GregAugustyn

Greg Augustyn was born and pretty much raised in Jupiter, not the planet but the town in southern Florida. At age 16, his father moved the family to Vernon, Connecticut for his job. While attending Rockville High School, Greg had a teacher named Ms. O’Brien. She was his biology and chemistry teacher. Her positive attitude and love for the job made him realize that he wanted to become a science teacher. Greg graduated from Rockville High School in 2003, and then started his undergraduate degree at the University of Connecticut. After the first semester at UConn, he transferred to Central Connecticut State University, which is where Greg obtained his undergraduate degree in 2008. The summer after graduation he acquired a position at Vernon Center Middle. Currently, he is in his third year as an eighth grade science teacher. As an eighth grade science teacher, Greg introduces his students to chemistry and physics. He stays very involved in his school by coaching the boys’ soccer team, directing the research workshop in Bermuda, and running the VCMS staff club. This is his third class in the graduate program at Central Connecticut State University, and he is very excited to continue to learn more about educational technology.








 * e-Learning: Promise and Pitfalls:**

I believe in the topic on page 19, Is e-learning Better? Media Comparison Research, the author will provide evidence that in general people learn better through electronic means. This may include the internet, virtual classrooms (synchronous e-learning), and software designed for self-paced individual study (asynchronous e-learning). It is my prediction that evidence will show that e-learning is more effective than classroom teaching. It is my feeling that learners would be best served with a combination of e-learning and classroom instruction. If used properly they can do a great job of complimenting each other to provide the learner with the best educational experience.

My prediction was not correct. Based on the reading before page 19, I assumed that the next three pages would be giving large amounts of evidence that supports e-learning over face-to-face instruction. Instead, the research showed that "it's not the delivery medium, but rather the instructional methods that cause learning." I completely agree with that logic. The quality of the instructor is what is going to determine the level of instruction. If an instructor plans a poor lesson than it is not going to make a difference if that lesson is given electronically or in person. On the other hand, an instructor that takes into account his or her audience and spends time planning can be effective using any delivery medium. As I mentioned previously in my prediction, I feel that the best educational experience is obtained by using a variety of teaching methods. In my experience, learners do a great job of understanding information and concepts when the instructor uses a combination of different delivery medium.

Response to Greg: I would have to agree with you - the best educational experience is indeed one obtained by using a variety of teaching methods. If the instructional methods are sound, organized and appropriate a student can learn regardless of the delivery medium. (Luisa)

Greg, I also thought there would be evidence given to support CBI. However, as the article stated and you pointed out as long as it is good instruction the method can go either way. (Ellen)

** ID Plan for Teaching Motion ** ** By: Greg Augustyn **

The students in my eighth grade science classes struggle to understand the concepts of motion. These basic concepts are essential because many of them are needed in future topics. Previously in the year, the students scored an average of 91.67% on their end of the unit assessments. Unfortunately, these same students scored an average of 79.33% on the end of the unit assessment for motion. In order for the students to learn the concepts of motion there will be various teaching methods. To get the students excited about the topics there will be an interesting activity to begin the presentation. Also, it is important to have interesting graphics, animations, and video clips to keep the students engaged. The students will be completing hands-on activities to practice the skills they will be learning throughout the presentation. For the students to calculate various speeds, velocities, and accelerations they will need calculators and timers. Also, the project will need a computer and LCD projector. The audience for the project will be five of my eighth grade science classes from Vernon Center Middle School. In those five classes, I have 92 students. There are 49 male students and 43 female students. Their ages range from 13-16 years old. The classes include two honors-level, two college-level, and one remedial-level. Students from Vernon come from diverse economical and racial backgrounds. My audience will include multiple students with learning disabilities.
 * 1. The Problem: **
 * 2. The Need: **
 * 3. The Audience: **

