Advantages Of K-12 Curriculum Design

“Alright,” the teacher says to the students, “I’m going to number all of you off into groups. Each group will read a section from the textbook and become experts on that section. Then, each group will teach the rest of the class what they learned from their reading.” This is an instruction common to the classrooms in the United States. More and more is the pedagogy of public education leaning in favor of team-based activities, projects, and learning. Group work is generally seen as an ultimately beneficial way to teach students, but this may be somewhat of a fallacy. The emphasis on group-based learning in public schools causes a multitude of problems.

It provides a clear guideline for what every student should know and be able to do in math and in English language arts at the end of each grade (Common Core Standards Initiative, 2010a). The English language arts and literacy standards were written to help students meet the particular challenges of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language in their respective fields, such as science. Great emphasis is placed on literacy skills within the context of science learning characterize “science teachers as sharing responsibility for literacy acquisition” (Scruggs, Brigham, & Mastropieri, 2013, p.50). However, it is important to note that “literacy standards in history, social science, science, and technical subjects are meant to supplement content standards in those areas, not replace them” (Common Core Standards Initiative, 2010b, p.

When starting Methods of Science this semester, I was lacking knowledge of the NGSS standards. Throughout this class I feel like I have been exposed to the standards, and how to interpret them. As a college student studying to become an Elementary Education teacher, I have observed in classrooms that the subjects of Science and Social Studies often get pushed to the side. As a future teacher, I want my classroom to be different. I want to make sure all subjects are as equally as important as the other ones. I believe the NGSS standards help expand Science curriculum for teachers. There are countless reasons for why NGSS standards are way the way to go in all classrooms.

It helps students to share their knowledge with each other for a better understanding of a specific concept. One of the important principles that the cooperative learning theory proposes is heterogeneous grouping, which means that the students within the group vary in their gender, skills, class social, religion and age (Jacobs 4). Another important principle is maximum peer interactions that occur when specifying the number of students working together (Jacobs 4). Collaborative skills is an additional principle that is proposed by this theory, which means that students who work with each other are capable of explaining and giving reasons (Jacobs 4). Also, one of the essential principles is individual accountability, which ensures that every one is and working trying to share their knowledge (Jacobs 5). This theory is applied to the physics worksheet because it is a model for enhancing the cooperative learning

Throughout this lesson students will be hands on and engaged with the material. Students will need to cooperate with one another in order to learn and expand their knowledge. When doing the experiments students will have to work together and consider each others opinions. During the informal assessment students will be working in groups and discussing what is happening to the crayon or granola bar. During this lesson students will have to cooperate with one another in order for the activities to run smoothly. Cooperation allows students to work with one another and consider others options and thoughts. While students work together they are able to help their peers and asks their peers questions if the material is confusing. Student interactions

When creating lesson plans for a class with children of varied MI, it is imperative to understand what the dominant MI of children within the class are. Then all that is required is combing the particular subject with the different activities about the topic that encourage the learning process of each child to flow effortlessly. It is in this instance that children begin to learn more about a subject when the activity being carried out successfully engages the child’s interest through catering to each child’s educational preference.

California Science Teachers Association. (2015). Recommended Minimum Core Inventory to Support Standards-Based Instruction. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjGkc3yyJnNAhUP0WMKHddHCtkQFgggMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cascience.org%2Fcsta%2Fpdf%2Fequipment_list_ca-ngss_high-school-biology.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFpA6UPHFWKKK5rOj83UqhlnLw7vA&sig2=BIqjzyjogIWGNbdDHC6HXQ

One possible solution to low academic achievement in certain content areas is the use of the hands-on learning approach. These activities can be used to promote higher order thinking and an increased understanding of the curriculum. When a teacher emphasizes hands-on learning activities, students significantly outperform their peers (Wenglinsky, 2000). Research on hands- on learning has been conducted and advocated since the late 1950's. The resulting research indicated that hands-on instruction was very successful in teaching science and mathematics because this kind of instruction created a more active environment. (Frederick, 1999). By using hands- on instruction in the classroom students attitudes toward science and math will become positive, students will then be motivated to learn, teachers and students will

