Post on 27-Jan-2023
Discuss the implications for developingprofessional practice in the context of
current professional standards andcurrent views of professionalism, based
on relevant literature, leading to aprogramme of professional developmentpresented in the form of an action plan.
(WORD COUNT: 5085)
Hina Hashmi
M.Ed. Leading Teaching and Learning
Module: Reflecting upon practice
Summative Assessment
1
Table of ContentsIntroduction 3
Reflection on professionalism based on its current context in education4
Area for development 1 – Student based enquiry 7
Area for development 2 – Using plenaries 10
Area for development 3 – Effective use of formative assessment 12
Conclusion 15
References 17
Appendix 1 - Traditional three part lesson plan for teaching Translation20
Appendix 2 – Revised student-centered lesson plan for teaching Translation 21
Appendix 3 - Grades comparison for Translation topic 22
Appendix 4 – Lesson plan rewritten to include mini-plenaries 23
Appendix 5 – Example of formatively assessed homework 24
Appendix 6 - Graph showing changes in homework attainment since introduction of formative feedback 25
Appendix 7 – Action plan for continuing professional development 26
2
Introduction
Professional practice in relation to predetermined standards is a
principle that underpins many professional vocations including
education. The purpose for maintaining these standards is to
ensure that the critical work of a teacher is being performed by a
competent individual. Standards are written to reflect the
minimum body of knowledge and specialism a teacher should possess
in order to practice effectively. It also encourages a
professional to take an active role in their own professional
learning and places emphasis on continuous development as a result
of new developments in pedagogical research.
There is now a huge emphasis on critical reflection leading to
changes in practice. The goal of this should result in an enhanced
student learning experience and as a result, improvement in student
learning performance. However, there are certain pitfalls with the
concept of professionalism that need to be taken into account,
especially if working in international education. Allowances need
to be made for governmental and cultural differences that exist
within the international teaching fraternity. It is also short-
sighted to view professional development solely in terms of
standards. The standards themselves need to be evidenced with
proven action research. The research must be able to
quantitatively show a definitive benefit for evolving personal
professional practice to reflect current educational practices.
The purpose of this essay is to discuss the importance of personal
professional learning and development in the context of
professionalism. The context that will be used to define the
notion of professionalism for this essay is the Standard for 3
Career-long Professional Learning (Scottish Government, 2012). The
essay will first discuss the inherent paradox that lies within the
concept of professionalism in a wider international context and
give alternative options for defining the idea. It will then
proceed to outline three main areas for development in my own
personal practice. The importance for focussing on these three
areas will be justified through analysis of current literature. I
will then proceed to discuss the changes I have made in each of
these areas and reflect on the effectiveness of these changes.
The essay will conclude with clear targets of developing these
areas for the future with an action plan.
Reflection on the nature of professionalism based on its current
context in education
The definition of a professional is widely debated in literature.
Carr (1999) explained that when attempting to describe the nature of
professionalism, the concept is that of a professional mastering
complex, scientific knowledge within that field. The notion of
being professional seems to suggest a specific epistemological
approach to that can be used to differentiate a profession from a
trade.
What this means is that a professional not only has a practical set
of specialized skills but the theory and research to understand,
maintain and develop these skills. A trade is considered to be a
highly specialized set of skills that is not necessarily
underpinned with an academic rigour, a self-regulatory body or
indeed, a canon of ethics that should be observed whilst providing
that particular service to society.
4
There is also a consensus that suggests that the notion of
professionalism is hard to define as it is wholly subjective. Boyt
et al.’s (2001) emphasis, for example, is on the self-drive and
influential capacity of the individual. The key idea is the
attitude and the behaviour the individual possesses towards said
profession.
Therefore, it can be said that professionalism is both specific in
terms of knowledge but also has a behavioural element that cannot
be predetermined as it will be based on the individual’s own
experiences and personality. The only consistent theme to be found
is the idea that a true profession is autonomous. This is
particularly important in terms of education. Otherwise, teachers
will be advised that they need to be able to interest children, to
‘manage’ classes, to set high standards of achievement, and so on,
with little apparent recognition that there are widely different
and competing educational conceptions of discipline, interest and
standards.
