Epistemology–explore the theories of knowledge. What distinguishes justified belief from opinion? In what ways can we conduct research that will yield valid results?
Welcome to EDUC 790 – New Literacies and Digital Epistemologies! The focus of this page will be to document the details on the educational research I am conducting. Driving Question: What effects does the development of critical thinking skills have on standardized test performance? After reading countless articles regarding driving questions, the general consensus is that quality driving questions are interesting and provocative, open-ended, challenging, captures the heart of the project, provides a purpose, and can arise from a real dilemma. In my classroom, that dilemma concerns students’ ability to attain concept mastery and be autonomous thinkers. To elaborate, I teach at a middle school in the content area of mathematics. To be precise, I teach adolescents who are experiencing a time of great change (physical, cognitive, social, and emotional). They are in a stage of their life where they are just beginning to form a personal identity and peer relationships. Many times, academics is not their first priority. Moreover, math is rarely considered a friend middle school students wish to understand better. Based on my eight years of teaching experience, most students have been conditioned to “plug and chug” numbers into equations and formulas without understanding the purpose or deeper meaning of it. Furthermore, when faced with a test, my students become crippled without the assistance of written notes. This leads directly to the focus of my dilemma. I have noticed that without the aid of written notes or a practice test from which they can reference, many of my students become hopeless. When presented with a word problem or more cognitively complex tasks, I have also noticed that my students will pick out numbers and perform computations that have been programmed into them with no thought to what is being asked of them, what strategies might be most effective, and whether their answers make sense in the given context. Notes, cheat sheets, practice tests—those are not guaranteed luxuries in high school, college, and beyond. I feel it my duty to ween this generation of students who want everything spoon fed to them off of these so-called "scaffolds" that may prove a detriment. Thus, we arrive at a very important 21st century skill—critical thinking. Critical thinking is problem solving, the ability to take information and put it to use to produce solutions. Specifically, critical thinking in mathematics involves the 8 mathematical practices outlined in the common core state standards which includes analysis, interpretation, precision and accuracy, problem solving, and reasoning (not in this order nor in these exact words). The goal of my research is to explore whether there is a relationship between developing critical thinking skills and performance on standardized tests and thus attaining concept mastery and retention. Considering globalization and the advancements in this new generation, critical thinking is even more vital for student success beyond the four walls of my classroom. What will I need to know to answer this question? For the time being, what strategies can I utilize to teach critical thinking? How will I know when the students have shown an increase or improvement in critical thinking? What will I use to assess their critical thinking skills? Is interest and motivation variables that need to be addressed? Would it be best to conduct the research on two separate populations using one as a control group? How do I decide which group will be the control group? How will I collect or document the data? As a teacher, I am passionate about providing my students with equitable access to education and by developing my students' 21st century skills like critical thinking, I hope to provide them with skills that will contribute to leveling the playing field for them. My school district as well as my school are great advocates of cognitively complex tasks that are embedded in PBL/PrBL. Common core state standards also include 8 mathematical standards in which the Smarter Balance standardized test (CAASPP) is based on. To improve this situation, I think that lessons need to be designed with a different perspective in mind. I think lessons should include tasks that help students practice their critical thinking skills. These activities should allow them to collaborate, analyze, discuss (interpret), and reason. These lessons should be consistent rather than sporadic or nonexistent. This is a challenging question. One in which I do not have much experience with. There are a couple of strategies I have in mind that I am interested in learning about more and am eager to explore.
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Nai Saelee
Middle school math teacher preparing the leaders of the future. Inspiring curiosity, creativity, collaboration ArchivesCategories |