The students will: · be able to differentiate between speed and velocity. · be able to calculate various speeds. · be able to calculate various velocities. · be able to calculate various accelerations. · be able to identify the proper units used for motion. · be able to identify the different ways an object can accelerate. In this project, the students will learn various types of information about motion. They will need to have a solid foundation before they can begin applying the information. Therefore, the students will have to understand definitions, formulas, proper units, etc. Then they will transfer that knowledge and apply it. This will lead to a deep comprehension of these concepts. In order for all of my students to understand the concepts of motion, I must use numerous instructional strategies. These will include animations, drill and practice, simulations, lab activities, brochures, minute papers, and quizzes. If there were extra time I would reinforce the concepts to the students by having them create their own motion lab. For this activity I would need access to PowerPoint, Keynote, and the Internet. Also, this project will need a class set of laptops and an LCD projector. I will use this project at approximately the mid-year point. The first half of the eighth grade science curriculum at Vernon Center Middle School is chemistry. This project would be a great way to start the beginning of physics and the second half of the year. This project is very important because these concepts will lay the foundation for their knowledge of physics. The students will have an easier time understanding future topics in physics, such as forces, friction, Newton’s Laws, work and power, and Bernoulli’s principle.
 * 4. Objectives: **
 * 5. Content: **
 * 6. Instructional Strategies: **
 * 7. Additional Materials: **
 * 8. Program Use: **

To evaluate the success of the program, I will accurately answer the following questions: · Did the students’ understanding of motion improve as a result of the project? · Are all the students making accurate motion calculations? · Has the project made the students more confident in applying this knowledge? · Was the project given the time it needed to succeed? · Were the right materials used for this project? · Did the audience analysis have enough detail for the project? The students will do a research assignment to learn about the scientists that have contributed to the world’s understanding of motion.
 * 9. Evaluation: **
 * 10. Appendix: **


 * Bloom's Digital Taxonomy for the Motion Project: **


 * Remembering:**


 * How it is used:** for my project the students will have to remember definitions and formulas on different slides.
 * Additional digital tools**: "searching or googling"- if there is time I would like the students research information about scientists that have made contributions to the concepts of motion.


 * Understanding:**

How it is used**: the students will be asked questions during the slides to see if they can summarize or rephrase the previous information. An example question, "why is it important to know an certain object's velocity and not just their speed." Also, the students will be taking a quiz that I created on goggle docs to further their understanding.** Additional digital tools: **"categorizing and tagging"- I can give the students different webpages or slides that I create that have objects' speed, velocity, or acceleration. Based on their understanding of the proper units they would need to classify the information given as a speed, velocity, or acceleration.**


 * Applying:**


 * How it is used:** the students will be applying their understanding of the different motion formulas to solve word problems on different slides. They will need to know how to calculate speed, velocity, and acceleration by understanding what information needs to be plugged into the formulas. Also, the students will be choosing a motion lab to complete. And the only way to successfully collect accurate data for the lab will be to apply their understanding of motion.
 * Additional digital tools:** "playing"- I am in the process of looking for interesting motion games that the students can play online. Students go home and play video games for hours, it makes sense to have them play games that can further their understanding of motion.


 * Analyzing:**

How it is used: the students will be analyzing their motion data at the end of the labs. They will be doing this be answering questions that require the students to break the information down and see how it can be related different concepts. The students will be creating their own data tables and graphs electronically. Also, these questions have the students differentiate the data and see how it relates to the purpose of the lab.
 * Additional digital tools:** "mashing"- since the students will collect a lot of data to further their understanding of motion they can put it into a single source. This could be a digitally created graph that will interpret and illustrate the whole class's data that they collected from the lab.


 * Evaluating:**


 * How it is used:** the students will be given the opportunity to look over their lab partners responses to the conclusion questions at the end of the lab. Hopefully, the lab partner with the strongest understanding of the concepts in motion will be able to find help their lab partners make the appropriate corrections. This also leads into student led teaching, which I have found to be a very beneficial resource. Students seem to stay more focused and absorb more information when it comes from one of their peers.
 * Additional digital tools:** "posting"- instead of having the conclusion questions on a piece of paper it would be interesting to put them on a discussion board. Then I could still have some of the stronger leaders facilitate the discussion board. This could do a better job of keeping the students' attention focused on motion.


 * Creating:**


 * How it is used:** I will be having the students use what they have learned about motion to create their own lab. I will tell them that their objective is to further the understanding of motion for third or fourth graders. Then they will have to create their own motion lab using PowerPoint or Keynote. They will need to think of all aspects of a lab, such as a problem statement, procedure, conclusion questions, etc. When I have done this in the past it has been very successful. The students get very creative. Also, I tell them that I will send the labs that were done well to one of the local elementary schools to actually try it out.
 * Additional digital tools:** "directing and producing"- I could have the students create a video that would lead the third or fourth graders though the lab that they have created. This should help keep the attention of the elementary students as well as the attention of the middle school students that are creating the lab.