The critical idea is the suggestion that professionals make
judgements on behalf of clients as they see them. It is for the
professional to interpret those interests. To draw a distinction
utilised by Hoyle and John (1995, p77), they do not act as an ‘agent’
of someone else (for example the government); they act as a
‘principal’ making their own judgments.
Indeed, skills of teaching and discipline appear to be context-
dependent to the extent that what can be considered a priority by 5
one government or professional association might not count so in
another. Moreover, lists of professional attitudes and values -
honesty, devotion to duty, and respect for others - are also
offered as though there are completely uncontroversial and agreed
interpretations of such qualities and dispositions exist. For
those in international teaching, this is not always the case. For
example, the concept of ‘duty’ has a very different meaning in
China compared to Scotland. Helsby (1995, p 320) makes the same point
about teacher professionalism:
“If the notion of “professionalism” is socially constructed, then teachers are
potentially key players in that construction, accepting or resisting external
control and asserting or denying their autonomy.”
The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) is the
professional body responsible for setting out the Standard for
Career-long Professional Learning. They define the term
‘professional’ as teachers that are not only able to teach within
their current context but also able to evolve the process of
education in order to ensure that future needs of learners will be
consistently met.
The GTCS became fully independent from the Scottish Government in
2012. The ramifications of this are immense as the education
system in Scotland is no longer within the influence of government.
Decisions are now taken by an independently appointed council
without any input from politicians. However, it is generally
accepted that the definition of standards in education is still
approved by governments that sometimes have alternate, personal
agendas.
6
“People are always wanting teachers to change. Rarely has this been more true
than in recent years. These times of global competitiveness, like all moments of
economic crisis, are producing immense moral panics about how we are
preparing the generations of the future in our respective nations . . . Few people
want to do much about the economy, but everyone – politicians, the media and
the public alike – wants to do something about education.” Hargreaves
(1994 p5)
So can it really be said that as ‘professional’ teachers, we truly
have autonomy in our professional decisions? There is a large body
of research that exists that seems to suggest that governments use
education as a tool for occupational control (Ozga et al, 1995, p35). One
way that this takes place is under the guise of professional
standards that only add value to the current authority at that
particular time without developing or emphasizing the ‘inherent’
qualities of that occupation. Therefore, as stated by Hooyrood
(2000), these standards are vulnerable to change especially if they
are to be viewed as a fully social construct (Troman, 1996).
These points are both supported by Evetts’s examination of the
changing nature of discourse of professionalism (2006, p. 523), and
supported by Helsby (1999, p93) in relation to teacher
professionalism:
‘There is nothing simple or static about the concept of teacher professionalism
in England: it is constantly changing and constantly being redefined in different
ways and at different times to serve different interests’.
So, in terms of the differences and similarities I see between my
own work context and the criteria for my learning organization; it
is simply a reflection of the societal and governmental worldview 7
at the particular time that management trained. The Senior
Management Team in my current school are UK trained and as a result
of their own professional knowledge, are currently trying to
instigate UK style educational directives and policy into a private
Mexico City school. Some initiatives are successful but many
cannot cross the cultural divide. Therefore, it can be argued that
the work context and notion of professionalism is simply the
criterion that you had to fulfill in order to become legally
registered in your place of training and are not a true reflection
of your personal ideals as they have been subjugated by
institutional indoctrination.
This may in turn explain why conflict exists between national and
international teachers in so many international schools. It is a
result of our different experiences and certain things have become
so indoctrinated into our practice as being the ‘right thing to do’
that it can be difficult to open our mind to a different set of
values or standards.
Therefore, it can be said that in most contemporary vocational
occupations, professionalism, rather than being agreed from within,
is being imposed from above and serves to promote and facilitate
occupational change and is essentially a disciplinary mechanism.
In the case of teaching these functions have been articulated in
the United Kingdom (UK), for example, in competence based
‘professional standards’ such as the Standard for Career-long
Professional Learning which redefine professionalism and
accountability as measurable.
