Wicked Problem Project Part D

Findings and Implications
Formative: Did the project get implemented as planned?
A problem that I was trying to work around in implementation of the project is that my classes follow a nine to ten week "marking period" schedule.  I get all new students four times per year.  The implementation part of our projects hit at the end of a marking period and was followed by a week-long spring break.  Key parts of my wicked problem project on Systematic Vocabulary Instruction were implemented as planned with some modifications due to time constraints. Specifically, I was able to:

• Identify 50 crucial academic vocabulary terms for my subject area and grade level.
• Invite two four-person teams of 8th grade teachers to join me in implementing technology infused instructional processes for teaching vocabulary in their subject areas.  These teachers represent science, social studies, math, and language arts curricular areas. Even though I invited them to join me in this effort, one of the four-person teams said they did not have the time in their instructional schedules to implement this plan.  The other team said they would like to try it at the beginning of the next marking period.
• Use video or computer images to introduce academic vocabulary terms to students.
• Have students begin to create electronic academic vocabulary notebooks. They created slides that defined 10 of the 50 technology terms in their own words and added a graphic to represent the word.
• Involve students in games to reinforce the meaning of the words.

One part of the Systematic Vocabulary Instruction project that I did not implement at all was to have students revisit the slides they made and "add knowledge of the term" in the form of synonyms, antonyms, or additional pictures.  Another part of the project that I spent very little time on was in having the students "revisit the terms and discuss them with each other."

Summative: Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice.
I saw evidence of success in implementing my wicked problem project on Systematic Vocabulary Instruction when observing:

• Students electronic academic vocabulary slides including definitions they created for the terms and pictures they found or created to illustrate them.
• Students informal discussions with each other of the meanings of words and why they illustrated them the way they did.
• Accurate responses in the vocabulary games.

How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you've learned here?

If I were approaching another project of this type, now that I have this experience, I would try to narrow my projects' scope and focus more.  Marzano has written a whole book (and sections of several others) on how to effectively teach academic vocabulary. I could have started specifically with vocabulary games and built my whole project on that topic. Marzano's approach is a multi-step approach though, and that is why I tackled the problem the way I did.

What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?

Lessons learned in my vocabulary project that others might benefit from knowing about are all about making assumptions! First of all, do not assume that just because our students utilize technology frequently and on a daily basis, that they know the "language" of technology. Secondly, do not assume that just because you know how to play a game, that your students will also know about it. I would not have a clue where to begin to play the video game "Halo." Likewise, my students had no idea where to begin in "Password."

In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?
Things I will change include:

• Incorporating threaded discussion into the initial classroom discussion when introducing new vocabulary for students' electronic notebooks.
• Setting aside time for students to revisit their notebook so they can collaborate with classmates and so they can also "add to" their slides.

Marzano's approach to teaching academic vocabulary is current Best Practice and I think my integration of technology into the approach improves student learning, so I am committed to making my wicked problem project part of my regular curriculum.  This is the essence of TPACK.

Part C - Implementation - Wicked Problem Project

Part B – Application of TPACK to the Wicked Problem

The TP Knowledge for the Solution
The teaching strategies and methods I ‘ve chosen for my wicked problem project include the six-step process for teaching new vocabulary identified by Marzano and Pickering in Building Academic Vocabulary. Using a web browser, presentation software, and a projector with screen or interactive white board would enable teachers to find or create video or computer images to help students visualize the meaning of the vocabulary term. (Step 1 of 6)
Students would use presentation software like Prezi, SlideShare, PowerPoint, or GoogleDocs to create their electronic academic vocabulary notebook. They would also use drawing program software when they wanted or needed to draw an illustration for the notebook rather than finding one. (Steps 2 & 3 of 6)
On-line dictionaries and thesauruses would be used to aid students in adding clarification to their vocabulary words by adding a list of synonyms or antonyms, listing related vocabulary, or adding an additional picture or graphic. (Step 4 of 6)
A threaded discussion model would work well for having students discuss the vocabulary with each other. (Step 5 of 6)

PowerPoint templates for Jeopardy, Hollywood Squares, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Wheel of Fortune, Bingo, The $25,000 Pyramid, and Password will be used for involving students in vocabulary games for additional practice with the terms. (Step 6 of 6) This table outlines the six-step process and how I’m incorporating technology in each step to make the process more effective and engaging.

The TC Knowledge for the Solution

The technology makes the content in my problem more intellectually accessible because pictures and graphics present powerful visual information that increase students understanding of sometimes abstract or confusing vocabulary. Also, students would not always be able to come up with lists of synonyms, antonyms, or related words on their own. The use of an on-line thesaurus or dictionary would aid in this aspect of six-step process. The threaded discussion makes the content more intellectually accessible to students who do not like to speak up in the classroom setting. Students who rarely volunteer anything are often much more willing to share via the "written" word in a classroom setting.


The PC Knowledge for the Solution

The pedagogical strategies I have chosen to follow for this problem make the content more accessible to students because the strategies are engaging, collaborative, and represent "best practice" in the field of content specific vocabulary instruction. Students construct meaning of the vocabulary by describing terms in their own words.  Using non-linguistic representations helps many learners "get" the content. Also because we are using a six-step approach ,scaffolding is "built-in" to the process.