invite | Design the Shift 2.0

In Summer 2014 60+ teachers came together around the challenge: How might we use instructional design to create effective, engaging and multi-disciplinary learning opportunities for our students? Participants prototyped their projects with their students over the course of the 2014-15 school year.  You can find out more about the summer institute through this Twitter story, or by reading the teachers’ stories in our blog.

This Summer (2015) we invite you to join your colleagues in a unique professional learning experience which nurtures professional growth and enhances your creative confidence to develop and enact engaging and meaningful learning tasks. We invite teachers from all disciplines to collaborate in an effort to bring new opportunities, experiences and inspiration to students.

Details

We are offering two opportunities this summer so as to include our modified calendar teachers. Teachers may choose to attend one or the other, but attendance at one full institute is expected. We need a minimum of 10 teachers for each offering.

August 10 & 11 (Modified teachers return to work August 12)

(We will work collaboratively with this group to find a common date for a third meeting)

9:00am – 4:00pm

Education Centre

August 24, 25, 26 (Traditional teachers return to work August 27)

9:00am – 4:00pm

Education Centre

Outcomes

Each participant will:

• create a multi-disciplinary learning opportunity which invites students into a relevant and meaningful experientially focused learning task which brings fine or practical arts together with academics. Ideally this work will be taken up as part of a team.
• prototype their design with their students in the 2015-16 school year.
• document student voice in making their learning visible through documentation, reflection, sharing and engagement in the design process.
• collaborate with the Summer Institute team in gathering data through surveys, interviews and other means to provide feedback and information about the outcomes of this initiative.

Supports:

Support will be provided by:

• External Expertise and Community Partnerships
• Online and Face to Face environments to connect with your Professional Learning Networks (PLNs)
• System Facilitators for ongoing work
• Release time during the school year for collaborative meetings
• Other supports for project implementation

We hope you will join us in August.  Please let us know by filling out this form. And please pass on this information to others who you think might be interested.

If you have questions, please contact Erin Quinn elquinn@cbe.ab.ca or Tracy Dalton tadalton@cbe.ab.ca.

design thinking summer institute - MidSun School

Using Minecraft to Demonstrate Learning
Kaushik Tailor

Students at MidSun school had the opportunity to incorporate MineCraft in a meaningful interdisciplinary activity.  Our school Design program had purchased MineCraft Edu early last year, and the summer institute gave me the opportunity to mobilize the tasks in the company of my other colleagues.

In the project, students were provided a scenario where our school had won a 15 million dollar grant, and were asked to Design and create a museum that would fit in the back of the school.  The design constraints were the time they had to complete the task, having to create communication structures between the team members, the cost constraint, and the fact that the artifacts had to accurately connect in with their current learning.

The students were excited  to be working with the Minecraft Museum module in my class. It was clear that this made teaching and learning come alive for them.  To explain, were creating 3D functional hydraulic lifts from their learnings in Science Class, walking through 3D Water cycles, illustrating the isolationist policy of Japan from the Social Studies unit, and having fun demonstrating comma splices. Here are examples of some artifacts:

I believe this project sparked discussions in my school and in our school community of practices. Teachers in my school as well as other schools in our community of practice were impressed that students could be engaged with MineCraft and still yield high quality artifacts. What I found really impressive was this was a great hook for both high and low students. It was impressive  to see students that were typically disengaged from traditional classes to be looking at online textbooks to identify and research potential museum artifacts. Many  were accelerating their learning by researching through digital texts to create artifcats.  Students were also coaching one another on the validity/accuracy of the artifacts, and supporting one another. One student in particular had indicated that he had the wrong idea of what a certain concept was (Aquaducts), and he believes his understanding would not have been corrected had it not been for this project.

I believe it was clear that that both my students and I were actively involved in the design cycle. The students had a variety of design and logistical constraints that they had to attend to. As this was a new experience for both the students and the teacher, we had to collaboratively reflect on our work and make necessary adjustments as needed.

