What's the Problem?

Problem-based learning. PBL. These are words and acronyms that many of us have heard of, but what do they mean?  Problem-based learning is a student-centered learning technique where students work in groups to learn more about a topic or subject through working on/solving an open-ended problem. 

Some may ask, why is PBL useful? It allows students to develop collaborative learning and teamwork skills. PBL also teaches them to hone their research and presentation skills and allows them to self identify gaps in their knowledge on a topic or things they might want to learn more about. It promotes a student driven level of learning engagement, and can serve as a great way to approach complex, real-world issues in a classroom setting.

To help understand how PBL works and best practices for how to implement it in your classroom, check out these great resources and click on the labels attached to this blog post for links to previous posts on this topic:

Cornell PBL Resource

Stanford PBL Newsletter

PBL Implementation Steps

Once the decision to use PBL is made, there are different types of problems that a teacher can choose to use with their students. Forked road problems have two different solutions "which" allows for student flexibility as there is more than one answer. In possibility factor based problems, students work to answer "why" the problem is occurring. With situation to be improved problems, students are given a scenario and work together to determine "how" it can be remediated, corrected, or improved. Effect-cause problems challenge students to identify "why" a problem is occurring and "what" caused it to occur. Each type of problem encourages collaboration, critical thinking, and research, and can be used with many different real-life situations/scenarios/issues.

PBL can be incorporated into all different types of ag courses. They can also be used for all different ages of students. Some examples for each type of problem in an animal science course are:

• Forked Road: Should I dock the tails of my lambs?
• Possibility Factor: Which bull should I choose based on EPDs?
• Situation to Be Improved: How can I increase the wool production of my sheep?
• Effect-Cause: Why are my goats losing weight? 

To make PBL work effectively, teachers also can incorporate different levels and types of questioning to promote critical thinking and responses on the part of the students. With traditional lecture type instruction, students are normal asked recall and knowledge questions, and occasionally questions that ask them to use application skills. With PBL, teachers have the ability to utilize higher level types of questions such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. This allows students to practice convergent, divergent, and evaluative thinking, which are all things they will need to be able to use in college and their future professions.

Through PBL, not only can a teacher make their classroom a more engaging and student-centered place, but they will also be able to allow their students to experience true critical thinking. Students will have the opportunity to develop real-world problem solving, research, and collaboration skills. They will also be able to interact with their subject material in a way that is both interesting and exciting to them. PBL can turn the phrase "what's the problem?" from something with a negative connotation, to one that promotes learning excitement in your students! 

The Objective of My Affection

Writing objectives: something that is required of all teachers for their lesson plans and something that can be both difficult and helpful at the same time. A quality, well written objective can serve as a great guide for student learning and teacher facilitation, but a confusing, poorly written objective can cause frustration on the part of the learner and the teacher. This week's blog post will serve as guide on how to create proper objectives, and will provide tips to help you learn to write them like a pro! 

A quality objective will be SMART. That is, it will be specific, measurable, appropriate for the audition it is designed for, realistic, and timely. It will also answer the questions of who, what, where, when, and how. In addition, a quality objective will also only focus on one skill or topic at a time. Simply put: it should tell the learner what you want them to do, how they will do it, when they need to do it by, and how they will be evaluated on it. 

Quality objectives also tap into the different levels of Bloom's taxonomy. In addition, objectives should be varied to incorporate the 3 domains of learning: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. These keep objectives exciting and interesting. Here are some great resources that explain how to do these things in more detail: UNC Charlotte and BU.

Let's look at some examples of both high quality and poor quality learning objectives and dissect what classifies them as such. 

• Example 1: Students will understand the major parts of the plan.
• Who: students
• What: understand major parts of the plant
• When: ?
• How: ?
• Example 2: Students in Plant Science will be able to identify the 4 major parts of the plant by the end of the class period, as defined in the Plant and Soil Science textbook. 
• Who: students in Plant Science
• What: identify the 4 major parts of the plant
• When: by the end of class
• How: as defined in the Plant and Soil Science textbook

Example 2 is the better learning objective. It fulfills the criteria of the SMART goal and clearly answers the questions of who, what, where, when, and how. Students would be able to look at this objective and easily be able to understand what was being expected of them for that class period.

Including quality objectives in your lesson plans is also helpful for others who view and may utilize them. Teachers are usually required to leave sub plans for when they are absent, and making sure that proper learning objectives are incorporated into them can help both the sub and the students know what needs to be accomplished while you are out. In addition, having the same objectives from your lesson plan posted on the board can be a helpful tool if you are observed by an administrator.

Writing quality objectives is a critical skill for teachers to master. They will help reduce confusion, keep things organized, and make mastering content easier. Hopefully this post will help them from being the bane of your existence to the objective of your affection!

Casting the Hook

While anglers cast their hooks to catch fish, teachers cast "hooks" to catch the interest of their students. In AEE 412, we will be exploring the different ways to use interest approaches with our future students. A properly utilized interest approach can help to decide if a class will be a series of casting and coming up empty each time, or if there will be a successful catch of engaged students.

Just like certain species of fish are attracted to certain types of lures and bait, students respond differently to certain types of interest connections. Fish respond well to things that catch their eye and satisfy their needs, and the same can be said for students. As educators, we classify the different ways to effectively "hook" our students as interest approaches. Lancelot outlines the principles of interest approaches here: Interest Approaches-University of Florida. More information on interest approaches can also be found here: Interest Approaches University of Arizona and in this video from Dr. Rice.

