2.4 Higher Order Thinking Skills
Candidates model and facilitate the effective use of digital tools and resources to support and enhance higher order thinking skills (e.g., analyze, evaluate, and create); processes (e.g., problem-solving, decision-making); and mental habits of mind (e.g., critical thinking, creative thinking, metacognition, self-regulation, and reflection). (PSC 2.4/ISTE 2d)
Artifacts: Multimedia WebQuest
Reflection:
The artifact that I have chosen to show mastery of this standard is a webquest that I created in my ITEC class for my students. The webquest was designed to be implemented in a 5th grade as well as an 8th grade science class. This webquest is about physical and chemical changes. Students are asked to help Mark the Martian learn all about physical and chemical changes. Students are to research what they are and then they are to create a final product showing how physical and chemical changes are different. Students are also asked to bring in a demonstration of a physical change and one of a chemical change.
This artifact shows mastery of standard 2.4 because I had to model and facilitate the effective use of digital tools and resources to support and enhance higher order thinking skills. I did this by creating a webquest that had many different digital tools such as YouTube, Scribd, Voki, Mindmup, BrainPop, OAS, Google Slides, and more. I also created a webquest that allowed my students to analyze the difference between chemical and physical changes. The webquest then had my student’s evaluating what they learned through rubrics, quizzes, and self-check points. Finally my students had to create a presentation of their findings to Mark the Martian.
This artifact also showed mastery of this standard because the webquest allowed my students to go through the process of problem-solving. My students had to help Mark the Martian by answering what are physical and chemical changes. They also had to do some decision-making. The students had to choose the best information to share with Mark the Martian about physical and chemical changes.
Finally this artifact shows mastery of this standard because the webquest allowed me to use digital tools and resources to show habits of mind. Students are using their critical thinking skills to come up with a presentation that will help Mark the Martian learn more about physical and chemical changes. Students are then using their creative thinking skills to make a creative and engaging presentation that will keep Mark the Martian’s attention. They have to use metacognitive skills to put their thoughts together in a way that makes sense. The have to use self-regulation skills to meet the ongoing demands of the project and to stay within the time frame. Finally students have to reflect. In their final project they have to answer some reflection questions about their experience, what they learned, and what they would do differently.
From completing this artifact I learned how much fun it is to create a webquest. I enjoyed creating this webquest and look forward to the challenge of creating more. When creating a webquest there are a lot of design elements that you have to consider and then you have to think does this webquest have accommodations for all types of students. This creates a fun challenge. The thing that I would change or add to my webquest is a reader tool. I would like to add a digital tool that reads the page for my students. I teach inclusion and some of them have a read aloud accommodation. This is the only thing that my webquest did not have, although it had tons of videos for the students to watch with similar content in them.
This artifact impacts students learning at my school because it is a tool that allows the students to use higher order thinking skills in a creative manner. They have to solve problems and make decisions. They have to create and analyze. This ensures that students are thinking on a deeper level. With this increase in student higher order thinking levels student achievement should also increase. This can be assessed by looking at students’ scores over time where this type of learning has occurred.
The artifact that I have chosen to show mastery of this standard is a webquest that I created in my ITEC class for my students. The webquest was designed to be implemented in a 5th grade as well as an 8th grade science class. This webquest is about physical and chemical changes. Students are asked to help Mark the Martian learn all about physical and chemical changes. Students are to research what they are and then they are to create a final product showing how physical and chemical changes are different. Students are also asked to bring in a demonstration of a physical change and one of a chemical change.
This artifact shows mastery of standard 2.4 because I had to model and facilitate the effective use of digital tools and resources to support and enhance higher order thinking skills. I did this by creating a webquest that had many different digital tools such as YouTube, Scribd, Voki, Mindmup, BrainPop, OAS, Google Slides, and more. I also created a webquest that allowed my students to analyze the difference between chemical and physical changes. The webquest then had my student’s evaluating what they learned through rubrics, quizzes, and self-check points. Finally my students had to create a presentation of their findings to Mark the Martian.
This artifact also showed mastery of this standard because the webquest allowed my students to go through the process of problem-solving. My students had to help Mark the Martian by answering what are physical and chemical changes. They also had to do some decision-making. The students had to choose the best information to share with Mark the Martian about physical and chemical changes.
Finally this artifact shows mastery of this standard because the webquest allowed me to use digital tools and resources to show habits of mind. Students are using their critical thinking skills to come up with a presentation that will help Mark the Martian learn more about physical and chemical changes. Students are then using their creative thinking skills to make a creative and engaging presentation that will keep Mark the Martian’s attention. They have to use metacognitive skills to put their thoughts together in a way that makes sense. The have to use self-regulation skills to meet the ongoing demands of the project and to stay within the time frame. Finally students have to reflect. In their final project they have to answer some reflection questions about their experience, what they learned, and what they would do differently.
From completing this artifact I learned how much fun it is to create a webquest. I enjoyed creating this webquest and look forward to the challenge of creating more. When creating a webquest there are a lot of design elements that you have to consider and then you have to think does this webquest have accommodations for all types of students. This creates a fun challenge. The thing that I would change or add to my webquest is a reader tool. I would like to add a digital tool that reads the page for my students. I teach inclusion and some of them have a read aloud accommodation. This is the only thing that my webquest did not have, although it had tons of videos for the students to watch with similar content in them.
This artifact impacts students learning at my school because it is a tool that allows the students to use higher order thinking skills in a creative manner. They have to solve problems and make decisions. They have to create and analyze. This ensures that students are thinking on a deeper level. With this increase in student higher order thinking levels student achievement should also increase. This can be assessed by looking at students’ scores over time where this type of learning has occurred.