Science Lesson Results and Analysis

Results and Analysis

                Pre-test:  This assessment was given as a measurement for how much student background knowledge was apparent prior to instruction.  Two multiple choice questions were given, one about physical weathering and the other about erosion.  The following table breaks down the scores per student. There are 22 students total, 20 of the 22 students failed the pre-test, which represents 91% of the students, 2 of the students passed, which represents 9%.

                Post-test:  This assessment was given to measure how much student knowledge was gained following instruction. On this assessment, there were two multiple choice questions regarding physical weathering and erosion and two additional questions, one requiring students to draw a picture of a valley and the other to write one factual sentence about the forming of valleys.  Out of 22 students total, 17 passed the assessment with 80% or higher.  Five students failed the assessment; however, all five students still displayed a gain of at least 20%.

         Pre-test passing student totals were 2; post-test passing student totals were 17, which is a 63% increase. Failed pre-test student totals were 20; post-test failed student totals were 5, which is a decrease of 65%.

                Subgroup Component:  The five students that did not pass the assessment were a mixed gender, mixed science performance level and a mixed ELL group of children.  There is not one shared physical component in the group that defines the lack of learning into a category that would be recognized. Two ideas that I think would have proven more effective is first; to have worked with the students outside while the students engaged in drawing a picture of what happened to the landform as the water rushed through. The second idea is to have discussed the experiment in the classroom with increased talk and argument.

Reflection

                Confidence and Subject Matter Knowledge Content:  When teaching this lesson, all aspects of the state standards and objectives were met. As cited in my lesson plan, the students were able to vocalize through class discussion the differences between the coins that were weathered and not weathered. Through formative assessment, I was aware the students were clear on this understanding. Following the learning through use of the model, shoulder partner discussions were observed again, through formative assessment as students shared their opinions as partners during whole group discussion.

                Effective Aspects of Lesson:  In my opinion, the strength of this lesson was the interest sparked by the model, interactive power point, and hands-on activities at the beginning of the lesson. The level of interest connected the students’ engagement level which continued throughout the entire lesson. The students were interested from the moment they first was the model at the beginning of the day. It felt to me that the students’ combined excitement for the upcoming lesson almost sparked higher level learning and engagement from the moment the day started. During the lesson, the students experienced hands-on learning through experimenting with the model. This process deepened the learning experience which is evident in the results from the assessment given.  Seventeen students (77% of class members) passed this assessment with 80% or higher content knowledge understanding.  Furthermore, all students had an increased understanding of the content as evident in the analysis results, where even the five students that failed the assessment showed an increase of 20% or more.