Available from www.primrosehall.com and www.oxfordglobalpress.com Designing the Classroom Curriculum Exploring Curriculum, Assessment and the Incorporation of Technology in Classrooms David Lynch, Richard Smith and Mike Howarth 2nd Print Edition Copyright © 2016 David Lynch, Richard Smith and Mike Howarth All rights reserved under conditions described in the Copyright Act 1968 of Australia. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means - whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic - without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law. Under the Copyright Act of 1968 It is a fair dealing to make a reproduction for the purposes of research or study, of one or more articles on the same subject in a periodical publication, or, in the case of any other work, of a reasonable portion of a work. In the case of a published work in hardcopy form that is not less than 10 pages and is not an artistic work, 10% of the number of pages, or one chapter, is a reasonable portion. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Creators: Lynch, David E., Smith, Richard, A., Howarth, Mike. Title: Designing the classroom curriculum: exploring curriculum, assessment and the incorporation of technology in classrooms ISBN: 9781326627973 Dewey Number: 375.001 First Published in 2016 by Oxford Global Press London (UK) Sydney (Australia) www.oxfordglobalpress.com Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge copyright. However should any infringement have occurred, the publisher and the author tenders their apology and invite the copyright owner to contact them so the infringement may be remedied. Some aspects of this book have been reproduced from previous author published works. All web links and web references correct at time of printing in 2016. These works have been peer reviewed. Contents KEY SYMBOLS USED IN THIS BOOK .............................................................................................. 8 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................... 9 A Changing World and the Education Imperative ............................................................................................ 9 CHAPTER 1: LEARNING AND TEACHING................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. What is Learning? Towards an understanding and a definition ............................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Ho to I terpret Lear i g ................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Culture of doing ................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Teaching and Learning ......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Understanding the Premise of Knowledge ........................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. The Knowledge Hierarchy .................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Dealing with students as Individuals .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER 2: THE CONCEPT OF CURRICULUM .......................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. What Does the Ter Curriculu Mea ? ............................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Understanding the Concept of Curriculum and its Influences .............................. Error! Bookmark not defined. How is the Term Curriculum Used in the Teaching Lexicon? ................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Curriculum and the New-to-Service-Teacher ....................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER 3: CURRICULUM THEORY AND DEVELOPMENT....ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.2 Curriculum Theory ..............................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.2 Curriculum Development ....................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.3 Curriculum Design...............................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.3 Pedagogic Void ...................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.8 Backward Design ........................................................................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 4: THE LEARNING (MANAGEMENT) DESIGN PROCESS ...........ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.1 Learning Management ........................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.2 The Teaching Design Idea ...................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.3 The Learning (Management) Design Process or LMDP ........................................Error! Bookmark not defined.5 The Structure of the Learning Management Design Process ...............................Error! Bookmark not defined.8 The Outcomes Phase ..........................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.8 The Role of the Syllabus and Instructional Learning Outcomes ...........................Error! Bookmark not defined.0 Using Verbs that define what to teach and what to assess .................................Error! Bookmark not defined.2 The Strategy Phase .............................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.4 The Evidence Phase ............................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.5 CHAPTER 5: APPLYING THE LEARNING (MANAGEMENT) DESIGN PROCESS .............................. 58 Learning Management and the Learning Management Design Process ......................................................... 58 Understanding the Learning Management Design Process ............................................................................ 59 8 Questio s A s ered to for a Classroo Curriculu ...................................Error! Bookmark not defined.0 The 8 Learning Management Questions .............................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.0 Phase 1: Outcomes .............................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.3 Phase 2: Strategy ................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.0 Phase 3: Evidence ...............................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.4 A Note on Putting it all Together ........................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.0 CHAPTER 6: ASSESSMENT IN THE CLASSROOM CURRICULUM ..............ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.3 Defining Assessment ...........................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.3 Key Terminology in Assessment ..........................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.4 CHAPTER 7: THE TYPES OF ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES.........ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.6 Tests ...................................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.7 Performance Assessments ............................................................................................................................. 98 Product Assessment ...........................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.0 Self-Assessments ................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.1 Authentic Assessments .......................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.2 CHAPTER 8: DECIDING THE INSTRUMENTS THAT WILL FORM THE CLASSROOM CURRICULUM’S ASSESSMENT STRATEGY......................................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.6 Identifying the Most Appropriate Assessment Strategy ......................................Error! Bookmark not defined.7 The Fi e Best Fit Assess e t Choice Steps ........................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.7 How to develop assessment criteria and rubrics .................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.1 Ensuring High Quality Assessment Regimes ........................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.5 CHAPTER 9: REPORTING....................................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.19 School and Classroom Reporting ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.19 Principles of Reporting........................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.0 The Types of School and Classroom Reports .......................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.4 Managing Formal Reporting of Student Progress ................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.4 CHAPTER 10: TEACHER AS RESEARCHER: USING ASSESSMENT DATA TO INFORM PRACTICE ............................................................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.6 Definitions of Research .......................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.7 Clinical Research and Professional Learning and Application ............................ Error! Bookmark not defined.29 How a Teacher Can Use Research to Enhance their Teaching and Learning Outcomes ....... Error! Bookmark not defined.2 CHAPTER 11: NAPLAN AND CLASSROOM DATA ANALYSIS.ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.37 NAPLAN ............................................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.37 Using NAPLAN Data in your Classroom ...............................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.0 Using Classroom Data in Your Teaching ..............................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.1 CHAPTER 12: INTEGRATION OF ICTS IN THE CLASSROOM AND IN SOCIETY... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.49 Towards a Computerized World .........................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.0 Digital Citizen ......................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.2 Teachers Responsibilities ....................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.3 CHAPTER 13: 21ST CENTURY TEACHING AND TECHNOLOGY.................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.7 SAMR ................................................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.58 Flipped Classroom ..............................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.0 TPACK .................................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.1 Virtual Classrooms ..............................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.1 CHAPTER 14: LEARNING SPACES .........................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.4 Personal Learning Environments ........................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.6 Virtual Learning Environment ........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.68 Virtual Reality spaces........................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.69 REFERENCE LIST ..................................................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.2 Key symbols used in this book A Key point to note An activity to complete. These activities focus the reader to key knowledge and understandings. In many cases the solutions to questions posed are found in subsequent chapters. Self-assess each question by checking through the book for the correct answer. An example of what has been outlined A summary of key points made in a chapter. Introduction David Lynch, Richard Smith and Mike Howarth This book has been designed as a key resource for the classroom teacher when designing the classroom curriculum. This book is timely, because teachers today are under policy pressure to design teaching programs that benefit all students in the classroom. The emphasis of the book then is on the design, implementation and assessment of the classroom curriculum and it includes guidance on the preparation of a plan of action for the classroom and its implementation by way of evidence-based strategies. The incorporation of chapters focused on Technology, is a realisation of how pervasive technology is in the 2000 epoch and having an understanding of it and an insight into how it can be harnessed for teaching and learning effect is thus an important addition. The term ‘curriculum’ fundamentally means a course of study. The term ‘classroom curriculum’ can be defined as the global strategy through which the teacher aims to achieve defined learning outcomes in all students in their classroom. The classroom curriculum is ‘detailed/outlined’ in plan form by way of a year / term plan which is then expanded into a daily classroom plan where explicit teaching steps and the associated content are outlined for direct teaching reference. Various ‘planning templates’ are available for such purposes. We explore one such template in Chapter 5. To fully appreciate the context in which the modern day teacher designs their classroom curriculum, we first explore the premise of a changing world for key points of reference. A Changing World and the Education Imperative John Hattie (Hattie, 2009), in his ground breaking book ‘Visible Learning: A synthesis of Over 800 Meta-analyses Relating to Achievement’, made the fundamental finding that teachers make the difference. To understand why such a statement was so ground breaking is to understand that for the better part of two hundred years achieving at school was largely viewed through the lens of ‘smart and dumb