Brennan+Final+Project

“The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” --Albert Einstein

The world is changing at a pace that no one could fathom 50 years ago. Today, information is available at the click of a mouse button or the tap of a icon of a search engine. As Einstein stated, the very nature of the problem is so rapidly changing that we as educators cannot realistically keep students ahead of the curve solely in regard to knowledge. The only way to keep pace is to teach students universal methods of problem solving. Because knowledge is no longer at a premium, our role as educators of 21st Century Learners is to teach students how to define the problem, utilize resources to create a solution, and analyze results.

Prior to describing what the 21st Century Classroom will look like, I think it is imperative to summarize what the most critical elements the 21st Century Learner needs to master. 21st Century Learners must be able to work successfully both independently and interdependently, the latter of which heavily depends on effective communication skills. 21st Century Learners must also be adept at problem solving, not only developing solutions, but formalizing the challenges before them, understanding solution parameters, creating appropriate models, and asking effective questions. Specifically to solve problems, 21st Century Learners must have a solid foundation of both basic skills but also a strong working knowledge of appropriate technology. Moreover, 21st Century Learners must be comfortable with taking risks and trying innovative and creative means to solve problems. Lastly, 21st Century Learners must be flexible because the significant problems they will face are ever-changing.

__ Using Media-Based Problem Solving to Increase Student Engagement __

The “ecosystem” I am focusing on is how Instructional Strategies (although it is supported by technology) can help to create an effective classroom environment for 21st Century Learners. In particular, I am focusing on using instructional strategies to improve student engagement. If students are engaged, students are more likely to participate fully, enabling students to become empowered and take ownership of the task. If students take ownership of the task, then they are more likely to look for connections to previous models and more willing to provide solutions they deem satisfactory to meet their own needs, rather than strictly to meet the needs of the gradebook. To do so, students will learn that often creativity and innovation will provide them with the greatest intrinsic satisfaction. Thus, engagement is the key. Without engagement, there is no way students would become invested enough in the problem to do any of these higher level skills required of the 21st Century Learner. Once the student is invested, they also become more open to learn the additional math skills necessary to solve a problem, mainly because they immediately see the need.

Specifically, I plan on using videos and images as the basis of introducing relevant and meaningful real-world problems. The use of this media is threefold. First, in the real-world, problems are not packaged in neat little paragraphs. Often the problem itself needs to be defined. Introducing the problem through a video or image mimics how students may encounter the problems they may face in their future. Another reason the media is used is that the by avoiding text, the rigor for entry into a problem is reduced. This reduces barriers that some students may have to solve challenging problems. Lastly, the use of this media provides interesting platforms to “bait and hook” students. Combined, these elements increase student engagement.

Merely showing the video is effective, however it is more important to effectively facilitate the problem solving session. Therefore, after the video I ask students to define the question or questions to be posed. I also spend time having students bound the problem, providing ranges of answers that they know are unrealistic. I also solicit student guesses, revisiting them at the completion of the activity, often rewarding the best guesser with candy. These strategies also help to engage students, because any student, regardless of ability, can guess. And when students make a guess, they stayed “tuned” to see if they are correct.


 * Artifact #1: **

Artifact #1 demonstrates how I will present video-based problem solving to engage students. This is a video of my creation. Similar videos will be short (no longer than 1 minute), eye catching, relevant, interesting to the students, and most importantly, the questions will be self-evident. The video will generally leave students “hanging” and anticipating an answer. media type="file" key="Perfect Skittles.MOV" width="579" height="579"

**Artifact #2:** Artifact #2 demonstrates how I use videos to differentiate the problem to other learners. These videos may be useful to help the entire class problem solve, as they simplify the calculation model. In addition, I could also easily make the problem more challenging by then showing a video of a larger bag of skittles being opened. Thus, the levels of difficulty can be easily modified, while keeping the general context of the video consistent. media type="file" key="Simple Skittles.MOV" width="574" height="574"

**Artifacts #3a and 3b:** Artifacts #3a and 3b demonstrates how I will present image-based problem solving to engage students. 3a is an image I took, while image 3b is from another website. Like the videos, images will be eye catching, relevant, and interesting to the students. However, unlike the videos, the images may require certain prompts, as I have indicated in each image’s caption.

__ Final Synopsis __

The use of instructional strategies to increase student engagement has several positive effects on the 21st Century Learning Environment. When student engagement is increased, students are more likely to participate (social responsibility). In additon, as described later, the differentiated platform of presenting the problem provides more ways to engage students (flexible). As students contribute, even with guesses, they become more invested (empowering). After completing the problem, students can also more easily see the relationships between the abstract math model and the real-world situation (connected).

The biggest success indicators that I believe will be present are that students will be more willing to participate in challenging problems. This should be observable in regard to self-starting. In addition, improved mathematics attitudes will also indicate success as students will find math more fun and will see more connections.