REDESIGNING: A REFLECTIVE PROCESS
OBJECTIVE: To meaningfully reflect upon the implementation of the ‘prototype’ curriculum, in order to redesign that curriculum to better meet student needs and objectives.
In the Engineering Design Process, the Redesign step is portrayed as the last step. You have developed a curriculum that you thought might meet the goals and solve the problems you defined, implemented that curriculum, and taken data about your students’ work. Using that data, this section will help you reflect upon the experience of implementing this work in your classroom.
STUDENT DATA: WHAT DID YOUR STUDENTS TELL YOU?
Throughout your project, you may have had several chances to evaluate not only what your students are learning throughout the course of the project, but also to evaluate how they are working or feeling about their work. You may have access to data that you might not immediately see, or that students might have taken for themselves that might be useful to you. Below are some examples of where you might be able to look for feedback regarding any redesigning of the curriculum:
● Student assessments can give you an idea of student content knowledge at different stages of the project; using pre- and post-tests can allow you to measure gains in student knowledge.
● Completed products and rubric evaluations can give you an idea of how well students accessed and implemented the Engineering Design Process throughout the project;
● Portfolios or lab notebooks can help you understand how students were able to support their work through documentation, notetaking, brainstorming, and responses to any prompts, questions, or unforeseen challenges. Students can also show through their own documentation how they used the Engineering Design Process to complete their work.
● Student surveys give students a chance to express their feelings, attitudes, and approaches to their work before and after the project.
● Written narratives from students about their work can allow for a vivid, coherent reflection of the project, which can help students fully sum up their learning; these narratives can contain prompts or guiding questions, or can be written freely. Students may also include their own ideas about how the project can be improved, changed, or built upon.
TEACHER DATA: WHAT DID YOU SEE?
Teacher take data constantly, and it is always important to add your record of what you saw take place in your class during the project to the pool of data. While considering student data, you may also have the following data regarding the project:
● Your own informal observations about how your students performed on a daily basis throughout the project; these observations can be about student engagement, group interactions, access to resources, timelines or schedules, or other resources that might have been needed to complete the project.
● Data about student engagement can be critical for any project. This data can include information about how many students were engaged in the work at any given time, and how you might know they are engaged. It might be important to define engagement as you saw it in this project, as engagement has the potential to look radically different from what it might seem to be in a typical classroom.
● Feedback from colleagues can help you see the project and its implementation in another light. You might have shared your ‘prototype’ project curriculum with colleagues before you put it into place, or asked them to make observations of your classes during the project. Finally, access to a Critical Friends Group or a Professional Learning Community can help you examine student work, in order to tune your project to its objectives. While your colleagues may not have taught the project, they can give you a new lens through which to reflect upon the work.
WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS DATA?
Once you have data about the outcome of the project, you can begin to think about how to use that data in order to redesign the project. While the data you have can be interpreted in a number of different ways, here are some ideas about what you can do in response to the data you have.
● Edit and proofread documentation; specifically, look to clarify the written scaffolds provided for students by cleaning up typographical errors, clarifying explanations, or reformatting sections of the document.
● Reconfigure the timeline of the project based on time constraints. How did the timeline of the project affect student outcomes? How did the timeline of the project affect the pacing guide or map of your course? Did students feel rushed for time, or did they feel like they could have done the project in less time?
● Realign the project to learning objectives. Examining student work and assessment data can help to determine whether the project met learning objectives. Did students learn what was outlined in the objectives? Did they pick up new or unexpected learning that you did not anticipate or outline in the project? Does the project meet new or different state and federal standards, or are there standards the project did not meet? Does the student work demonstrate mastery of the standards and objectives originally outlined?
● Realign the project to the Engineering Design Process. Understanding how students accessed the Engineering Design Process during the project can help you decide how to refer to that process next time. Did students feel like the Engineering Design Process was helpful in completing the project? Did students feel compelled to follow every step, or did they skip steps? Did students repeat steps they felt might be helpful to revisit?
● Respond to problems, challenges, and possibilities. If resources were lacking or scarce, how can you obtain those resources, or plan for an alternative? If students struggled to engage in the project, what norms or strategies could be used to get students engaged? Do colleagues see opportunities for collaboration with others, and do they see a better scope and sequence for the project?
THE ‘YES’ TEST: SHOULD I DO THIS AGAIN?
After reflecting on the data and looking at student work, you might be thinking about whether or not to use the project again in your future classes. These projects can be a struggle, so it can be hard to see the excitement and energy that might exist around your work. Here are some things to think about in case you might be wondering if the project is worth another shot.
● Did the work excite your students?
● Did the work excite your colleagues?
● Did students not in your classes wonder when they might participate in the project?
● Did administrators or parents respond to your project by lending feedback or support?
● Did the time ‘fly’ for you and your students? Did the project and the classroom run itself?
● Are you or your students looking for other opportunities to use EBL in your class in the future, or in other classes?
If the answers to any of these questions are ‘yes’, your project might just have that hook, even if the work was a struggle. If the answers to all of these questions were ‘no’, it’s possible that a redesign of the work may give the project the lift it needs!
