1
The Best of MERLOT for
Teacher Education:
A Walk Through the Vineyard
MERLOT International Conference
August 5-8, 2003
Vancouver, BC Canada
2
WEBSITES of INTEREST to
all TEACHER EDUCATORS
3
Authentic Assessment
Toolbox
• http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/index.htm
– Authentic Assessment Toolbox is a tutorial for all
educators to use for learning about authentic
assessment. It is presented with hypertext and
features creating authentic tasks, rubrics and
standards for measuring and improving student
learning. What is authentic assessment? Why do
we need it? How do you do it? Answers to these
questions as well as information on standards,
rubrics, portfolios, and examples can be found here.
4
Calibrated Peer Review
• http://cpr.molsci.ucla.edu/
– Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) allows students to learn while
writing, through online peer evaluation, and then through a
follow-up online self-assessment. CPR can be a solution for
any important topic that students “can’t seem to get”
(misconceptions). CPR has several strengths: 1- CPR
requires the instructor to carefully think through a writing
assignment. 2- CPR sharpens student critical thinking by
requiring self-assessment. 3- CPR fosters collaborative
learning by engaging students in a critical review of the
writing of their peers. CPR is an especially effective strategy
for managing writing assignments in large classes, where
giving individual evaluative feedback can unduly tax a solo
instructor’s time.
–
http://cpr.molsci.ucla.edu/cpr/cpr/designer/authoring/assign_home.asp?loginID=a01103&a_id=200031
–
http://cpr.molsci.ucla.edu/cpr/cpr/designer/assign_list.asp?loginID=a01103&i_id=300010&c_id=0229081286
5
TrackStar
• http://trackstar.scrtec.org/
– This website helps instructors organize
and annotate websites used in teaching
and learning. Teams of students can create
tracks for topics covered in class. Other
students then read and reflect on the sites
and “I learned” statements to an
asynchronous discussion board.
6
Bernie Dodge’s WebQuest Page
• http://webquest.sdsu.edu/
– Bernie Dodge’s WebQuest Page gives instructors
a model for using the web as an instructional tool.
WebQuests are a very powerful inquiry-oriented
learning activity. WebQuests focus the user on
problem solving and higher-order thinking. The
variety of materials provided on this site is
excellent. Instructors can use the materials to
develop their own WebQuests, teach students
how to design WebQuests, and for other
purposes. For example, the explanations and
links to Rubric development could be used
separately in an assessment course.
Visual Analysis of Variance
7
• http://www.psych.utah.edu/learn/statsampler.html
– This is an extensive site on ANOVA and the
concepts underlying the F-ratio that is appropriate
for a statistics course or any educational research
course with a statistics component. The site has a
thorough interactive tutorial on the conceptual
underpinnings of the F-ratio. Additionally the site
has a visual model of the sources of variance in
the F-ratio that can be manipulated and is very
useful for understanding the effects of between
and within variances on the F-ratio.
8
Shodor Educational Foundation
• http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities
– Included on this site are instructional resources
and software ready to be used in the classroom.
Shodar Foundation does an outstanding job
linking mathematics activities to the NCTM
standards. Included are lesson plans, activities
and ways for teachers to become familiar with
concepts before presenting them to their classes.
Each activity has a "What" button to tell the
purpose of the activity, a "How" button that
explains how to incorporate it into the classroom,
and a "Why" button that explains the usefulness
of the activity.
The Math Forum:
9
• http://www.mathforum.org
– The Math Forum is a great resource for classroom
teachers and preservice teachers. Dr. Math is an
opportunity for students and teachers to ask
mathematics professors directly for answers to
difficult problems or questions about
mathematics. There is an archive available for
answering most questions on the spot. The
Teacher-2-Teacher section provides opportunities
for math teachers to converse about current
topics. There are lesson plans and activities
organized by subject matter and grade level.
History Matters
• http://historymatters.gmu.edu/
– History Matters is a standards-based learning
object designed for high school and college
teachers of U.S. history courses; however,
teacher education majors will find this site very
helpful. The site brings together sound teaching
practices, historically sound information, and
offers many motivation strategies for getting
learners involved. Two of the better features are
the Digital Blackboard and Secrets of Great
History Teachers. The Digital Blackboard has
many teaching ideas that bring the topic alive.
The Secrets of Great History Teachers interviews
these teachers about their teaching methods.
10
11
LD Online
• http://ldonline.org
– LD Online brings together in one location
information regarding the identification process,
assessment, teaching strategies, due process,
etc. and current research information and
governmental actions that impact the delivery of
services for children and youth with specific
learning disabilities. Users can take much of the
information directly from the web into the
classroom with few adaptations. This site is
invaluable for both in-service and pre-service
teachers.
12
Classroom Assessment
Techniques
• http://www.siue.edu/~deder/assess/catmain.html
– Classroom Assessment Techniques can be used
by faculty to collect feedback, early and often, on
how well their students are learning what they are
being taught. The purpose of classroom
assessment is to provide faculty and students
with information and insights needed to improve
teaching effectiveness and learning quality. At
least twenty formative assessment techniques
designed to foster critical thinking are clearly
outlined. References to good assessment
literature are also provided.
ArtsEdge
13
• http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/artsedge.html
– ArtsEdge helps educators teach in,
through, and about the arts. Features at
this extensively rich site include:
• NewsBreak--current updates on what is
happening in the arts and education;
• Teaching Materials--standards-based units,
lessons, and activities that integrate the arts
across the curriculum; and
• Professional Resources--planning and contact
information and an excellent for reviewing ALL
the national standards.
