Week 4 (We're Halfway Through Already? Midterm Project and Creating an Assessment Toolbox)11/13/2015 This week has been a whirlwind of assessment information, focusing on authentic assessment that makes students' experiences meaningful. One way to encourage meaningful learning for students is to use the jigsaw technique. Jigsaw groups are one way to help establish meaningful peer collaboration, as each group member explores a specific area of a broader topic/theory and then educates the other group members of the findings. Group participants then compile the work into a final product that each person has had a major role in creating. By using jigsaw groups, members act as teams and work together to produce a fully-developed paper or project. According to “Amador and Mederer’s “Migrating Successful Student Engagement Strategies Online: Opportunities and Challenges Using Jigsaw Groups and Problem-Based Learning,” “Research on the jigsaw method of peer learning suggests that students can benefit more from the jigsaw group approach to learning than they might benefit from trying to master each topic by themselves, because each can focus her/his expertise; subsequent discussion centers more on overlapping themes among topics and leaves time for higher-order comparisons and critical thinking” (90). That "higher-order" critical thinking definitely helps us remember what we are asking students to do and why . . . think Bloom's taxonomy. Benefitting from approaches, like the jigsaw, is exactly what I experienced this week. By working with my group mates, we were able to educate one another about the various pros and cons of three different electronic assessments: Google Apps, Twitter, and Pathbrite (you can see the entire project here.) I selected Pathbrite, which is an electronic portfolio for students to use. They can do many things from creating a resume portfolio with pictures, links, and videos, to working on a more class-specific portfolio as I envision for my use. I can imagine students using Pathbrite to chart the course of their writing process and also use it as a reflection tool to work through how they can become stronger. As the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) states, portfolios can benefit students in a number of ways:
Works Cited Amador, Jose A., and Helen Mederer. "Migrating Successful Student Engagement Strategies Online: Opportunities and Challenges Using Jigsaw Groups and Problem-Based Learning." MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching 9.1 (2013): 89-105. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching. Mar. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2015. CCCC Taskforce on Best Practices in Electronic Portfolios. "Principles and Practices in Electronic Portfolios." NCTE Comprehensive News. NCTE, Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
1 Comment
Donelle
11/17/2015 04:36:57 am
Lisa, I think the most powerful component of the jigsaw is not only educating other group members with the research and information that you have found within your specific area but also being able to learn about other topics from peers using a summarizing approach. Its like completing in-depth research without having to complete it all yourself and having peers to work through misunderstanding..collaboration at its best!
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Lisa FitzgeraldHi, my name is Lisa, and I am an English professor at a community college in Southern California. This blog is my way of tracking my progress in my Assessment in E-Learning course (EDUC 762) for the University of Wisconsin, Stout's E-Learning and Online Teaching Graduate Certificate program. Archives
December 2015
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