OBJECTIVE: To meaningfully reflect upon the implementation of the ‘prototype’ curriculum, in order to redesign that curriculum to better meet student needs and objectives.
In the Engineering Design Process, the Redesign step is portrayed as the last step. You have developed a curriculum that you thought might meet the goals and solve the problems you defined, implemented that curriculum, and taken data about your students’ work. Using that data, this section will help you reflect upon the experience of implementing this work in your classroom.
STUDENT DATA: WHAT DID YOUR STUDENTS TELL YOU?
Throughout your project, you may have had several chances to evaluate not only what your students are learning throughout the course of the project, but also to evaluate how they are working or feeling about their work. You may have access to data that you might not immediately see, or that students might have taken for themselves that might be useful to you. Below are some examples of where you might be able to look for feedback regarding any redesigning of the curriculum:
● Student assessments can give you an idea of student content knowledge at different stages of the project; using pre- and post-tests can allow you to measure gains in student knowledge.
● Completed products and rubric evaluations can give you an idea of how well students accessed and implemented the Engineering Design Process throughout the project;
● Portfolios or lab notebooks can help you understand how students were able to support their work through documentation, notetaking, brainstorming, and responses to any prompts, questions, or unforeseen challenges. Students can also show through their own documentation how they used the Engineering Design Process to complete their work.
● Student surveys give students a chance to express their feelings, attitudes, and approaches to their work before and after the project.
● Written narratives from students about their work can allow for a vivid, coherent reflection of the project, which can help students fully sum up their learning; these narratives can contain prompts or guiding questions, or can be written freely. Students may also include their own ideas about how the project can be improved, changed, or built upon.
TEACHER DATA: WHAT DID YOU SEE?
Teacher take data constantly, and it is always important to add your record of what you saw take place in your class during the project to the pool of data. While considering student data, you may also have the following data regarding the project:
● Your own informal observations about how your students performed on a daily basis throughout the project; these observations can be about student engagement, group interactions, access to resources, timelines or schedules, or other resources that might have been needed to complete the project.
● Data about student engagement can be critical for any project. This data can include information about how many students were engaged in the work at any given time, and how you might know they are engaged. It might be important to define engagement as you saw it in this project, as engagement has the potential to look radically different from what it might seem to be in a typical classroom.
● Feedback from colleagues can help you see the project and its implementation in another light. You might have shared your ‘prototype’ project curriculum with colleagues before you put it into place, or asked them to make observations of your classes during the project. Finally, access to a Critical Friends Group or a Professional Learning Community can help you examine student work, in order to tune your project to its objectives. While your colleagues may not have taught the project, they can give you a new lens through which to reflect upon the work.
WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS DATA?
Once you have data about the outcome of the project, you can begin to think about how to use that data in order to redesign the project. While the data you have can be interpreted in a number of different ways, here are some ideas about what you can do in response to the data you have.
● Edit and proofread documentation; specifically, look to clarify the written scaffolds provided for students by cleaning up typographical errors, clarifying explanations, or reformatting sections of the document.
● Reconfigure the timeline of the project based on time constraints. How did the timeline of the project affect student outcomes? How did the timeline of the project affect the pacing guide or map of your course? Did students feel rushed for time, or did they feel like they could have done the project in less time?
● Realign the project to learning objectives. Examining student work and assessment data can help to determine whether the project met learning objectives. Did students learn what was outlined in the objectives? Did they pick up new or unexpected learning that you did not anticipate or outline in the project? Does the project meet new or different state and federal standards, or are there standards the project did not meet? Does the student work demonstrate mastery of the standards and objectives originally outlined?
● Realign the project to the Engineering Design Process. Understanding how students accessed the Engineering Design Process during the project can help you decide how to refer to that process next time. Did students feel like the Engineering Design Process was helpful in completing the project? Did students feel compelled to follow every step, or did they skip steps? Did students repeat steps they felt might be helpful to revisit?
● Respond to problems, challenges, and possibilities. If resources were lacking or scarce, how can you obtain those resources, or plan for an alternative? If students struggled to engage in the project, what norms or strategies could be used to get students engaged? Do colleagues see opportunities for collaboration with others, and do they see a better scope and sequence for the project?
THE ‘YES’ TEST: SHOULD I DO THIS AGAIN?
After reflecting on the data and looking at student work, you might be thinking about whether or not to use the project again in your future classes. These projects can be a struggle, so it can be hard to see the excitement and energy that might exist around your work. Here are some things to think about in case you might be wondering if the project is worth another shot.
● Did the work excite your students?
● Did the work excite your colleagues?
● Did students not in your classes wonder when they might participate in the project?
● Did administrators or parents respond to your project by lending feedback or support?
● Did the time ‘fly’ for you and your students? Did the project and the classroom run itself?
● Are you or your students looking for other opportunities to use EBL in your class in the future, or in other classes?
If the answers to any of these questions are ‘yes’, your project might just have that hook, even if the work was a struggle. If the answers to all of these questions were ‘no’, it’s possible that a redesign of the work may give the project the lift it needs!