Interactive EdVenturestm
Adventures in Education
Marymount University
Frederick County Public Schools
© 2024 Dr. Kitty Crosby
Why collaborative and interactive education???
Collaboration and interaction are second nature to the learning process. Collaboration has been indicated as one of the leadership behaviors exemplified by educators that directly affects student achievement (Crosby, 2019). Learn more at the link below!
Schedule your dissertation editing and conference meeting! What do you need help with?
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designing research question(s) and hypotheses? (Via email or 30 min Zoom $30)
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determining quantitative analysis? (via email and 30 min Zoom $40)
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help walking through the process of running analysis? (1hour zoom session with recording $200)
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Full dissertation edit ($800)
As always... Free for Marymount University (Arlington) students!
Welcome to the "Quantitative Dissertation Checklist by Chapter"! This workbook is designed to assist graduate students and researchers in navigating the process of planning, executing, and writing a quantitative dissertation. Whether you are at the beginning stages of your dissertation journey or nearing completion, this workbook provides structured checklists to ensure that each chapter of your dissertation meets rigorous academic standards. Why? Even the most seasoned Doctoral Chair or Methodologist may forget something obscure but necessary! This workbook helps humans be better! Click on the cover page to take you to the document.
Exploring Students' Perceptions of AI Implementation in Educational Settings
In contemporary education, there has been growth in the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into the educational experience of students across all levels of education. The development of AI and integration into education has sparked polarized opinions (Roberts, 2023). While some specialists and educators champion AI and define it as transformative and enabling a personalized learning environment (Smith, 2023), others raise concerns about privacy, equity, and ethical implications (Roberts, 2023). This study delves into students’ perceptions and usage of AI and its implementation across diverse educational settings, aiming to capture nuanced insights that best inform evidence-based practices.
Beyond Objectives
This paper addresses the improvement of instructional objectives as a means of increasing student achievement. Read the full document HERE
Project-based learning as a summative assessment
Finding and implementing effective pedagogical methods is an ongoing process for educators, whether they are performing formal studies such as this one or simply making observations in their classes for their own personal use. The chaos created by the COVID-19 pandemic has generated an environment ripe for implementing emerging concepts and reporting findings. Changes required in the classroom during the pandemic have allowed educators the opportunity to test their own creative pedagogy. Curiosity was the impetus for the question: How does the implementation of autonomous, creative, project-based learning affect effectual, creative, summative assessments in high school courses? The purpose of this study was to observe the effectiveness of project-based summative assessments in business education courses in a specific school in Northern Virginia relative to student achievement on a specific certification test. This study incorporated a casual observation methodology. The population observed contained 40 students ages 15-18 in personal finance and economics courses for the 2021-22 cohort. Students’ achievement on the W!se Financial Literacy exam was compared to the 2018-19 cohort, the last cohort that participated in the W!se prior to the pandemic. Project-based summative assessments replaced written exams and incorporated individual, creative endeavors chosen by each student, peer review, self-review, editing, and then submission. Normally, students would have taken a written exam that also included practice test questions for the W!se. Students provided feedback on the project to the educator following each summative assessment and adjustments to the instructions were made accordingly. Findings suggest that even though students' feedback reported high levels of enjoyment and satisfaction with project-based testing, student achievement of the W!se fell by 9%, suggesting that project-based summative assessments do not maintain or improve student achievement on a standardized exam for this specific course. Potential mitigating factors and future research were discussed.
AI in education...The good, the bad, the unknown!
Optimizing Education: Leveraging AI for Dynamic Lesson Planning Abstract:
Implementing artificial intelligence (AI) as a method for creating lesson plans offers a promising avenue to optimize educational practices. This abstract explores the feasibility and validity of using AI technologies in generating personalized and effective lesson plans. AI-driven systems can analyze vast datasets of educational content and student performance metrics to tailor instructional materials and activities to individual learner needs quickly and with more efficiency than the average person. By leveraging machine learning algorithms and natural language processing, AI can provide adaptive and responsive lesson plans that address diverse learning styles and abilities. AI may also provide insights that have not come to the attention of the educator. This abstract discusses the potential benefits of AI-generated lesson plans, including improved instructional efficiency, enhanced student engagement, and increased learning outcomes. Furthermore, considerations regarding ethical implications, transparency, and bias mitigation in AI-generated lesson planning are also addressed. Overall, integrating AI into lesson planning holds significant promise for advancing educational methodologies and supporting educators in delivering impactful and customized learning experiences.
Want to read the full paper?
Quantitative & Qualitative Corner
Making the dissertation process (less) painful
"On your worst day on the job, you are still some child’s best hope!” ~Larry Bell
Interactive EdVentures through mind mapping
Mind mapping has proven to be very effective in linking information. It can be interactive and may also create an adventure. Mind mapping may provide links between linguistic, visual, kinetic portions of the brain and encourage creativity. Allowing students to choose how they mind map increases buy-in to the process and allows for self-differentiation and autonomy of the learning process.
