Basic Skills Conference, August 3, 2010
Pat Phillips & Melanie Knier
Davidson County Community College
Lexington, NC
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Students do not necessarily view math as
applicable to their daily lives
Students want to make connections between
what they learn and what they experience in
real life
Effective learning requires active application
of knowledge, skills, and processes
Learners need to acquire content knowledge
and learn how to apply what they have
learned
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Transfer of learning is likely to occur when
the student understands the facts and the big
picture
The learning environment should be
community-centered, learner-centered and
knowledge-centered
Contextualized learning helps students make
these applications
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OVAE defines contextualized learning as “a
conception of teaching and learning that
helps teachers relate subject matter to real
world situations”
Current information indicates that new WIA
Title 1 & Title 2 re-authorization will require
closer alignment with work skills and tie
learning to those work skills
Contextualized curriculum is one method of
making this alignment
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Requires a shift in understanding of what it
means to develop curriculum
Begins curriculum instruction with tasks
learners need in their daily lives; then begins
instruction of knowledge and skills required
to perform these tasks
Encourages teamwork and collaborative
learning. Students often find comfort and
success when working with a partner or small
group
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How do you infuse contextualized content?
Which instructional strategies work best?
How do we engage students as active
learners?
How do we sustain the effort?
What are the implications of contextualization
on curriculum design?
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Methods
◦ Contextualization using career fields or clusters
(Toolkit, page 4)
◦ Contextualization using specific occupations
(Toolkit, pages 4 & 5)
◦ Contextualization Using Career Exploration (Toolkit,
page 5)
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Page 15 of Contextualization Toolkit
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Met with appropriate staff and instructors to
begin planning
Achieved buy-in from key people
(administrators and those developing the
curriculum and those teaching it)
Set up advisory team to review curriculum
and give feedback
Piloted the first few lessons with a group of
students and solicited their feedback for
curriculum improvement
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Identify career pathways in which the
curriculum is needed
Identify credit staff & faculty who will work
with you in the areas curricula will be
developed
Interview faculty to determine key concepts
and teaching and learning objectives needed
to be taught in each subject in the pathway
Identify subjects and skills needed to be
taught based on feedback from faculty in the
area
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Identify faculty & staff who are interested in
developing the curriculum
Identify resources needed to develop the
curriculum
Do a readability level for credit textbooks
Determine number of units to be developed
in each pathway
Develop lesson plan for each lesson to be
developed and begin curriculum development
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Identified short-term
certificate and diploma
programs that could be
completed in 1-3
semesters
Met with college
faculty and
representatives from
business and
workforce development
to determine areas
where employment was
obtainable
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Identified faculty and
staff and trained them
to develop the
curriculum
Developed curriculum
in areas of health,
transportation and
early childhood
initially. Added HVAC,
Business, Computers
and are currently
identifying others to
add
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Nurse Assistant
Medical Office Assistant
Pharmacy Technology
Early Childhood
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Choose the best answer
Find These Words
What Would You Do?
Complete this Chart
Multiple Choice
Fill in the Blank/Word
Bank
Crossword Puzzle
Memorizing/mnemonics
Common Bonds
Reading
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True/False
Cell Word Chop
Matching
Context Clues
Magic Square
Reading (continued)
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Single-step word
problems
Multi-step word
problems
Chart/graphs word
problems
Hands-on activities using
math application,
manipulatives, etc.