8
For the purposes of this essay a concerted effort will be made to
link the areas of development to the current Standard for Career-
long Professional Learning as assigned by the GTCS. However, the
reason that I have identified these professional learning
opportunities is not because I feel that I must adhere to some
absolute code prescribed by higher authority but because I feel
that my own personal notion of professionalism drives my
professional development.
I now feel that my own notion of professionalism should exist as a
result of my own knowledge, values and ethics, not someone else’s.
I would like to think that my professional behavior is now a truer
reflection of my capabilities as a thoughtful, reflective human
being with an important role in advancing innovation for the good
of a global society as opposed to a set of aims for an alternate
and ultimately selfish agenda.
Area for development 1 – Student based enquiry
One of my greatest areas for a development as an experienced
practioner is moving away from a more traditional teacher-led
lesson to a more progressive student-centric lesson. The students I
teach are all English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. These
students have classes in 6 different subjects a day in two
different curricula and two different languages (Spanish and
English).
Previously, all lessons were teacher-led with me having the sole
responsibility for leading and informing the class. This was done
using a PowerPoint presentation for about fifteen minutes and then
pupils completing a variety of activities in order to consolidate 9
the information. To my knowledge, the students were given
engaging activities in a variety of different learning styles and
yet, they were having trouble retaining the information for the
next lesson. This left me frustrated and lacking confidence in my
teaching ability.
It was then realised that part of the problem may be a need for
changing instruction style. Teachers need to find a way to make the
information meaningful to students so it lasts longer. One way to
do this is through inquiry learning. Chickering et al (1987, p4)
state
“Students have an attention span for a limited amount of time and expecting
them to sit for fifty or sixty minutes is unreasonable. Learning is not a spectator
sport. Students do not learn much just by sitting in class listening to teachers,
memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must
talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences,
apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.”
So, even though the students were given a variety of activities to
manipulate the knowledge, I was still their primary method of
giving them the knowledge in the first place. They were being
denied the opportunity to ‘make what they learn part of themselves’. However,
as stated by Brooks et al (1999), the idea of relinquishing control
over the pace and direction of a lesson was tantamount to losing my
authority as class teacher
A small scale analysis was then carried out with the first year
International Baccalaureate (IB) Biology class - a small group of
very mixed ability students. The lesson that day was going to be
on Translation, a concept that can be very complex for the pupils 10
to grasp based on various formative and summative assessments of
the theme over the years. Traditionally, I taught this particular
topic by teacher-centered methods. This consisted of a very
conventional three part lesson plan1 with students passively
receiving information from the teacher and assessment being used to
monitor learning (Black, 1999). Every year, it is one of the topics
that gains the fewest marks in the mock exams and class tests.
This, I felt, was a reflection on my outdated teaching style which
I had not changed as I was not confident enough to trust the
relationship I had with my own students.
This year, the lesson was planned to incorporate a completely
different, student-centered approach. The lesson would use an
approach that gave pupils the responsibility to dictate the pace,
content, activities and materials of the lesson (Collins et al. 2003). I
planned the lesson to place the emphasis of knowledge acquisition
on the students themselves whilst simply ‘coaching them in the
skills’ that allowed this collaborative learning process to proceed
effectively2.
It began by going through the learning objectives and getting the
students to ascertain which molecules would be required in the
process and their specific roles based on what they already know
from previous, similar processes. I felt that this level of
scaffolding was a lot lower than what the pupils were used to and I
was concerned they would find it difficult. This also required an
ability to deconstruct words in English which underpins the school
1 See appendix 1 – Traditional three part lesson plan for teaching Translation2 See appendix 2 – Revised student-centered lesson plan for teaching Translation
11
policy of a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)
approach in lessons.
However, against expectations, the technique seemed to be
particularly effective in allowing the pupils to ease the
transition between prior knowledge and the new context for the
application of this prior knowledge (Froyd et al. 2010). Even the less
academically able pupils managed to define terms that they had
previously never seen before simply by being given the opportunity
to discuss the problem collaboratively with their peers before
answering.
The only teacher-led session consisted of a 7 min ‘workshop’
demonstrating how to take effective notes from a video which falls
in line with the idea of a teacher as a knowledge facilitator as
opposed to a knowledge provider (Wright 1987). The video used was of
DNA replication, a process that had already been covered in class
so the emphasis was on the skill of note-taking as opposed to the
information being taken.