If I hand out different questions to each group so they can address them during the presentations, a variety of perspectives will ease student understanding of the standing waves concept; students would be required to take notes and to include them in their lab reports. This is a great idea because collaboration significantly improves critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills. The academic performance benefits of collaborative and cooperative learning have been known for decades because Robert E. Slavin suggested, back in 1980, that students engaged in cooperative or collaborative learning perform better academically than students learning through traditional lecture methods of instruction; his results are still supported today. In addition, Bruce Joyce corroborates that learning through group investigations emphasizes social development, academic skills, and personal understanding (2015). Based on these, it is safe to assume that engaging students in collaborative presentations will enhance their learning and will help them progress towards meeting the learning targets. This will also focus the lesson more on the students and less on

In this theory it is believed that activities are needed in order to reinforce the information that the student has been given. This is what reinforces the learning that has taken place in the classroom. Activities make learners think and thinking motivates learning O’Neil, Fisher, & Newbold, 2009). In this lesson the material that is presented in the classroom lecture will be reinforced during the small group sessions when the learners are given activities to do in regards to the information that they have been given.

Collaborative learning stems from the theory of Vygotsky’s conception of Zone of proximal development. The thought is that children learn best with “help and guidance” (Ormrod, 2012). In transitioning this zone to a collaborative learning experience, children work with their peers in broadening their learning experience, allowing small groups of students to work together to share knowledge, exchange ideas, problem solve, and more. These classroom environments help to create durable abilities in students and aid in producing a “smoother integration into adult society when the activities resemble real-world tasks” (Ormrod, 2012). As students work with peers and adults, they adopt some of the learning strategies demonstrated and develop more skills in problem solving. This scaffolding creates a trickle-down effect of knowledge construction. In collaborative learning, students are afforded a myriad of enriching opportunities to explore perspectives that may differ from their own. These activities serve to create a self-awareness in the student of their responsibilities to a group, requiring them to self-monitor their activity (Lee, Tsai, Chai, & Koh, 2014).

Abstract .- The learning process can occur because of the interaction between the individuals and the learning environment autonomously or intentionally designed. T. A. I. is essentially a cooperative learning model that divides learners heterogeneously, while snowball throwing models is a cooperative learning type which is designed like a throwing ball game. This method aims to provoke creativity in creating the problem as well as testing the mastery of material submitted by the group leader. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of Team Assisted Individualization (TAI) and Snowball Throwing Cooperative Learning Model on fourth semester Biology students’ entomology learning outcomes at FKIP Mulawarman University in Academic Year 2015/2016. The sample of this study is taken by purposive sampling. The number of 62 students who are from class A and C, where class A is chosen as an experimental class and class C is chosen as the control class. By using statistical tests show that sig (2-tailed) of 0.043 < 0.05 so that it can be seen that there are significant the effect of Team Assisted Individualization (TAI) and snowball

And because PBL involves group learning, it does not only facilitates the acquisition of knowledge, but also brings about several other desirable qualities in students such as improved communication skill, team work, problem solving, sharing information and respect for others. Discussing problems in small groups promotes connection of ideas and encourages cooperation instead of competition among students. Moreover, PBL generates a stimulating and challenging educational environment as well as a high level of enthusiasm among students (1,4).

Over the years, the kindergarten to grade twelve curriculum has continuously been receiving backlash, and disapproval from many people. The years that students spend in K-12 education are the most important for becoming lifelong learners, and providing basic knowledge that students can use post secondary. I believe the largest contemporary issue today is the curriculum. In society, children are initiated into particular modes of making sense of their experience and the world about them, and also into a set of norms, knowledge, and skills which the society requires for its continuance. In most societies most of the time, this “curriculum” of initiation is not questioned; frequently it is enshrined in myths, rituals, and immemorial practices, which have absolute authority. (Egan, 2003) According to Noddings the K12 curriculum possesses many problems that can negatively affect not only the student but also the teacher, curriculum holds a high importance regarding school due to it’s step by step instructions of how the classroom should be ran, looking at it today proves that it fails to do so.

Possible solutions to the research problem based on the results are small group instruction and technology integration restrictions. Small group instruction is a wonderful strategy that guarantees that students understand the curriculum. Small groups will enable the teacher to give students the extra help that students sometimes require to obtain the lesson.The separations will make it easier to