Self-Directed Learning
- STEM K12 2: STEM educators collaborate to develop, implement, and improve high quality STEM learning activities.
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At Carrollton High School, we encourage students to take ownership of their own learning. Self-directed learning incorporates the basic fundamentals of learning that we all employee as young children just discovering our world.
Our teachers are encouraged to do away with the old institutionalized version of teaching and teach “outside the box.” It is important to provide activities for students that interest them and provides them a bridge for connecting their school subject matter to real-world experiences. We must prepare our students for the 21st Century by taking what we have learned from the experiences of our engineering academy and apply them throughout our school. |
ELL/Math Self-Directed Learning
Mrs. O'Neal, a mathematics co-teacher, infuses STEM while helping English-Language Learners solve multi-step equations. When asked about this process, she said, "we have a small group of ELL students who recently moved into our Coordinate Algebra class. Three of them speak very little English. In our class we were solving multi-step equations. Before we pulled these students out, we tried to get a read on where they were. We were at the point of our Unit 1 Test, so we gave them a modified assessment consisting of skill work only based on what they saw when they moved into our class. This group of students got very little, if any, of the questions correct.
Mrs. O'Neal, a mathematics co-teacher, infuses STEM while helping English-Language Learners solve multi-step equations. When asked about this process, she said, "we have a small group of ELL students who recently moved into our Coordinate Algebra class. Three of them speak very little English. In our class we were solving multi-step equations. Before we pulled these students out, we tried to get a read on where they were. We were at the point of our Unit 1 Test, so we gave them a modified assessment consisting of skill work only based on what they saw when they moved into our class. This group of students got very little, if any, of the questions correct.
Hands on Equations is a system for solving equations that works using manipulatives and is very visual. Since there is a language barrier, Coach Keith and I thought that this would be the best route to take to see if they could understand the math we were doing. We decided that I would start pulling these students out for part of a class to teach them this system. On the first day, we struggled through my broken Spanish, but they understood the concept of what we were doing. They really took off and worked with each other to get the complete concept. I could watch what they were doing to see if there were any misconceptions. By the end of the period, they were solving one and two step equations with variables on both sides. They were also able to check their solutions.
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The second day (the day on the video), we had a new student join our group. The students from day one were able to teach her what they had learned. We then, as a group, went on to new work. This work consisted of combining like terms through addition and subtraction. At this point, they were close to being caught up with the skill work in our class. They were solving multi-step equations with variables on both sides. In subsequent days, the students learned the distributive property and used that to solve equations. They also learned how to read, write and graph inequalities. We used our Hands on Equations system to solve inequalities (same work as the rest of the class). As these students continue to acquire the English language, we will work on drawing solutions to our equations and inequalities and eventually writing more formal steps. This system teaches to work with negative values as well as negative variables.
As the students are working through this system, they are being assessed at the same intervals as the other students in the class. Their assessments consist of the problems we have been working on. Sometimes the work is more directly aligned with what we are doing in class and sometimes it is/will be slightly different. For example, they will have their first assessment tomorrow and it will cover solving multi-step equations with their manipulatives as well as reading, writing and graphing inequalities. Our goal is that in the next several weeks, these students will be able to solve multi-step equations and inequalities, both of which are aligned with the standards for Coordinate Algebra (REI.1, REI.3)."
Self-Directed Learning and SWEA:
At the culmination of their STEM experience, students can apply for admission to the Southwire Engineering Academy. For two semesters each year, students that are selected to be a part of the Southwire Engineering Academy attend school in the morning and the equivalent of two blocks at Southwire's headquarters in the afternoon. There, they are organized into teams and assigned to a Southwire project engineer and lead project engineer. These serve as supervisors for the duration of the semester, setting expectations and deadlines, monitoring progress and leading the teams' daily work around manufacturing and product development tasks.
Whether applying root-cause analysis to improve production line efficiencies or identifying the correct mathematical formula to help utilities reduce waste by calculating how much wire is left on a partial reel, the teams gain hands-on experience, while learning to work quickly, efficiently and accurately to solve today's top business challenges.
As the students are working through this system, they are being assessed at the same intervals as the other students in the class. Their assessments consist of the problems we have been working on. Sometimes the work is more directly aligned with what we are doing in class and sometimes it is/will be slightly different. For example, they will have their first assessment tomorrow and it will cover solving multi-step equations with their manipulatives as well as reading, writing and graphing inequalities. Our goal is that in the next several weeks, these students will be able to solve multi-step equations and inequalities, both of which are aligned with the standards for Coordinate Algebra (REI.1, REI.3)."
Self-Directed Learning and SWEA:
At the culmination of their STEM experience, students can apply for admission to the Southwire Engineering Academy. For two semesters each year, students that are selected to be a part of the Southwire Engineering Academy attend school in the morning and the equivalent of two blocks at Southwire's headquarters in the afternoon. There, they are organized into teams and assigned to a Southwire project engineer and lead project engineer. These serve as supervisors for the duration of the semester, setting expectations and deadlines, monitoring progress and leading the teams' daily work around manufacturing and product development tasks.
Whether applying root-cause analysis to improve production line efficiencies or identifying the correct mathematical formula to help utilities reduce waste by calculating how much wire is left on a partial reel, the teams gain hands-on experience, while learning to work quickly, efficiently and accurately to solve today's top business challenges.
The junior engineer's grade is determined by both academic and on-the-job performance. At the beginning of the semester, teams are given an overview of their tasks, along with specific goals and deadlines. Twice per semester, each student is required to give a walkthrough presentation to his or her project engineer, Southwire's management team, school officials and other teams. These include reviews of performance against projected goals, key project findings and next steps, all of which are used to determine the overall grade for each student. The Southwire Engineering Academy interns also regularly participate in E2E (Engineer to Engineer) Competitions. One example is the Lego Airplane E2E Competition. To view additional information about this competition, use the following links:
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Artifacts:
- Student Recommendation for AP Computer Science Program at CHS
- STEM Newsletter (created by STEM Students)
- Overview of American Literature STEM Project | Grading Rubric
- Professional Development STEM Project
- STEM Class Activities
- Mrs. Chettis's Project
- Mr. Brewer's Class Twitter Page
- American Literature Blogging Assignment
- Ms. Holley/Mr. Brewer's Music Video Project | Rubric | Rhetorical Analysis Assignment (Example) | Mr. Brewer's Example
- Mr. Martin's Airplane Project Video 1 | Video 2
- STEM Students create LifeCable Article | LifeCable Website
- ELL (English Language Learner) Class / IB English Class Joint Video Project | See a sample of the final videos below:
Lucknise's Video:
VIcky's Video
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Elijah's Video:
Juan's Video
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