The students were given a blank outline of the process and they
added in the names of the molecules that they believed were going
to feature and when they would feature in the process. This linked
through to the contextual bridges built when students were
deciphering the learning objectives at the beginning of the class.
It was interesting to observe that pupils were hesitant to take
notes in the new style demonstrated to begin with. The video had
to be repeated several times for them to access all of the relevant
information.
12
The next step was to put them into 3 small groups. The groups were
organized to purposefully put the less able pupils with the
stronger pupils so they could support each other in order to
facilitate cooperative learning which leads towards ‘more
meaningful learning strategies’ (Towns 1998, p4). This collaborative
learning environment highlighted increased student responsibility
and accountability for learning within the classroom which in turn
promotes a relationship between the learners that is more equal and
trusting.
After marking the plenary past paper question, it was interesting
to see that every pupil scored a C or above3. This was in direct
contrast to previous years where most pupils have failed to answer
the past paper question effectively. A week later, to test
retention, the students were asked to complete a separate task.
The class was split into two working groups and given stickers that
were normally used for the roleplay. Each group was asked to make
a 3 minute video outlining the process of translation incorporating
the stickers and without using their notes. Each group produced a
factually correct video that was creative and engaging. A month
later, this particular class had increased the class mean on their
termly exam by twenty percent from the previous year.
Therefore, it can be said that the approach outlined above was
proven to achieve success with a variety of formative and summative
assessment methods over a relatively long period of time. However,
in order to make this method of teaching a standard, two things are
required. Firstly, further observation of more experienced
teachers is required to broaden the number approaches that can be
3 See appendix 3 – grades comparison for Translation topic13
taken when planning student centric lessons. Secondly, there needs
to be an emphasis on effective feedback within the lesson itself so
pupils can monitor their own progress and understanding.
Area for development 2 – Using plenaries
In 2001 the OFSTED review of the Literacy Strategy stated that
“the plenary is poorly used if it is simply a bolt-on-extra which provides an
opportunity for groups of pupils to present their work daily; it is essential time
for making sure that pupils have grasped the objectives and made progress, so
that the next lesson can begin on firm foundations”
Burrell et al. (2006) carried out a small-scale study on the use of
plenaries in the classroom. They found that plenaries were
generally used to test understanding of the learning objectives of
the lesson which in turn, allowed the teacher to ‘guide and adjust
the learning programme’.
The recognition of formative assessment as an essential component
of classroom work is provided in an influential review of research
(Black ., 1998) which emphasises the potential of formative
assessment in raising standards of achievement. Personally,
plenaries are probably one of the weakest areas of my teaching
practice. This was brought to my attention when I was asked to
lead a professional development workshop for the whole school
focusing on plenaries. I realized very quickly that not only do I
not use effective plenaries frequently enough but also I was not
completely convinced of their necessity in a lesson.
There are a number of reasons why the plenary tends to be the least
successful part of the lesson. Usually it’s because teachers have 14
not planned it sufficiently or it has been planned but they have
run out of time. (Lawton, 2004). Sometimes the teacher does all the
work instead of making sure that the pupils are as active in this
part of the lesson as they are in the starter. An example of this
could be quickly summarizing the learning intentions of the class
in the last two minutes before the bell rings without giving the
pupils an opportunity to articulate what they have learned.
One of my biggest issues with plenaries was leaving ample time to
carry out a meaningful review of the learning objectives of the
class. It was too easy to focus simply on whether the pupils had
rote learned the key points of the class without being able to
apply their knowledge to a problem. The idea of using mini-
plenaries throughout a lesson consciously was also not a feature of
my lesson planning. As awareness of these shortcomings arose
through a recent appraisal, suggestions for developing my use of
plenaries were suggested by my line manager. Plenaries are now
planned to the same extent as the main part of a lesson. A variety
of activities are used so the pupils do not become bored with
routine and more importantly, the plenary allows an opportunity to
draw the learning together and prepare for the following class
(Lawton, 2004).