Once a teacher understands the type of interest approaches and how to use them, they need to determine which will be most appropriate for the students in each class. While it might be easy for an angler/teacher to tailor their fishing/teaching in a way that may only attract one specific type of fish/student, in doing so they would lose the opportunity to connect with many other types of fish/students who may also have value. It takes many species of fish to create a healthy aquatic ecosystem, and it takes many types of students to create a successful learning community within an ag program.

Luckily, there are lots of fun and creative ways to "hook" students and get them interested in what they will be studying. Here is a great resource with lots of ideas: Interest Approaches from Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom. NAAE also has a thread dedicated to interest approaches: NAAE Ag Interest Approaches. Most of these tools utilize common classroom resources and materials, can be applied to a multitude of ag subject areas, and are applicable to different ages and types of students.

An important thing to remember with interest approaches is that in order for them to work properly, they must be used in different combinations and settings. Fish can become immune to bait and lures if they are used repeatedly and in the same predictable patterns, and the same can be said for ag students. Each class provides an opportunity to use the different interest approaches in your tackle box, and over time you will learn which work best and when to use them.

Throughout the semester, we will work together to become the best learning engagement anglers that we can be. While our first few casts might not "hook" all of our students, in time, we will fill our teacher tackle boxes with all the tools and materials that we need to have a successful catch of ag students!

The First Day of School

Many ag teachers across the country are experiencing their first days of school this week. In AEE 412, we will be taking a walk in their shoes next Wednesday through our first lab activity.

They say you only get one chance to make a first impression. This is very applicable to teaching because the tone you set on the first day can, and often will, carry over for the rest of the year. You only get one first day of school with your students, so it is important that you do your best to make it a good one.

There are also lots of excellent Internet resources to help with the planning and implementation for a quality first day of school. Here are some that may be helpful for the lab:

The First Day of School-Advice from Dr. Rice

The First Day of School-Advice from Harry Wong

First Day Resources-NEA

First Day Resources-Teacher Vision

Excellent example of a successful AEE 412 Lab #1

We want this lab to be a successful and positive experience for everyone. The AEE 412 Lab Manual has detailed instructions for this activity, as well as the rubric.

Make the first day of school the best day of school!

The Effective Teacher Affects Lives

There are many characteristics that made an effective and efficient teacher. Through a series of experiments, we focused on a few that are very important for teacher and student success in the classroom.

The first characteristic an effective teacher should demonstrate is business-like behavior. They exude professionalism in their demeanor, mannerisms, dress, and interactions with others. These teachers set high standards for how their classrooms are run and establish consistent routines for their students that promote learning.

Effective teachers also demonstrate enthusiasm. Excitement is contagious, and teachers with a true passion for what they are teaching have the ability to inspire their students to learn. They make their classrooms a place where learning is fun and enjoyable.

Another characteristic for a teacher to have is clarity. Are your instructions clear? Are you making expectations and desired outcomes easy identifiable? Do your students know what they need to do to be successful?

Creating opportunities to learn is also a critical attribute for an effective teacher. Students do best when they know what is expected of them and how they will be assessed. Allowing students to show what they know and demonstrate competency will help to keep them to stay engaged and invested in their learning.

Variability is also an important skill for an effective teacher to possess. Their classroom is combination of different types of instruction and activities. No two days are ever the same, and they use their creativity to keep their students on their toes and engaged in their learning.

After learning about these characteristics, our class developed an acronym to help remember them. BECOV stands for business-like behavior, enthusiasm, clarity, opportunity to learn, variability. By developing these characteristics, one can become an effective and efficient teacher.

We also looked at the five major principles of teaching and learning: organization and structure of subject matter, motivation, reward and reinforcement, techniques of teaching, and transfer of learning. While we did not do any labs to practice these important skills, we did use what we have learned so far to connect these things to classroom experiences. We also found ways that each was relevant to agricultural education.

An efficient teacher makes sure that what their students are learning has meaning, is structured, and is organized. They also make sure that they gauge how they teach based on where ther students are in terms of learning ability. These teachers used appropriate learning experiences and subjec matter to make their classrooms interesting, exciting, and comfortable places for their students.

Efficient teachers are also great motivators. Not only do they make their students want to learn by taking into account what is important in the students' lives, they also encourage them to set goals for themselves and become active in planning learning activities in the classroom. They help their students feel successful and challenge them in ways that makes learning new things to be fun.

The efficient teacher keeps their students in the loop about their learning progress and rewards them when they demonstrate correct behavior and skills in the classroom. They ensure that students always know when they are exhibiting the correct behavior, and reinforce positivity with rewards such as praise or a high five. This helps students to learn to do the right thing, stay on track,and become more focused on their learning.

Utilizing best practices of teaching is another characteristic of an efficient teacher. Their teaching promotes directed, organized learning and incorporates inquiry and critical thinking skills. They allow their students to practice what they learn to make it more relevant and engaging. Through supervised practice, their students are able to apply what they learn to hands-on classroom experiences that put it into practice.

Allowing students to connect what they learn to real life experiences is how efficient teachers encourage the transfer of learning. These real life learning experiences help students to master what they are learning, and retain it for future use. It also allowed them to see the relevancy of what they have learned, and how they can utilize it in their everyday lives.

An effective and efficient teacher affects lives. Not only so they make learning fun, but they make a process that students want to engage in. Their classrooms are places where what they students need to be successful is at the forefront of how they teach, and they help to provide learning experiences and classroom routines that encourage positivity and real world connections.

The journey to become efficient and effective teacher for the students in AEE 412 has just begun, and they are going to affect many lives in a positive ways as they navigate on it this year!