The
Mother of
Invention:
Involving upper
elementary students
in the invention
process
The Mother of Invention:
Involving upper elementary students in the
invention process
Steve Coxon
Lori Bland, Ph.D.
Assistant professor of gifted education
and
Director of gifted graduate programs at
Director of Professional Development
and Practice in Gifted Education
Maryville University
maryville.edu/edgrad
stevecoxon.com
coxonsteve@hotmail.com
The Center for Gifted Education
at
The College of William and Mary
cfge.wm.edu
lcbland@wm.edu
Today
Participants will be engaged in the Problem-based
Learning (PBL) process and employ it while
receiving an overview of the unit and of the wider
applicability of PBL.
Students should be given problems – at levels
appropriate to their maturity – that require them to
decide what evidence is relevant and to offer their own
interpretations of what the evidence means. This puts a
premium, just as science does, on careful observations
and thoughtful analysis. Students need guidance,
encouragement, and practice in collecting, sorting, and
analyzing evidence, and in building arguments based on
it. However, if such activities are not to be destructively
boring, they must lead to some intellectually satisfying
payoff that students care about.
-- from Science for All Americans, Project 2061
Center for Gifted Education
The College of William and Mary
Project Clarion overview
• Principal investigators: Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Ed.D.
and Bruce Bracken, Ph.D.
• With a federal Javits grant, eight units for primary
science were created, field tested, revised, researched
in classrooms, disseminated, revised, and published.
• The units combine the Wheel of Scientific
Investigation, the Frayer Model of Vocabulary, concept
mapping, pre- and post-assessment, and the macroconcepts systems and change.
Project Clarion research overview
• Researched with over 3400 K-3 students in 48
classrooms in 6 Title I schools including urban,
exurban, and rural in comparison to 43
classrooms using standard curriculum (e.g.,
Harcourt Brace) over 3 years.
Project Clarion research results
• Gains were found for all student groups, including
gifted students
• The performance-based assessment results showed
significant and educationally important gains for
Clarion students in:
– Macro-concepts
– Scientific investigation
– Content mastery
• The Test of Critical Thinking showed significant and
educationally important effects for the third grade
students in the treatment group.
Invitation to Invent
• Concept: Systems
• Processes: Scientific investigation
Problem-based learning (PBL)
Higher order questioning
• Content: Simple machines; force, motion, and
energy
What is PBL?
Problem-based learning is an instructional
strategy (a curricular framework) that,
through student and community interests and
motivation, provides an appropriate way to
“teach” sophisticated content and high-level
process… all while building self-efficacy,
confidence, and autonomous learner
behaviors.
Center for Gifted Education
The College of William and Mary, 2009
PBL Roles
Teacher:
• Present an ill-structured
problem
• Act as a metacognitive
coach
Student:
• Create a precise
problem statement
• Find information to
solve the problem
• Evaluate possible
solutions
• Create a final product
Center for Gifted Education
The College of William and Mary, 2009
History of PBL
• Medical school model (Barrows)
• Used in both elementary and secondary
classrooms with gifted students
• Adapted for use with all learners
• Used to educate school administrators
Center for Gifted Education
College of William and May
Research on PBL
•
•
•
•
Students show significant learning gains in experimental
design through a PBL approach (VanTassel-Baska, et al.
2000)
Students show enhanced ‘real world’ skills with no loss
in content knowledge as a result of using PBL (Gallagher
& Stepein, 1996; Gallagher & Gallagher, 2003)
Students & teachers are motivated to learn using the
PBL approach (VanTassel-Baska, 2000)
Students show enhanced higher order skill development
using PBL over other approaches to teaching science
(Dods,1997)
Center for Gifted Education
College of William and May
Features of PBL
•
•
•
•
Learner-centered
Real world problem
Teacher as tutor or coach
Emphasis on collaborative
teams
• Employs metacognition
• Uses alternative assessment
• Embodies scientific process
Center for Gifted Education
College of William and May
Characteristics of the
Gifted
Characteristics of PBL
Desire for self-directed
learning
Intense curiosity – what is
the ‘real’ issue?