Various strategies have been used to help make plenaries an equally
important feature in lesson planning. The first main issue was
running out of time. By restricting how classes are planned with a
focus on ‘chunking’ key learning activities followed by mini
plenaries, the teacher has more control over the amount of
information being conveyed and the effectiveness of its conveyance.
There is more opportunity for consistently checking progression of 15
learning and from a logistical point of view, if time is running
out it is easier to transfer part of a lesson to the next class
then to rewrite an entire lesson plan planned around one single
objective.
Miller (1956) formulated the chunk concept as he presented evidence
that working memory is limited in capacity. Although Miller (1956)
suggested that working memory could hold seven (plus or minus two)
chunks of information at once, it seems that it is now thought
that the number is closer to four, maybe five bits of information.
By structuring a lesson from the simplest to the most complex
information pupils have a chance to use previous information to
drive forward their own understanding of the current problem.
Gobet et al. (1996) saw the same phenomenon in master chess players.
They seemed to use the method of chunking to ‘categorize their knowledge
and access previous information’. They were able to make their future
moves based on information they already possessed.
The planning of my classes is now in a similar vein. Each
activity built on a thorough understanding of how the problem was
solved in the preceding activity and skills were accumulated
throughout the course of the lesson. By using a mini-plenary at
the end of each learning activity, previous chunks of the lesson
were reinforced (Bodie et al.1996) which helped transfer the
information into long term memory (if we are to reference the
information processing model of learning).4
Area for development 3 – Effective use of formative assessment
4 See appendix 4 – Lesson plan rewritten to include mini-plenaries 16
Summative assessments (which are usually based on standardized
tests set by government education policy) are the universal form of
measuring progress in learning in our contemporary society.
Although, formative assessment methods play an important role in
good teaching practice, it cannot be denied that formative
assessment is, at the moment, simply a tool for helping pupils
achieve better grades in summative assessments. Summative
assessments are used globally as measurement of achievement in
schools and the main driving force for a teacher is to make sure
that predetermined standards in these formative assessments are
being attained.
The irony is that many teachers are unable to accurately interpret
the test results (Hills, 1991, Impara et al., 1991) and lack the skills and
knowledge to effectively communicate the meaning behind the scores.
(Plake, 1993) According to other researchers, rather than exerting a
positive influence on student learning,
“testing may trivialise the learning and instructional process, distort curricula,
and usurp valuable instructional time (Cheng, 2005)
Formative assessment however, seems to be a different case. Black
et al. (1997) seminal work on formative assessment found that
student gains impacted by formative assessment practices were
‘among the largest ever reported for educational interventions’.
This is further strengthened by Hattie’s (2006) meta-analysis in his
book ‘Visible Learning’ which shows formulative evaluation as
having the third greatest effect on learning out of 138 different
influences.
17
This year at my school we have stopped putting grades on homeworks
that we return to pupils. Instead, we write one specific area of
strength (AoS) and one specific area for development (AoD). The
rationale for this was to encourage pupils to be more reflective
about their own progress as well as for teachers to be facilitators
as opposed to assessors.5
The pupils were quite perturbed when they started receiving
homeworks with no grades on. Especially since in the Mexican
system, their entire school career is based on a Grade Point
Average(GPA) derived from a set number of classworks, homeworks and
tests that are summatively assessed each semester. They also
seemed to struggle with the language of the feedback. However, as
Vedeer (1985) stated, teachers have to train pupils to understand
and respond to feedback effectively.
Frederiksen and Collins (1989) used the term transparency to express
the idea that students must have a clear understanding of the
criteria by which their work will be assessed. As a result of this
school-wide focus on assessment for learning I had to learn how to
grade formatively and adapt my language to make it appropriate and
accessible for the students. I accomplished this by approaching a
more experienced colleague and asking her to give me feedback on my
new marking style.