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Classic mind mapping
Teaching your students how to mind map will provide them with the tools to learn independently and in a format that benefits them individually. Introduction to classic mind mapping on a piece of paper is a positive place to start
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Computer based applications
There are a variety of fun filled interactive website available for those that have access to technology and tech savvy students. Here are a few I use in classs: renderforest.com, quizlet, bubble.us, Kahoot, canva.com, minmeister. Let me know what you use in your classroom!
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Low tech very interactive
High tech classrooms can be fun but are not practical for every school or occasion. High impact does not always mean it has to be high tech. Try incorporating some of these low tech mind mapping interactive activities. 1.Story cubes: students create a story incorporating vocabulary words and the pictures on the cubes. Use pre-determined fun pictures if you do not have cubes. 2. have students create a flyer or brochure incorporating new vocabulary and concepts. 3. Free form fiction story. Like the story cubes with more freedom of creativity. Incorporate new concepts and creativity! 4. Or, a classic used often, simply rewrite your notes! Simple but effective.
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Individual or group action
Mix and match to keep things fresh and interesting! Incorporate mind mapping activities both individual and as small or large group activities. Large groups may do a gallery walk. Questions or concepts are posted around the room and each students adds their share to the new concept through their individual thoughts or creations. Share your mind mapping Interactive EdVentures!
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Rote through gaming
Sometimes repetition rocks. Rote work through games makes the process less painful! Try secretive.com, Kahoot, Quizlet, or Quizlet live for teams
How do you capture their attention, encourage creativity and interaction???
The following videos were designed to capture your student's imagination at the beginning of class. They were made easily on renderforest.com (note... your work will randomly disappear from render forest so save to your computer or youtube channel!)
Sample Interactive EdVenture
This section will provide you with a fun filled EdVenture used in high school personal finance and economics class. Students participated in a collaboration of 2 to 3 students. Activities remained in the classroom and took them on adventures into the school halls. Feedback from additional adults provided for interesting wrap up conversation about insurance.
Step 1. Let the battle begin!
Students were brought into the activity though an engaging movie trailer. To determine which team has the advantage, teams matched vocabulary and definitions that were scattered around the room. Teams competing for the same match played rock/paper/scissors to determine the winner. The winning team had a 30 second lead on the next task. The 30 second timer was on a ViewSonic for this and other adventures.
STEP 2. Creative interactive tasks
Create high and low tech activities that engage, require collaboration, and apply curriculum and creativity. In this example, students were provided a worksheet with types of insurance and incidents. Students matched the insurance with the incidents. A second task included researching insurance in Virginia answering questions from the Worksheet below. The final task had students interviewing another adult in the building. They asked them which insurance was most important to them individually. The answers were recorded on flipgrid.com and later watched by the class. The three tasks required about 60 minutes to complete.
STEP 3. Recap and prizes
Closing reflection both individually and as a large group helps students piece the pictures of the activities together as a single concept. Following was the reflection question in this Interactive EdVenture "Why do different people say different insurance is more important???" Students answered this question individually on scrap paper then handed it in prior to group reflection. Why do you think the answers were different??? Send us a comment with your answer!
Curiosity... Why do YOU think different insurance is important to different people???
Interactive Summative Assessments?!?!?!
Say it isn't so?! Yes it is! I have implemented it this year with more success than I thought it would. It is different, requires more than simply repeating data and information, and allows for autonomy in the learning process. Students pick from a variety of activities that demonstrate their knowledge of the topic at hand. Granted, I teach some courses that lend themselves naturally to the technique. You may have to dig deeper to find ways to incorporate this. Following is the basic outline for my summative assignments. They pick and choose what is best for them. Sometimes, it is as simple as a conversation with me.
Summative assessment outline
The purpose of this activity is to provide the educator with a detailed information depicting student knowledge on a specific subject for a final subject/module/chapter grade.
Reproduce your data. You decide! How do you wish to show me what you know???
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Write a story? One page minimum
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Make a podcast? 3 min. minimum.
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Draw a poster with all the important information learned and how they relate to each other?
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Have a conversation with me!
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Write a how-to manual for someone else telling them how to do whatever it is you learned?
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Write a page on opposing points of view?
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Comic strip?
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Real world research: write a page on the concept in the world outside of school?
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Other? Let me know your thoughts.
What must be included
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Use at LEAST half of your vocabulary
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Define the topic.
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Why is it important to understand this topic?
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What is, in your opinion the most important part of this topic?
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What was the most difficult part for you OR… address what you think might be the most difficult part for someone else to understand.
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Show me that you know the subject matter.
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Answer any questions I may still have.