Students are in charge of
learning
Requires problem finding
Metacognitive thinkers
Have we considered all
possibilities?
What assumptions are we
making?
Why is this strategy not
working?
Center for Gifted Education
College of William and May
Characteristics of the
Gifted
Characteristics of PBL
Capacity for learning quickly Requires students to make
& absorbing new information connections & create ‘new’
knowledge
Tendency to look beyond
surface of problem
Requires deep thinking
Belief that problems have
more than one answer
There is no single right
answer
Center for Gifted Education
College of William and May
Science Curriculum Framework
The Problem
Concept
Understanding
“Systems” or “Change”
Process
Using and Conducting
Scientific Research
Content
Learning Science
Center for Gifted Education
College of William and May
Problem Based Learning
•
•
•
•
•
•
State the problem
Decide what information you need
Conduct information quest
Complete scientific investigations
Review data & summarize findings
Communicate problem resolution
Center for Gifted Education
College of William and May
Lower Primary
Wheel of
Scientific
Investigation
and Reasoning
Make
Observations
Tell Others
What Was
Found
Ask
Questions
SCIENTIFIC
SCIENTIFIC
INVESTIGATION
INVESTIGATIONAND
AND
REASONING
REASONING
Create
Meaning
Learn More
Design and
Conduct the
Experiment
Javits Project Clarion, Center for Gifted Education, College of William and Mary
Wheel of
Scientific
Investigation
and
Reasoning
Use your curiosity
Find something of
interest to study.
Use your senses to
learn.
Select an audience.
Decide on the best way to
communicate.
Include data tables.
Report conclusions.
Tell Others
Make
Observations
Ask Questions
What Was
Found
Organize your data.
Analyze data.
Make inferences and
draw conclusions.
Check to see if you
answered your question.
Think of related
questions.
Create
Meaning
Identify all the
questions you have.
Select ONE question
you want to answer.
SCIENTIFIC
INVESTIGATION AND
REASONING
Learn More
Design and
Conduct the
Experiment
Form a hypothesis
List experiment steps.
Identify materials you need.
Conduct experiment.
Record data.
Javits Project Clarion, Center for Gifted Education, College of William and Mary
Find what you need to
know
Find what others know.
Learn more through
observations.
Re-examine your
question.
Problem Statement
You have been appointed the
architectural engineer for a new
school. Many teachers and students
have suggested that cafeteria noise is a
major problem in the schools, making
it difficult to converse and to think
while eating. You have 2 weeks to
draw up plans for a cafeteria in the
school that would improve on what
currently exists in this school. What
will you do?
Pg. 68
Center for Gifted Education
College of William and May
Sample questions from the lesson:
•How is noise muffled in
nature?
•How will the Wheel of
Scientific Investigation
help you solve the
problem?
Pg. 67
Handout directions:
•At your tables, work in
groups to brainstorm
examples of the problem
as well as 1-3 aspects of
the problem (pg. 69). Be
prepared to share with
the larger group.
Handout directions:
•Having listened to
multiple groups, record
what you feel is the top
solution (pg. 70).
•Use the chart at the top
of pg. 70 to organize your
plan of action.
Handout directions:
•Finally, restate your top
solution as a testable
question (bottom of pg.
70).
•Be prepared to share.
Now that students are involved in
the invention process, the unit
moves on to simple machines and
new possible inventions that
employ them.
•See handout 7A/7B
Students will create an invention as
a final project after learning the
invention process through PBL and
exploring the 6 simple machines
hands-on.
•See rubric, handout 7C
PBL Conclusions:
• engages students' curiosity and initiates
learning the subject matter.
• provides excellent opportunities for students
to think critically and analytically, and to find
and use appropriate learning resources
• promotes autonomous learning
Center for Gifted Education
College of William and May
http://www.nsd.org/
Steve Coxon
Assistant professor of gifted
education and Director of gifted
graduate programs at
Maryville University
maryville.edu/edgrad
stevecoxon.com
coxonsteve@hotmail.com
Center for Gifted Education
http://cfge.wm.edu/
(757) 221-2362
Center for Gifted Education, The College of
William and Mary, 2009