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INITIATE

Teacher's Lesson Plans

INtroduction

Project Based Learning 

PBL is student-centric and incorporates activity theory as it helps students find solutions to meaningful questions about the world around them. It is supported by technology and collaboration. Typically, a driving question is used to frame the curriculum and drive inquiry. In traditional mathematics classes, students are taught theoretical concepts then asked to apply those concepts to solve problems, which in most cases are not connected with real world activities. PBL satisfies mathematics and science standards by including extensive use of student-directed inquiry and exploration to address a complex topic or problem and shifts responsibility for learning to students. PBL in math results in better student learning outcomes than traditional methods, and raises students’ interests in math. 

PBL results in high levels of student engagement, improved critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and improved collaborative skills. It has shown to increase student achievement, is more effective when teaching STEM subjects, is more effective in creating long-term retention of concepts, and improves students’ ability to integrate and explain concepts than traditional teaching methods. 

PBL components

Elements of PBL

ComputaTional Thinking

One of the pillars of this grant is to make high school students better at Computational Thinking. It helps in solving complex problems or approaching it from a different perspective. It involves logic, assessment, patterns, automation, and generalization for solving a posed problem. To guide professional development using PBL these lesson plans aim to make grade 9-12 science teachers capable of integrating Computational Thinking into their teaching. Activities using the GoPiGo is used as a mechanism to engage  students from grades 9-12 and incorporate computational thinking in their curriculum.

INITIATE'S PROJECT

INITIATE combines multiple theories (the fusion of activity theory, social constructivist learning theory, and project-based learning) to form its conceptual framework or approach to address this concern. The Overarching Driving Question of the project stands as “How will autonomous vehicles affect people with disabilities in our society?”. Various types of lesson plans were designed to address different aspects of this question. The structure of this project along with the lesson plans is given below.

TEACHERS LESSON PLANS

These lesson plans were created by the teachers after Summer Institute. There is a good mix of Mathematics and CTE lesson plans, which were successfully implemented in an in-person classroom by high-school teachers. 

Last Updated: 6/27/22