Engaging Students Through Capstone Projects 2010

1. Engaging Students Through Capstone Projects 2010 By Kevin Fraker Math Teacher Springfield Northwestern High School www.kevinfraker.com

2. and Nancy Pietras, Executive Director Greater Northwest Ohio Tech Prep Consortium www.techprepnwo.org

3. Our Goals for this Presentation: • Provide Examples of Projects. • Explain the process and philosophy. • Help you start using capstone projects in your classroom or school.

4. House Bill 1 • Calls for Capstone Projects during the senior year. • ODE says the implementation will likely occur in 2013 or 2014. College Tech Prep • Has been doing senior projects since 2000 • Tech Prep projects may be merged with whole school efforts • Tech Prep instructors are a valuable resource as school implement senior projects • Tech Prep senior projects are individual • Section 1 of the Tech Prep Senior Project Manual (page9) has some basic guidelines and timelines that would be helpful

5. OK – Show Me A Project! • Example – Project 1: “How can I cheat my way through this stupid project!”

6. Why I love these projects • Student Choice = Motivation. • Choice of group • Choice of topic • Choice of research sources • Choice of project direction • Choice of analysis tools • Choice of product • Students will amaze you with skills you never knew they had. • High Levels of Thought and Work. • Think of Bloom’s Taxonomy • Think of where students typically end up through traditional direct instruction and assessment.

7. Tech Prep Instructors • Paul Kruthaup – Senior Automotive Teacher from Whitmer High School • Del Kuntz – Senior CADD teacher from Clay High School • Gerald Michael – Senior Engineering teacher from Bowsher High School • Bob Sintobin – Senior Engineering teacher from Toledo Technology Academy • Dawn Thompson – Senior Visual Communications teacher from Clay High School

8. Consider… • What type of teacher you thought you would be when you were young and idealistic.

9. 4 Phases of a Type 1 Project • Research • Plan the Project, Collect Data • Analyze the Data • Create the Final Product

10. Tech Prep Project Components • Research • Process of two resources similar • MLA for Rookies • Project or Process with business mentor • Development of a Portfolio (the evidence) • Presentation

11. Phase 1 - Research • Read written books and magazines – Classroom Library. • Research the topic on the Internet. • Research movies and web videos that are about your topic. • Research your topic on iTunesU. • What laws exist or have been proposed that relate to your topic? • What literature exists that relates to this topic? • What professions relate to this topic? • Interview someone who is an authority in this area. • Document all mathematics used and referred to in your research.

12. Phase 1 - Research

13. Why Standardize? • Management by walking around. • Clear Expectations and communication. • Correcting Poor Performance.

14. Examples for students.

15. Tech Prep Senior Manual • See Section 3: Research Papers on page 21 • Sample forms and rubrics that might be helpful • Rookies Guide to MLA

16. Forms of Standardization • Research Form • Interview Form • Project Proposal • Planning the variables of a good study • Setting up hypotheses • Data Collection • Outline of Information • Data Analysis – based on type of project • Project Proposal • Trial Format • Grading Rubric and Peer Evaluation.

17. Peer Evaluations • After each phase. • Purpose: step in to correct ineffective groups.

18. Moving them toward high levels of thought through divergent questions?

19. The Product or Process: The missing link • Tech Prep utilizes a hands-on approach • We include a demonstration of skills related to researched topic. • Many times the product or process drives what the student researches • Focused on a workplace issues and includes a mentor

20. Phase 2 – Plan Your Project • Brainstorm a list of situation where incentives could impact cheating. Consider all angles of the topic. • Create a scenario that places people in situations where they may cheat to improve their chance of gaining an incentive. Modify the level of incentives to see if it affects the amount of cheating. • Plan the methodology of how you will collect data using the Data Collection Form. Answers must be on a numeric scale. • Administer your scenario to at least 20 volunteers.

21. Phase 2 – Example

22. Phase 3 - Analysis • Create models that illustrate mathematically how the variables in your study are related. • scatter plots • regression equations • correlation calculations • graphs, spreadsheets • percentages, etc. • Make conclusions about the impact of your findings. Back up these conclusions with mathematics. • What are the implications for society, you, your family, our school, etc.?

23. Phase 3 – Example

24. Phase 3 – Example

25. Phase 4 – Final Product • Create a Paper/Presentation that teaches what you learned through the background research, the project goals, methodology, results, and conclusions. • Describe the mathematics upon which your conclusions are based. • Make sure all elements of the rubric are covered. • What suggestions do you have for further and repeated research on this topic? • Note: You may propose a change of product (use the products for multiple intelligence).

26. Phase 4 – Example

27. Student Portfolio • Evidence of work accomplished • Usually a notebook format • Would include final copy of research paper • Mentor information • Pictures of progress or journal • Self-evaluation • Section 6: page 40 has ideas

28. Presentation to Authentic Audience • Section 6: The Presentation Process on page 42 • Tips for format • Speech presentation • Visual aids

29. Grading Rubric • This is a process. • The goal is communication and moving students to high levels of performance.

30. Grading Rubric

31. Topic Selections • Tech Prep Senior Projects have always been done by student selection • Section 2: Topic Selection on page 14 has some ideas and forms that might be helpful

32. Curriculum • Takes about 4 weeks. • Look for redundancies between years. • Look for topics that are not essential for ACT or the next level of mathematics.

33. Other Projects Mock Trial • Darwin was a Fascist! Mathematical Description • Codes and Ciphers Great Explanations • Equations that changed the world: Gravity Favorites • Fox news • Poker

34. Where do these projects come from? • Magazines and Highly rated books. • Time • The New Yorker • Freakonomics • Outliers • Consider the June 28, 2010 issue of Time Magazine. The following describes how easily project ideas can be turned into projects once the process is understood. • On page 6 is a comparison of two business related books. • These books take opposite strategies companies can take on the topic of innovating versus copying the competition. • A group of four students could debate this issue based on reading both books.

35. Where do these projects come from? • On pages 22 through 29 is an article about how the recession is hitting public employees and the various problems caused around the world by debt related to this area of employment. The article describes two economies (public versus private) and offers a plethora of statistics, graphs, and economic analyses. • A group could extend the research aspect of the article, create a comparison of the two economies, and conduct a survey of adults in both sectors to verify the claims made in the article.

36. Where do these projects come from? • On pages 40-43 is an article describing how traditional poker experts are currently losing to players utilizing probability theory. • Students could analyze the probability theory and conduct an experiment to see if utilizing the theories increases a person’s winning percentage.

37. Where do these projects come from? • Page 47 describes the profits created by online penny auctions. • Students could research these auctions and similar auctions to describe how they make money. • Once you become accustomed to the general format described in this book, the projects write themselves.

38. Inclusion • Projects allow the students to complete work to the best of their ability. • Generally, work ethic is the most important element. • The Choice built in lets the students take the projects in areas of their own strength.

39. Cross-Curricular Projects. Each project could have a required element in multiple classes. English • Many projects connect to literature. • Write Persuasive papers, research papers, essays. Social Studies • May projects connect to economics and legislation. • Propose legislation or conduct mock trial. Science • Repeat experiments in a lab setting. • Write lab reports.

40. Where can I learn more? www.kevinfraker.com www.techprepnwo.org Questions?