblical ideas of “original sin” which center around the ideas of good and evil. The prevail thought towards development was that embryo’s/infants were already a miniture adult and their anatomy and behaviors were already determined, called preformationism or nativism. By nature you were born good or evil. Your genetics determine who you are.
Preformationism or nativism was further perpetuated by ideas of genetic determinism which place internal factors, natural and genetic, as factors that are in control of development not the environment.
A by-product of these ideologies was Eugenics, which is the idea that there are favorable genes and people with superior genetics should procreate. I.e Hitler & Ayran Race or US eliminating mentally ill people from the population.
Development is drive by nurture
A counter idea to the nature, was John Locke’s “The Blank Slate” which was the idea that an infant was a unmold piece of clay that was molded solely by the environment that it developed in. There are no genetic factors at play, strictly your environment and experiences dictate who you will become.

Development is part nurture and nature
Rousseau looked at children as innocent babies that develop according to nature’s plans, much as a flower grows in response to its environment. The soil, water, weather etc all play a part in the development much like our environment, social and economics factors affect our human development.
Heritability, traits influenced by genetic factors, furthered the discussion of part nurture and nature when used to compare different types of twins and adoption cases. Based on studies, the twins similarities were presumably determined to be genetic and their differences were presumably attributed to environmental factors of living with different parents.
Shared experiences VS Non-shared experiences

Development results from the interaction of nature and nurture.
Darwin’s theory of “Survival of the Fittest” and “Natural Selection” further demonstrated the interconnectedness of Nature Vs Nurture. Essential, “Survival of the Fitness” comes down to genetic traits; who is the strongest and most adapted. “Natural Selection” is how the environment can affect development or the elimination of a species or traits; lack of food, natural disasters, comets etc.
Epigenesis – is the contemporary idea that both genetic and environmental factors come into play. There are no guarantees as a number of genetic and environmental factors can affect the development of identical twins or family members; different weights, hair/eye color, space, food etc.. Aaron Rogers Vs Ex QB/Bachelor winner/sports analysis Brother.

My Thoughts / experiences:

Essentially, humans do not live in a bubble and our social, economics and location affect our development. Although, our genetics lay the foundation for our skills and abilities they will not be the sole factor. Both the environment and our genes work together to dictate our developmental outcomes. Ie Just because your parents are 6’5 does not mean you will be 6’5 if you get sick or didn’t have access to food during development. Ultimately, there are many factors that can alter a child’s development so it is important that we are able to identify them and work to increase or decrease (lack of food) their affect on a child’s development.

However, what I found most interesting about this reading is how the prevailing thoughts of child development largely dictated how societies and social groups acted at the time. There were many human rights violations that were brought about by the lack of understanding of human development leading to racism, genocides and wars. By identifying the genetic, social and environmental factors on our development we are able to understand and teach people to be more accepting, compassionate and loving. Essentially, it is by showing the similarities between all races that we were able to make progress with slavery and racism. These steps could not have been made without having a deeper understanding of the effect of our genetics and our environment on development.

Checking the Validity of Your Learning Objectives

1. Why is it important to check the validity of your learning objectives? How would you ensure that your learning objectives are valid.

It is important to check the validity of the your learning objectives because you need to determine if it is an actual learning objective opposed to a learning activity. Anne Reeves’s, “Where Great Teaching Begins” states, “The most direct way to check an instructional objective is to ask whether it is student-centered, is thinking-centered, and describes a performance that demonstrates learning.” Reeves’s highlights the need to validate your learning objectives based on whether the content is student-centered, cognitively appropriate and that the learning objective is observable and measurable.

Anna Reeves described a couple simple ways to determine the validity of the learning objectives. By using these tests we can check if it is a learning activity or a learning objective.

Hey Dad test – Something that can be seen or observed
“ Hey Dad, listen to me read this” or Hey Dad watch me ride my bike.
Helps teachers to test whether their instruction meets the learning objective requirement.
Principle in the Hall Test – What did you learn today? What can you do that you couldn’t yesterday.
Additional test that helps to determine whether their instruction meets the learning objective requirement.
Whaddya Know Test – Basic regurgitation of what they already know.
Allows you to understand where they are currently at

2. Describe your understanding of Characteristics of Good Instructional Objectives?

Good Instructional objectives are statements which clearly describe an anticipated learning outcome. They define what is supposed to be learned and are helpful to both the teacher and learner throughout the learning process. Additionally, learning objectives help with evaluation of the learning process and provide a clear end goal. Also, good instructional objectives uses verbs such as “to identify,” “to list,” and “to analyze” are explicit and describe observable actions or actions that lead to observable products. For example, a typical class or lesson begins with “”Upon completion of this lesson, the student should be able to….” which is a clear way for the teacher to establish the learning objective at the beginning of the lesson.

Additional characteristics of learning objectives is that they are well written, clearly describe learning outcome, are student oriented and result in an observable product. We need students to be engaged so our learning objectives need to relate to the students. We want to be able to observe progress and measure the outcomes. Finally, we need to make sure that the content is appropriate for the age (student oriented) or cognitive levels of the students. We do not want to overwhelm students. We want our students to feel like they are making progress. Hence, the content should be provided in a linear fashion and not be so advanced that it does not allow them to learn the information in a reasonable time. Additionally, it is good to identify the area that the learning objective will target; psychomotor, affective, and cognitive types of objective.

My thoughts:

Overall, I understand the need for learning objectives and feel that they are necessary to the instructional process. Personally, I have always liked clear instructions that state the goal and how the outcome will be determined/measured. Without clear goals and measurements it is very hard for me to be successful in classrooms or the working world. However, creating learning objectives and a quality assess method seems very difficult because it requires you to conceptualize a project from beginning to end. I wonder how I am going to be able to create my first learning objective and create a quality rubric. However, I look forward to the challenge and believe that I will get better as I get more experience running a classroom.

References:

Reeves, Anne R. Where Great Teaching Begins: Planning for Student Thinking and Learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2011. Print.