LearningFest @ Hillgrove SS 2012

1. LearningFest@Hillgrove SS2012 Humanities Department Geography Presentation

2. Rationale • Through a trigger activity, we allow students to experience cooperative learning • Acquisition of new knowledge through an inquiry-based learning approach • Bridging the new Geography Syllabus 2013

3. Objectives Research Lesson Objective • To develop their interactive and presentation skills Lesson Objectives • To describe some of the impacts of extreme weather (negative impacts) • To come up with possible solutions to manage these impacts • To describe how man can make use of the weather to create energy (positive impacts)

4. Class Profile • Secondary One Express class • Middle ability level • Prior knowledge • Different elements of weather • Different climate types of different regions

5. Why this topic • Weather is a topic which is easy to grasp • This section of the topic is easier for teachers to push students’ learning and analytical skills • Allows for students to learn beyond the textbook

6. The Lesson (Part One) • The different groups were supposed to read their respective articles. • The articles ranged from weather disasters such as floods and natural forest fires, to the uses of weather elements as a form of energy. • Each group was given a unique set of guiding questions to help them create their presentation on the butcher sheets • Some articles may be similar but the guiding questions will be different so that each presentation is different and students can learn something new at each presentation

7. The Lesson (Part Two) • Each member of the group has a different role. Leader/Presenter 1, Presenter 2, Timekeeper and Logistic Personnel • After all presentations are done, the presentations will be put up at the various locations in the classroom and Presenter 1 will present to the rest of the class • After 10 minutes of the gallery walk, Presenter 1 will swap with Presenter 2 so that Presenter 1 may move around to listen to other groups’ presentation

8. Videos of Lesson • Beginning • Progress • Final Product

9. The Gallery Walk • Each student was given 2 stickers • After listening to all their presentations, they are supposed to paste their stickers on presentations • This allows for peer assessment based on: • Aesthetics • Informative (one which you have learnt the most from) • This would also motivate the groups to try to create a more informative and aesthetically pleasing presentation • Limited to one per presentation (similar to the ‘Like’ function on Facebook)

10. Classroom Observation • Students were very engaged in the lesson • They actively participated in their discussions • They were also able to organize and present their information on the butcher sheet • With the information they had acquired, the presenters were able to highlight the main points of their discussion • However, there were a few students who were a little more restless and were not focused on the discussion and required teacher to go over to direct their focus back to the task

11. Post-lesson Data • Students’ response – Survey Findings • 90% of the students enjoyed the lesson • 88% would like to have more of such lessons and felt that they learnt better in this lesson • 88% also felt they would like more groupwork • Assessment results • For the relevant component, students from this class did slightly better than other classes, scoring an average of 12/15, as compared to 9/15 in the test

12. Reflection • Students were able to come up with quality interaction and work • However, more time had to be given for interaction • Students were able to resolve most of their conflicts by themselves • More authority had to be given to the leader of the groups to control its members in terms of discipline

13. Conclusion • Cooperative learning was useful for the students’ learning • The lesson was more interesting than just lecture style and rote learning, hence students found it easier to remember • Teachers should allocate more time for such activities to enhance students’ learning

14. Implication and Future plan • With the change in the Geography Syllabus for upper secondary students in 2013, the ability to work cooperatively in groups would be more salient • Fieldwork component where students have to work together in groups to do their field studies • More group work in lower secondary so that they will get used to working in groups • One group work per topic?