Now the pupils can really respond to the AoS’s and AoD’s and as a
result, I have seen homework attainment6 rise generally as a result
of the specific directed feedback the pupils are getting. They 5 See appendix 5 – example of formatively assessed homework6 See appendix 6 – Graph showing changes in homework attainment since introduction of formative feedback
18
really seem to enjoy being told explicitly they are good at
something and this in turn encourages them to focus on the AoD as a
stepping stone to the next level as opposed to a criticism which
could lead to intrinsic demotivation. In my case as a teacher, I
feel that I have opened up a dialogue between myself and my
students which is important for promoting understanding of learner
needs and providing the necessary expert framework they need in
order to progress (Kinchin 2001). Pupils feel more open to approach
me with their issues and I feel more comfortable working with
students on an individualized basis as we both now have an
overlapping learning focus.
In order to move this process to the next level, I need to the need
to promote self-regulatory behaviour in learners (Butler et al. 1995).
This would mean encouraging learners to become generators of
feedback information about their own performances and those of
their peers (Nicol et al. 2006). This would fall in line again with
Hattie’s (2006) research that shows that reciprocal feedback has the
largest effect on student learning out of 138 influences analysed.
However, it still doesn’t address the bigger problem with
assessment at hand. The issue seems to be two-fold. Firstly,
global education is based on standardized testing of objectives set
by politicians. However, research shows that summative assessment
is not the best form of progressing learning. Therefore, there
lies a huge contradiction at the heart of modern education.
Ultimately, it is summative assessment that is used to judge our
skills in a particular area but these skills are predetermined a by
government that has an alternate agenda for producing citizens that
conform to their own requirements.19
Formative assessment has become a benchmark for good pedagogical
practice in schools but the aim of formative assessment is solely
to help pupils attain curriculum-based targets which seems anti-
intuitive as an educator. Also, the undoubted power of formative
assessment and the strength of the research base have led to a
plethora of products and services that describe themselves as
‘formative assessment’ but in reality, very few embody the
principles that the research has shown are essential to student
learning. This view is echoed by Dixon (2011) when he comments that
Assessment for Learning is not simply a practice that can be tacked
on randomly to a lesson but instead, a paradigm shift in terms of
the role of a teacher within a classroom.
Therefore, I am going to consider my own practice concerning
monitoring and assessing learning further. I personally feel that
the extensive research shows that formative assessment is the most
effective tool for enhancing student learning experience. I share
Shepard’s (2000) view in terms of the roles that formative
assessment has to play within a classroom, allowing teachers to
gain an insight to extend learning and understanding as well as
allowing them to develop learning by scaffolding appropriately.
However, conversely, I wish I worked within a system that didn’t
use summative assessment as an integral part of monitoring
learning. A nine-year study by the National Research Council
(2011) concluded that the emphasis on testing yielded little
learning progress but caused significant harm. Negative
consequences include narrowing the curriculum, teaching to the
test, pushing students out of school, driving teachers out of the 20
profession, and undermining student engagement and school climate.
Having experienced all of these consequences of summative
assessment so far, ideally we should be working towards a system
that eliminates summative assessment and instead, uses formative
assessment as a standard.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that the notion of professionalism in
itself presents many difficulties as it is open to very wide
interpretations. There are contradicting ideas presented on the
notion of professionalism with the consistent concept being the
idea that a true professional is autonomous. This however, seems
to be refuted with the involvement of governments in setting
standards and targets for teachers to achieve (with Scotland being
a very rare exception) and therefore, must be driven, to a certain
extent by the ambition of the professional teacher to improve as an
individual as well as be accepted by their governing body.
The three areas for development that have been outlined were
shifting to a student-centred method of learning through enquiry,
inclusion of plenaries and effective use of formative assessment.
The move to more constructivist teaching was difficult as I
associated the process with relinquishing control and drive over
the class. However, the experimental lessons I have been carrying
out with my first year IB Biology class has shown greater retention
rates of information and higher grades in summative assessment. I
have also come to realise that I am not necessarily giving up my
position of authority but simply shifting the responsibilities for
learning.
21
The inclusion of plenaries and more effective use of formative
assessment are linked as plenaries are an essential tool for
formative assessment. However, instead of focussing on simply
adding a plenary to each of my lesson plans, reflection was done on
why the plenaries were not present in the first place. This was
due to using a dated method of lesson planning and now by
‘chunking’ learning objectives into stand-alone lesson segments,
there is a greater flow to lessons with greater opportunity for
formative assessment . Formative assessment has been identified as
a key area for development, especially in peer assessment as this
in turn feeds back into a more student-centred method of learning.
