Episode V: Students: Participation and Quests

Figure 1: Ceylon Orange Pekoe Tea in a forest of Autumn Gold

Welcome to Digital Tea with Mr. E. where we will discuss what’s brewing in the world of educational theory. This blog is the fifth of an eight episode series where we will explore T-CAP: A Student Learning Model, and its fit for the modern digital classroom. As I write this blog on the back deck of my home on a crisp 48 °F morning, I am sipping a cup of Twinings Ceylon Orange Pekoe tea in my transparent Franklin Institute mug. I chose this tea and glass mug combination to showcase the tea’s rich “autumn gold” color amongst the enchanting background of bright fall foliage. The scene in this photo reminds me of the words to a 1974 poem named The Autumn Wind, penned by Steve Sabol, president of NFL Films. Sabol adapted the poem for NFL Films form the source poem Pirate Wind authored by writer Mary Jane Car. Amongst the tranquil beauty of this day in forest the gentle breeze gives me the sense that The Autumn Wind forecast will inevitably and soon come to pass in the mid-atlantic states. Open the link in the poem title and press play for a special NFL Films John Facenda narration of the poem. Then switch your window back this post and follow the words along.

The Autumn Wind

By Steve Sabol

The Autumn wind is a pirate

Blustering in from sea

With a rollicking song he sweeps along

Swaggering boisterously.

His face is weather-beaten

He wears a hooded sash

With a silver hat about his head

And a bristling black mustache.

He growls as he storms the country

A villain big and bold

And the trees all shake and quiver and quake

As he robs them of their gold.

The Autumn wind is a Raider

Pillaging just for fun

He’ll knock you ‘round and upside down

And laugh when he’s conquered and won.

In this fifth episode of exploring the T-CAP student learning model, I will focus on the two events in which the students participate in the T-CAP research: research consent forms and student quests. On October 3rd, I presented the T-CAP student learning model to my physics students. The students were shocked that I created an educational theory, and even more impressed that the theory was designed to give them freedom in proving their learning. I answered student questions about T-CAP and showed them how the theory was inspired from the quest model for formative assessments in physics that I co-created back in 2016.I then requested their support by participating in the T-CAP inter-rater reliability research study. I explained that their participation would be both passive and confidential. I asked for student and parental permission to use quests assessments as authentic student work for the inter-rater reliability team to examine on the merits on the T-CAP rubric. I then explained the consent forms and offered them to interested students. Much to my surprise all 17 students asked for and took home the consent forms. Many of the students thought participating in their teacher’s professional research would make for a good addition to their resumes. Over the next week, I collected the signed consent forms. October 10th was the due date for the forms. The results of the student and parent consent form inventory indicated 16 of 17 students have agreed to participate by having their quests evaluated in the T-CAP research. You may view the consent forms in the appendix below.

Figure 2: Physical examples of Student Quests. With Mass bars covering name and grade information.

On October 11th, the first student quests of the year were due on the topics of linear and rotational kinematic motion. The quest inventory resulted in the following student choices: seven Newton’s: Go Do it, seven Tesla’s: Photo Journal, one Goodal’s: Essay, one Musk’s: Infographic, and one Currie’s: Lab Experiment. Six of the quests were physical projects handed in, and the other eleven quests were digital projects submitted online. With Newton’s: Go Do It, the students completed six mini labs, collected real data and solved six physics problems. In Tesla’s: Photo Journal, the students took six pictures of physics events, and then constructed and solved a physics problem using realistic values inspired by each photo they took. In Goodall’s: Essay, the student wrote an essay detailing human versus chimpanzee kinematic motion abilities. With the Musk’s: Infographic, the student created a stylized poster with graphics and problem solving techniques for linear and rotational kinematics. Lastly in the Currie’s: Lab Experiment the student conducted an experiment on lake with a boat in which he utilized real data to show the connections between the linear kinematic movement of the boat and rotational kinematic motion of the prop that propelled the boat.

Figure 3: Jonathan & Stephanie Everett, co-creators of Physics Quests

A quest is a differentiated learning assessment experience featuring different pathways for the students to provide evidence of their learning. The quest model of assessments was collaboratively developed by Jonathan and Stephanie Everett with performance assessment resources from reDesign in the summer of 2016. Quests are designed as a replacement for unit tests. In this model the students choose a quest path from a menu to pursue and develop an artifact that demonstrates their mastery of the content goals. The teacher then grades the quests from the quest rubrics that are specific to each physics quest and are available to the students to self assess while building their quest artifacts.

Figure 4: reDesign logo

​​reDesign is a website that promotes “re-Think, re-Create, re-New, and re-Design education.” reDesign has tremendous resources for learning activities, skills development, formative tasks, teaching resources, performance tasks, and mastery learning. I highly recommend this site as a treasure trove for brainstorming learning assessments, and for developing activity models that you can customize with any content at any grade level.

Episode VI of this eight part series will journal my internship experiences in the time frame from October 21st to 25th. In that time frame I will present the T-CAP inter-rater reliability study to the rater team. I will discuss the rating task and how to use the T-CAP rubric. I will also provide the rater team with anonymous pdf documents from the work of six student quests. The results of the rater assessments will be analyzed using Chronbach’s alpha to determine the degree of rubric reliability. Also, the sixth post will feature a new brew of tea in a special mug. I look forward to sharing the progression of my T-CAP research throughout this internship. Feel free to leave comments below. You may also contact me privately at jeverett@greenwoodsd.org.

References

Bay Area News Group. (2012, September 18). Steve Sabol’s Autumn Wind Plays Lasting Tribute to the Oakland Raiders. Retrieved from https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2012/09/18/steve-sabols-autumn-wind-poem-a-lasting-tribute-to-oakland-raiders/

Facenda, John & Spence, Sam. (1998, October 20). The Power and the Glory: The Original Music and Voices of NFL Films [CD]. United States: Tommy Boy Label

reDesignU. (2019, October 16). Performance Tasks. Retrieved from http://www.redesignu.org/design-lab/performance-tasks

Zaionitz, Charles. (2015, April 3). Real statistics using excel: Chronbach’s alpha. Retrieved from http://www.real-statistics.com/reliability/cronbachs-alpha/comment-page-1/

Appendix

Figure 5: Student Consent Form, page 1

Figure 6: Student Consent Form, page 2

Figure 7: Parent Consent Form