Chemistry Lesson Plan Justification - Assignment Example

Justification of the Chemistry Lesson Plan and Concept Map After of the Lesson Plan I got some more valuable inputs in the form of feedback from the tutor. While at some places there were complements for being able to identify the issue in an objective manner, there were couple of other places where some suggestions were provided to further improvise the lesson plan and the concept map. Accordingly I took care of those suggestions and modified the lesson plan. Here are the justifications for the modifications for the Chemistry Lesson Plan based on the feedback. 1. Tutor’s Comment about the Lesson Plan Heading: ‘Pretty Massive, break it down Initially, I had put the lesson plan heading as, ‘Acids and Bases and the Importance of pH factor in defining the properties of the matter. But after going thru the comments I realised that the heading is indeed quite broad and indicative of encompassing a wide range of topics. Though quite relevant one, but for a 60-90 minute class we need to have a more focused topic. Therefore, I changed the topic to, ‘Describe the use of pH scale in comparing the concentrations of acids and alkalis’. In addition, the prepared lesson plan appeared quite comprehensive; therefore I changed the duration of the lesson plan also to 90 minutes from 60 minutes. I do realise the fact that it might become a tiring experience for students to be attentive for a full one and half hours, but the fact that there are some interesting and interactive experiments within the lesson, will help in sustaining the interest of students all this while. 2. Tutor’s Comments regarding the Lesson Objective and Key Concepts/ Ideas: ‘A lot of content for 60 minutes. Perhaps leave 2-3 points’ In this case also, initially my effort was to demarcate the outcomes in an objective manner. So I included a total of 5 points under the head ‘objectives’ and seven points under the head ‘Key concepts/ ideas’. But the feedback made me realise that, with more points the lesson might give a lengthier look, which may result in putting off the students in the initial stages itself. Therefore in the revised lesson plan I included only three objectives viz. i. Understanding the pH factor ii. Differentiating between acidic, basic and neutral substances iii. Carrying out experiments for identifying the properties of substances For the key concept/ ideas also I reduced the number to just three. These three points appeared to have the reflection of other four points as well. The three key concepts included; i. pH factor ii. Acid, base and neutral substances iii. Basic or alkaline substances It certainly helps to be objective in order to grab the attention of students and make them feel comfortable. Ridley (2004) came out with the assertion that in order to overcome the differences in expectations existing between them, the teacher and students must have a minimum level of sensitivity and understanding towards each other. This is stated to be of particular importance in the beginning of an academic programme or while teaching a new concept. Therefore, too many points might give them a feeling of an overdose for the day. But it must be taken into consideration while we try to explain the ideas to the students we will have to be aware of some related topics as well. 3. Tutor’s Comment regarding the PFA: ‘Refer to PFA in Syllabus, pages 16-21 of Chemistry Syllabus The Prescribed Focus Area (PFA) actually draws a tentative outline for the teacher about the topics and elaborations being made in the class. It has been prepared on the basis of the requirement of the students as well as on the ability and calibre of the teachers. In this case also, the PFA provided the basic outline for the chemistry class. My initial PFA was, ‘Important of the pH factor in describing the chemical properties of substances and its impact on society and the environment’. I thought it might prove to be a contemporary focus area as a lot of attention is being paid to have a sustainable environment around us. Nonetheless, while revisiting the notes regarding the PFA on pages 16-21, I found room for some fine tuning in line with the syllabus of stage-6 chemistry syllabus and accordingly the changes were made to make it more catchy and relevant. 4. Tutor’s Comments on the actual Plan: a. In the Opening Remarks section some grammatical mistakes were pointed out b. In the ‘Teacher Action’ section tutor asked, ‘How will you give info about the pH factor to students?’ In addition the tutor, while complementing on the choice of the content regarding the difference in pH factors of different substances, asked ‘how will you provide this to the class’? c. In the teacher action section itself while appreciating the content the tutor asked, ‘How are you communicating this to the students?’ d. In the student centred activities, tutor asked ‘How will you encourage the students to come out with their own observations and examples’. e. In the resources section the tutor appreciated the choice of items that will be required for the duration of this lesson plan The grammatical mistake was of course promptly corrected. We changed this to suggest and carry out a method using a pH meter/probe and listed indicators that will allow the determination of the pH of a range of acidic, basic and neutral chemicals which will be unknown to the students. In order to communicate the fact that, ‘there’s no fine dividing line between acidic and alkaline substances’ we added couple of experiments in the revised lesson plan to elaborate on the similarity and differences amongst acids and alkaline substances. These experiments are taken from our daily routine subject matters which will certainly be able to communicate the intended message to the students. Staver (2007) contends that, ‘students must learn how to do scientific inquiry and use scientific information to make decisions that will affect their personal lives, careers, and societies.” The