As a result of the reflection on practice and literature analysis,
an action plan has been drawn up outlining specific areas for
development and next steps. These targets have been linked to the
Standard for Professional Career-long Learning in order to validate
their importance. Methods for evaluating progress have been
outlined in the action plan7 and deadlines have also been confirmed.
The targets have clearly defined deadlines and quantitative success
criteria and are also a good basis for directing further
professional learning opportunities.
7 See appendix 7 – Action plan22
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Appendix 1- Traditional three part lesson plan for teaching
Translation
NAME OF GROUP: IB Biology 1 Standard Level NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 8
LESSON OBJECTIVES Everyone should define translation Most will outline the process of translation Some might explain how the structure of tRNA is adapted to its
function
STARTER: (5 min) Pupils watch a video outlining the process of translation
MAIN:Teaching Learning Timing
(min)1. Explain the process of
translation step by step using a PowerPoint
Pupils make notes on their handouts from the slides
25
2. Direct the pupils in a roleplay that acts out theprocess of translation
Pupils are each given a sticker that outlines the roleof the molecule they will be playing in the roleplay
20
PLENARY: (10 min)Pupils will complete a past paper question based on the topic covered in class.
27
Appendix 2 - Revised student-centered lesson plan for teaching Translation
NAME OF GROUP: IB Biology 1 Standard Level NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 8
LESSON OBJECTIVES Everyone should describe the roles of tRNA, ribosomes, mRNA, amino
acids and START and STOP codons in the process of translation Most will outline the process of translation as a three step process
including, initiation, elongation and termination Some might explain how the structure of tRNA is adapted to its
function
STARTER: (5 min) Pupils watch a video outlining the process of DNA replication and
transcription and are encouraged to make notes on the process
MAIN:Teaching Learning Timing
(min)Read through the Learning Objectives with the students
Pupils have to try and assign roles to the molecules and stages mentioned in the objectives by using their previous knowledge of DNA replication and transcription (reviewed in the starter)
5
Demonstrate how to take notes using the Cornell method
Pupils follow along and reworktheir notes from the starter
5
Play video outlining process of translation
Pupils take notes in a blank template already marked out into initiation, elongation and termination. Before starting the video, allow pupils to take 2 min to write in the names of the molecules mentioned in the learning outcomes into the correct sections of the template (theyshould be able to deduce this)
10
Split pupils into three groups ensuring there is a range of academic ability in each group and assign each group one stage of the process to become an ‘expert’ on. Then split the
Each group has to come up to the whiteboard and summarise their notes into an annotated diagram that refers back to the learning objectives of theclass.
15
28
classroom whiteboard into three columns.Each group is asked to come to the board and explain their section of the process. They also have to take any questions and deal with any misconceptions
Pupils make their own individually annotated diagrams
15
PLENARY: (5 min)Pupils will complete a past paper question based on the topic covered in class
29
Appendix 3 – Grades comparison for Translation topicNames have been removed to maintain confidentiality
Name of studentPercentage achieved (%) in past paper plenary question in each specific
year of teaching the Translation Topic
2012 2013 2014A 63 45 90B 43 88 73C 39 65 84D 72 62 72E 60 68 89F 58 68 97G 53 81 86H 70 71 79I 67 69 -J 53 71 -K 64 71 -L - 65 -M - 52 -N - 60 -
Class Mean 58 67 84
Standard Devaition 11 11 9
Large standard deviations can be attributed to the fact that the sample sizes are less than fifteen making the calculation of variation using standard deviation inherently unreliable.
2010 2011 2012 2013 201450
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
A graph showing mean class achievement in Translation topic
plenary
Year
Class mean (%)
30
Appendix 4 – Lesson plan rewritten to include mini-plenaries
NAME OF GROUP: IB Biology 1 Standard Level NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 8
LESSON OBJECTIVES Everyone should state that meiosis is a reduction division of a
diploid nucleus to form haploid nuclei. Most will outline the process of meiosis, including pairing of
homologous chromosomes and crossing over, followed by two divisions,which results in four haploid cells.