kids’--- meaning they either ‘got it’ or they didn’t--- and it was thought that there was little the teacher could do to overcome ‘one’s pre-ordained lot in life’. The ‘one teacher’ with ‘many students’ in a small classroom did little to encourage alternate views. The schooling system was thus based on a student’s individual capacity to acquire higher levels of education and designed to exit those students accordingly who couldn’t (i.e. Year 8 = into unskilled work; Year 10= into trade based or skilled work; Year 12= into university and then into highly skilled work). In the associated job market (circa 1800 to 1980), jobs in the main were plentiful for the unskilled, skilled and highly skilled alike and were offered on a ‘job for life’ basis. There were few pressures on the schooling system to question the ‘success’ or otherwise of students, nor the performance of teachers (Lynch, 2012). In summary, to achieve at school was considered commensurate to one’s biology and to a large extent their ‘social status’. There were life-long employment options generally for those who wanted to work. But by 1996, the Knowledge Economy came into being (OECD, 1996). This economy was the product of various technologies converging and intensifying through computer-based communication and information technologies to create an environment where unskilled and semiskilled jobs began being replaced by technological innovations and automations. The job market began to change fundamentally and in its place a set of ‘new jobs’--- many of which were unknown five years previously (such as; app. developer, IT security consultant, robotics engineer, drone pilot, myotherapist, digital image consultant, biomedical engineer, logistics engineer, professional gamer and the like). What makes these jobs different to those of the industrial era is that all require high levels of (and continuing) education. This circumstance has continued to the present day to such an extent that demand for the unskilled and semi-skilled is diminishing quickly. Further, improvements in robotics and automation technologies will further displace yet more occupations in time. Besieged by corresponding pressures on national economies, Governments of all persuasions have vigorously focused their attentions on the performance of their schools and the proficiency of its teachers. Schools are thus under pressure to ensure that every student is positioned for work and life in this emerging new global economy. Failure at school is no longer accepted as a schooling outcome, and the school exit point is now standard at Year 12 throughout Australia. Where students are failing teachers are expected to diagnose why and enact remedial programs accordingly. Further, national benchmarks for student learning performance are in place (i.e. NAPLAN1) and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for such outcomes. Taken together, this circumstance is a distinct change in focus for the teacher trained pre-2000. Five Key Things Which Have an Impact on Student Success at School In the opening section of this chapter we mentioned the work of John Hattie (2009). In summary, his research indicated that five key things impact a student’s success or otherwise at school. These are:      The Student The Student’s Home Life The School The Curriculum Approaches to Teaching Hattie’s (2005, 2009) central finding is that ‘what teachers do matters’, a finding that others have also produced from systematic and credible research (e.g. Marzano, 2008)2 . 1 National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy www.naplan.edu.au Marzano, R. (1998) A Theory-Based Meta-Analysis of Research on Instruction. Aurora, CO.: Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory. 2 In terms of ‘the student’, Hattie (2009) argues it’s what the child brings to school that influences their achievement (from preschool, home, and genetics) as well as a set of personal dispositions that can have marked effect on the outcomes of their schooling. ‘The home’ can either nurture and support achievement of students, or it can be harmful and destructive. To a large extent schools and teachers can have little practicable effect on these two matters. But being aware of them is important as society now deems it important that professionals such as teachers monitor each in the interests of each child’s welfare. To this extent, past teachers and teacher educators were right to place great emphasis on ‘home background’ as a determinant of learning, but in doing so, and in the absence of rigorous research evidence, they missed the importance of the teacher. Teachers operate today in a radically different world to that of the past. Technological innovation has fundamentally changed every aspect of home and work life and has also caused a rethink to occur in education as new understandings about people learn and how teachers can best teach emerge. One such example is the work of John Hattie (2009) who has examined key aspects of the schooling process to identify focal areas for optimal student learning outcomes. Hattie has identified for teachers and schools three strategic remediation or ‘strategic focus’ areas that directly contribute to the learning success of each student for the other three variables: ‘the school’, ‘its curriculum’ and the ‘approach to teaching’. These three areas come to represent what a school and its teachers now need to focus on if every student is to achieve at school. In this context we have developed this book. The book provides an insight into curriculum, assessment and the incorporation of technology as three fundamental elements in the effective classroom curriculum. Having now made these introductory comments we now invite you to undertake a journey into understanding curriculum, assessment and the incorporation of technology, in the development of the modern day classroom curriculum. 1. One approach to research is the ‘meta-analysis’. John Hattie (2009) used this method in compiling his ground breaking study in schooling. Using an internet search provides an account of what a meta-analysis involves? 2. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation based in Paris. This organisation has published a number of studies which provide insight into the Knowledge Economy and its impacts on society and more specifically Education and Schooling. Review their website (www.oecd.org) to provide an account of the fundamental elements which have generated a ‘knowledge economy’ circumstance. 3. Given the emergence of a Knowledge Economy, what are the specific implications for schooling and the curriculum? 4. What is meant by the term classroom curriculum? How is it used by teachers in schools?