point, ‘encouraging students to come out with their own sets of observations and examples’ was further elaborated with some practical examples, because when the student is able to correlate with the happenings around him. This will help in making the class little more interactive. While comparing the intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors for students it is found that many students respond more favourably towards external arrangements. Such extrinsic motivation is of great importance for generation of interest because increasing numbers of students expect their university to fit around their lives rather than vice versa (McInnis, 2003). Well, there are analysts who have come out with the suggestion that in higher education, intrinsically motivated student happens to be more studious because of their interest in studies per se rather than for an instrumental reason (Fazey and Fazey, 2001). Therefore in this lesson plan an effort has been made to adopt a balancing approach. 5. Tutor’s comment regarding the student centric activity in the Main Body of the lesson plan: While appreciating the explicit instructions being provided to the students, the tutor commented that the experiment being used is ‘a very stage 4-5’. Well, this is indeed a stage-6 lesson plan and after receiving the feedback I made some changes in this section as well. In the final lesson plan another interesting activity resulting in ‘acid rains’ was included. In fact in my opinion such experiments are very common in chemistry labs all over the world. The stages of students might differ to some extent, but in general, such simple yet interesting experiments help in holding on to the attention of the students. Moreover, when the student finds that an experiment being carried out by him/her is actually making the difference, s/he feels somewhat more inclined to go deeper into the subject and such practical learning leaves an indelible mark on the student. This helps the students in preparing a long lasting picture which they can recall whenever they come across with the topic. Bullock and Wikeley (2008) states that, “Structure, reinforcement and capability are needed to build up a true picture.” Such capability is required from both the participants and the teacher in the process. 6. Tutor’s comments regarding the Le-Chatelier’s Principle: ‘Good, how will you convey this?’ Le Chatelier stated that ‘if an effort is made to destabilise the equilibrium, then the position of the equilibrium also makes a move to counteract the change’. Though it’s a simple principle, yet I understood that in order to make things clear, the examples and experiments need to be further elaborated. Accordingly, I made desired changes in the examples and processes, so that the resistance by the equilibrium towards a change becomes clear. 7. Tutor also advised to use more student centric activities instead of using more of teacher centric activities. I fully understood the spirit behind this advice. This lesson plan is indeed meant for the students to understand some pre-defined scientific concepts and ideas with the help of some theoretical input and experiments. Therefore, I included more experiments in the final lesson plan and tried to reduce the role of teacher to more of a facilitator than a lecturer. 8. Feedback on the Concept Map The concept map happens to be a diagram depicting the relationship amongst the concepts. It is basically a road map for depicting how as a teacher we are supposed to implement the lesson plan. In this case also the concept map has been used as a graphical tool for depicting the Chemistry Lesson plan. But in the initial submission, the concept map did not include finer details. While minutely analysing the concept map in the light of the feedback, I found that some of the ideas were not properly defined, which leaves room for some confusion. Therefore I made some changes to the diagram with particular emphasis towards; Naming some of the processes like ‘substances =>can be => acidic’ etc. Adding some more terminal balloons to the diagram. This included the identification process of acidic and alkaline substances The neutralisation reaction of acids and alkaline substances was also depicted. As per this reaction when acidic and alkaline substances are mixed it results in production of salt and water. More elaboration on the examples being stated while differentiating between the acids and bases As a result of these changes the concept map became self explanatory. Certainly, a well prepared tool proves to be of big help during the class. But, it is worthwhile here to mention that the concept map as such is a tool which assists the teacher in effectively communicating the concepts to the students. Therefore, how best to use the concept map during the class also depends upon the ability of the teacher in deciphering the concept map and marking the flow of ideas and processes. References: 1. Bullock, Kate and Wikeley, Felicity (2008). Every child should have one: what it means to be a learning guide. Improving Schools, Volume 11 Number 1 March 2008 49–60, Sage Publications. 2. Fazey, Della M. A. & Fazey, John A. (2001). The Potential for Autonomy in Learning: perceptions of competence, motivation and locus of control in ŽFirst-year undergraduate students. Studies in Higher Education Volume 26, No. 3, 2001. 3. McInnis, C. (2003) New realities of the student experience: how should universities respond?, paper presented at the Twenty-fifth Annual Conference of the European Association for Institutional Research, Limerick, Ireland, 24–27 August. 4. Ridley, D. (2004) Puzzling experiences in higher education: critical moments for conversation, Studies in Higher Education, 29(1), 91–107. 5. Staver, John R. (2007). Teaching Science. International Academy of Education. Available online at http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/archive/publications/EducationalPracticesSeriesPdf/Practice_17.pdf (Aug 30, 2009) Read More