K-6 Arts Lesson Plans
14
• http://www.csuchico.edu/educ/cguenter/229Barts.html
– K-6 Arts Lesson Plans is a searchable database of
100 arts (dance, drama/theatre, music, and visual
art) lessons plans developed by Dr. Cris Guenter
and her student teachers at California State
University, Chico. New lessons, which are added
each semester that are aligned with California's
Content Standards for the Arts and address the
expectations of the National Standards for Arts
Education. A lesson plan format, a rubric for
assessing lesson plans, other online sources, and
suggestions for use are also included.
15
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
• http://kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/
– The Kennedy Center sponsors free arts
performances every day of the year for the public.
The intent of this website is to expand and
increase access to the performing arts.
Performances are videotaped as they are being
performed and archived online. A range of
performers take the stage, including high school
groups, seasoned performers, and international
groups.
16
Artful Minds
• http://library.thinkquest.org/50072/
• Artful Minds provides students and educators with
theoretical information and practical applications
about arts education, brain research, technology
use, and curriculum integration. There is a site
search engine, a directory, and the ability to pre-load
the many graphics for speed presentations. The
library, which contains more than 5,000 web sites,
also features unique educational web sites that have
been created through ThinkQuest competitions and
programs.
17
Learning Cultural Diversity
• http://www.asij.ac.jp/middle/ac/lass/6no/discrimination/index.html
– Cultural Diversity –The Spice of Life is a
webquest that with activities for students
to engage in to learn about cultural
diversity through an exploration of
apartheid in South Africa. There are 13
different activities that direct students
through an investigation of cultural
diversity.
18
Fight Hate and Promote
Tolerance
• http://www.tolerance.org/
– Tolerance.org seeks to create a national community
committed to human rights. Its goal is to awaken people of
all ages to the problem of hate and intolerance, to equip
them with the best tolerance ideas and to prompt them to
act in their homes, schools, businesses and communities.
The ideas in this guide will help foster tolerance in yourself,
your family, your schools, your workplace and your
community. Ideas presented are relevant to self, home,
school, workplace, and community. Hate, bias, and
tolerance news are reviewed systematically.
19
Concept Mapping Software
• http://cmap.coginst.uwf.edu/
– Concept Mapping Software on this site
allows the user to construct knowledge
maps. If the server is installed, users may
share or collaboratively construct concept
maps. The site also contains a good
tutorial on concept maps and an extensive
list of references in the publications and
reference sections of the site.
Research Methods
20
• http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/proj/res_meth/login.html
– Research Methods is a simple and easy to use tutorial about
common research designs. The tutorial works well as an
introduction to research design in courses such as
educational or developmental psychology where empirical
research is covered and students need some understanding of
the strengths and weaknesses of common research methods.
This is a well-designed site with measurable objectives and
assessment exercises.
21
The National Library of Virtual
Manipulatives
• http://matti.usu.edu/
– The National Library of Virtual
Manipulatives contains a variety of math
manipulative in a virtual format that allow
students and teachers with no access to
hands-on products to be able to benefit
from a visual approach to conceptual
understanding. The NLVM correlates all
activities to the NCTM standards.
22
Science Questions:
NAEP the Nation's Report Card
•
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ITMRLS/search.asp?picksubj=Science
– NAEP’s mission has been to collect, analyze, and present
reliable and valuable information about what the nation’s
students know and can do. Both public and non-public school
students in grade 4, 8, and 12 are sampled and assessed on a
regular basis in core subject areas. NAEP, the Nation’s report
card provides sample questions actually used on the NAEP
tests. Each question includes Performance Data, Content
Classification, Scoring Guide/Key, and Student Responses,
which allow classroom teachers to compare performance of
their students with national norms to know whether or not they
are doing a god job teaching.
23
Performance Assessment
Links in Science
• http://pals.sri.com/
– PALS is an on-line, standards-based resource
bank of science performance assessment tasks
indexed to the National Science Education
Standards (NSES) and a few other science
standards frameworks. Many of the tasks are
associated with assessment rubrics, sample
student responses, and score distributions
showing how populations of students actually
perform. PALS allows classroom teachers to
compare performance of their students with
national norms.
24
PBS TeacherSource
• http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/
– Educational PBS shows or videos are available
through a searchable database at this site. A key
feature of the site is that it stays current and is
updated often. With over 1400+ lesson and
activity ideas, as well as education projects and
opportunities, teachers and student teachers will
find worthy content. Teachers can conduct
searches by grade level and subject-specific
areas. Lessons identified through a search are
then matched to standards.
25
Our Documents
• http://www.ourdocuments.gov/
– Our Documents provides teachers, teacher
educators, and students of American
history with images and copies of the text
of 100 milestone documents of American
history (1776-1965) related to the rights
and responsibilities of citizens in our
democracy. Other resource material about
how to use primary sources can also be
found on this website.
26
Circle of Inclusion, Forms and
Articles
• http://circleofinclusion.org
– Circle of Inclusion has strong content reflecting
current best practices and strategies for
implementing inclusion practices. One of the
strong points of the site is its support for those
involved in inclusive practices, including
literature to share with the general public, other
teachers, as well as with administrators and
parents. This is a great resource for teaching
inclusive practices to students, especially when
they begin to throw up many excuses for it not
working.