Some might explain how variation is introduced through crossing overand independent assortment
STARTER: (5 min) Pupils review the process of mitosis by outlining the steps on their
mini-whiteboards
MAIN:Teaching Learning Timin
g (min)
Mini-plenary (5 min)
Using chalk and the playground surface, sketch out the process of meiosis I
Encourage pupils to annotate the sketches with keyterms and ideas that are similar to mitosis
10 Pupils have 2 min to fill in their own blank diagrams of the process. After 2 min, they swap their diagrams witha partner and check each other’s writing in at least one correction
Using chalk and the playground surface, sketch out the process of meiosis II
Encourage pupils to annotate the sketches with keyterms and ideas that are similar to mitosis
10 Pupils have 2 min to fill in their own blank diagrams of the process. After 2 min, they swap their diagrams witha partner and check each other’s writing in at least one correction
Using pipe cleaners the teacher will model crossing over and independent assortment
Pupils will then be asked to individually annotate their diagrams of meiosis to illustrate these two processes
10 Working in groups, each team has 3 min to define crossing over and independent assortment. Teacher will check the definitions and thetwo best will be written on the board for the class to copy into their diagram
32
PLENARY: (5 min)Pupils will sort out a set of 10 statements given to them into a table. The statements will compare the similarities and differences between mitosis and meiosis. More able students will be asked to draw their own table but a template will be given to those students that need a writing frame. This will be collected in and checked by the teacher for understanding.
33
Appendix 6 – Graph showing changes in homework attainment since introduction of formative feedback
Attainment in homework by student (%) Meanattainment
StandardDeviation
WeekStudent
1Student
2Student
3Student
4Student
5Student
6Student
7Student
8
1 56 59 0 67 81 59 61 0 48 312 66 63 0 72 84 65 65 59 59 253 63 63 45 69 63 71 79 66 65 104 67 71 0 72 90 0 72 74 56 355 59 62 53 70 83 73 73 80 69 106 73 73 0 81 89 75 71 79 68 287 64 65 64 71 0 67 0 79 51 328 81 79 0 97 92 87 88 89 77 319 74 75 72 79 84 81 79 0 68 28
10 83 84 79 82 90 85 86 86 84 311 75 77 78 82 87 0 80 79 70 2812 79 82 0 83 93 83 79 81 73 3013 81 81 81 87 89 83 81 81 83 314 85 84 0 87 96 0 86 89 66 4115 65 64 67 71 73 69 66 66 68 316 84 0 82 81 93 86 88 83 75 3017 81 83 83 87 89 79 84 0 73 3018 84 84 0 86 89 88 85 86 75 3019 81 81 0 81 89 83 85 83 73 3020 73 70 0 69 77 72 71 0 54 33
Large standard deviations can be attributed to the fact that not every student handed in homework and the sample size is only eight students so it is not a reliable measurement of variation
0 5 10 15 20405060708090
f(x) = 0.695300751879699 x + 60.3743421052632
A graph showing mean class attainment in homework after
one semester
Week
Mean
attai
nmen
t (%
)
35
Appendix 7 -Action Plan
Area fordevelopmen
t
Links toStandard
forChartere
dTeacher
Progressrequired
Professionallearning
opportunity
Target
date
Method ofevaluation
Effective use of formative assessment
2.1, 3.2, 4.1.2,
Further developmentof reciprocal feedback strategies
Develop new strategies for peer assessment through observation of more experienced colleagues.
April2014
Next appraisal observationby line manager
Using plenaries
2.1, 4.3.3,
Embedding mini-plenaries into lessons effectively
When preparing myclasses for the next day– take time to go through my old lesson plans and fit in new opportunities for mini plenaries
June 2014
Reviewing pupil learning outcome booklets ona monthly basis and tracking pop quiz results forsigns of improvement
Student-based enquiry
3.3, 4.2.2,
Planning lessons with an emphasis onskills acquisitionas opposed to knowledge acquirement
Write the new IB SEHS course with an emphasis on constructivist learning
June 2015
Results of the IB SEHSexam in May2015
37