Students are provided
content and write their
own work problems
Math
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Short answer situations
Topic Sentence
placement
Grammatically Correct
Pick 5 key statements
and write a summary
Statement re-write
Research and create a
3 minute oral
presentation on topic
of research
Writing
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Students get more out of
problems that are
interactive
Problems that are
relevant to their lives are
important
Key words, phrases, or
topics you want students
to use need to be very
clear in the problem
Work through the
problem as the instructor
before giving to students
to prevent any surprises
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Initially, begin with single
step word problems until
the student becomes
more comfortable doing
them
Working together often
makes students more
comfortable and they can
solve the problem
together
May give the students
the answer to the
problem in initial stages
to lower anxiety in
solving the problems
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Make explicit how
class activities
develop skills for
career paths
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◦ Tap into student
motivation
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◦ Scaffold learning
◦ Use hands-on/active
learning
◦ Apply learning in a
variety of contexts
Develop a screening
process to determine
skill level
◦ Lower assessment
barriers to enrollment
Use instructional
strategies that
leverage
contextualized
learning approaches
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Address varying skill
levels in the same
class
◦ Use group/pair work
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Identification of the student’s learning style
and making sure that instruction touches on
each student’s learning preference
Conducting a Career Aptitude/ Interest
Inventory and connecting the results to each
student’s learning
Varying activities in the classroom (example:
Use 4-MAT Learning Wheel to design lesson
plans)
Using problem-based learning
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Participating in activities such as projects,
solving real world problems, conducting
interviews, creating charts and graphs,
creating presentations and other activities
that reinforce real-life situations
Increasing the student’s motivation to learn
and fostering student independence in
learning
Use of MECA or other hands-on activities
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Implement processes designed during the
planning phase
Use management or advisory team for review
and program improvements
Support and retain faculty
Implement data and cost-tracking systems
Promote contextualization throughout your
programs
Assess the costs benefits of
contextualization
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Does integration of contextualized content
change the scope and sequence for academic
skills that are being taught?
How can we insure that students are learning
the underlying concepts?
Can students apply the skills outside of the
context?
What are resources that you can use for
curriculum development?
Lesson Title: Medical Assisting Math I
Subject:_Math/measurement__Prepared by: Pat Phillips__________________
Overview & Purpose
Competencies addressed:
Teach math skills needed to succeed in a Measurement of ounces and gallons
medical assisting program
Math to prepare specimens
Objectives
(Specific skills
that will be
learned)
Multiplication and
division of ounces
to gallon
Information (Give
or demonstrate
necessary
information)
Verification
(Steps to check
student
understanding)
Teacher Plan
Guide students
through math
problem, modeling
the proper
procedures to
calculate the
problem. Then
have students
create their own
word problems
related to medical
assisting and
practice hands-on
activity
Student Plan
Practice math
Materials Needed
calculations
 Gallon of water
needed to
 Measuring cup
complete the
 pan
math problems.
 calculator
Practice
 paper/pencil
measurement until
the concept is
mastered
Demonstrate
math calculations
and model the
steps in
determining the
necessary
information to
solve the problem
Monitor student
Have students do
accuracy in solving a self-check for
problems
accuracy of
solving problems
Other resources (ie.
Websites, books,
wikis, games, etc)
More examples from
other community
colleges:
GED Bridge to Health
Career
Profile Writing Project
Reading Curriculum
Math Curriculum
Here’s what they are
doing in Illinois:
CNA to LPN class
•3 hours/week X 16 weeks
•Contextualized medical vocabulary
•Based on National League of Nursing
Exam
•“Reading Smart” “504 Absolutely
Essential Words”
•Exit exam – Compass Reading,
English, Math
Fast Track Allied Health Class in Arkansas
•Contextualize developmental level reading and math
•Move students along quicker through career pathway
Where are we going ???
•More hybrid classes –
using Moodle, Blackboard
•Use SoftChalk to easily
convert contextualized
curriculum to engaging,
interactive lessons on the
web
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sites.wiki.ubc.ca
EFF Research Principle: A Contextualized
Approach to Curriculum and Instruction
mcli.dist.maricopa.edu
www.teachforever.com
Contextualized Teaching & Learning: A
Faculty Primer developed by California
Community College
Breaking Through Contextualization Toolkit
Sources
http://www.laguardia.edu/uploadedFiles/T2/pcap/home_content/GED
%20Bridge%20to%20Health%20Careers%20Reading%20Curric%20Sessio
n%203.pdf
http://www.laguardia.edu/uploadedFiles/T2/pcap/docs/Geometry%20
Overview.pdf
http://occrl.illinois.edu/files/Projects/promising_pratice/2010/Prom
ising_Practice_Oakton_CC_Curriculum.pdf
http://www.aatyc.org/about-us/archive-news/181-aatycnewsletter-july-2010.html
Pat Phillips
patp@davidsonccc.edu
336.224.4570
Melanie Knier
mgknier@davidsonccc.edu
336.224.4584