This week, I am sharing another project with you from the Online Group Projects Made Easy series. This project is special because it gives students the opportunity to delve deeper into understanding a concept and then apply that understanding in a mighty way.
So, let me break it down for you.
Team Analysis
Sit back and think of a procedure, a process, or performance that your students could analyze? Of course, it will definitely need to align with your learning outcomes but just think about that for a moment. If you can think of one, then this project may be good for your students.
In a course I teach called Assessment and Evaluation in Early Childhood Education, my students learn all about the legislation that has paved the way for students with disabilities to be served by public schools in inclusive environments. They learn all about the Individual Family Service Plans (IFSP) and the Individualized Education Plans (IEP) that they may one day help develop for students with disabilities.
As a part of the learning process, I ask them to analyze an IFSP for Daisy Duck, a fictitious student, based on a set of criteria. They walk through the document answering about six in-depth questions that I have outlined. They examine every aspect of the document and determine whether it was completely, successfully.
Simulation
Then, I ask them to move on to Phase 2 where they have to simulate being on an IFSP team and filling out the IFSP paperwork from scratch. This phase of the project forces them to apply what they have learned and showcase how well they understand the process.
Every single year, it gets rave reviews because students learn by doing and they get to role-play being a part of an IFSP team step-by-fictitious-step. Now, I know that there “ain’t nothing like the real thing” but it this activity brings them extremely close to it.
Well, stop reading and click on the video below. I would rather dive into it with you for the next 30 minutes. Let me know if you have any questions.
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