Students were sampled and asked to comment on the experience of the task. Students reported that the MineCraft project allowed them to synthesize the learning from the learning in the other classes in a “fun new way” that allowed them to demonstrate learning in a “more manageable medium”.  Other students also noted that by being able to create “things from other subjects” helped them connect understand by being able to “tie together” and “compare” what they “actually learned’.  One student reported that the MineCraft museum helped the student see artifacts from his other subjects  “in a 3D or virtual way”  and helped him see concepts that he “may not have seen”.  I believe this was a good representation of the experiences from the other subjects.  Ultimately, it was clear that students could still have fun working with MineCraft and still have a meaning interdisciplinary opportunity.

Students had to engage in considerations for the Design Studies Occupational Area and had to articulate the CTF outcomes as they collaborative designed, created, and adjusted their museum to meet the needs of the task.

design thinking summer institute - EP Scarlett HS - AP Biology

DIY Biology
Natalie McLeod and Mike McKillop


Our original idea centered around DIY biology and synthetic biology. Similar to the maker space that we visited, there are similar spaces in some cities focused on synthetic biology. We wanted the students to research the ideas around synthetic biology and DIY biology and then write their own proposals. 

The project allowed teachers to let the students explore a very interesting but diverse topic on their own and allow them to focus on their interest. Teachers are unable to keep up with all the rapid developments in field of synthetic biology and this project allowed the students do some of the legwork. We learned a lot from their projects.

For the students, the projects allowed them to develop a number of skills and dispositions that they will be able to further develop in their academic careers. Their understanding of synthetic biology was vastly improved – the general idea of it but for some groups also to a very high level of technical expertise. They saw opportunities for future research as well.  

Some of the most highlighted student findings were:

·        Time management – a project spread out over 4 months and 2 semesters challenged them but also provided opportunities. They really appreciated the small deadlines along the way

·        How difficult creative can be. For many, coming up with initial topic was tough.

·        Learning how to be critical of online materials. Most eventually found academic journals and resources to be most valuable

·        Teamwork

·        Many used Google docs for the first time and found it very powerful

·        Using APA referencing style. Most hated it at first but found it easy to work with after the initial learning curve. They saw the value in it.

·        Having to pitch their project in 5 minutes. Distilling 4 months of work into 5 minutes was challenging but useful. They enjoyed the business aspect of the project as they were competing for funding.

The project stimulated a number of conversations ranging from the nature of scientific inquiry and original research to ethics and environmental issues. These conversations not only occurred in class but also between students as they were working on their projects.

A few weeks after the completion of this project, we observed an unexpected positive outcome of this type of inquiry. During a field study, students were required to develop their own thesis for a snow ecology study and then investigate it with very little preamble. This year, students seemed more at ease with this process than in previous years. 

Having students apply the design process to a project in synthetic biology really had them thinking about the nature of science. It was no longer about the content, the students had to be creative and problem solve using their own knowledge and then search for reputable sources to help them further develop their ideas. Working in teams, they not only worked through technical aspects of synthetic biology but also explored how it could be used to solve environmental or health issues. Topics for the projects ranged from estrogen biosensors, biofuels and disease detection to bioremediation and the breakdown of plastics in the environment.

Students had the time to think deeply about a topic, develop their ideas and learn from their failures. Many for the first time, had to access scientific journals and evaluate current research in a field that they were learning about.

design thinking summer institute - William Aberhart HS

Woodcut Printmaking
Matt Crawley

The original idea was to develop a method for students to take a digital photograph/image and make a multi-layer print using traditional woodcut printmaking methods.  The goal was to use digital technologies to separate the photo into layers and use a CNC machine to carve the woodblocks.

After having the idea of using a CNC machine (computer programmed router) to cut woodblocks for printmaking (and making it much easier to create multi-layered prints), I did some research which led me to a Kansas City based artist named Mike Lyon http://mlyon.com/ .  We ended up exchanging a few emails, which gave me the confidence that students would be capable of this work, and that it is not cheating, but in many ways, expands the learning opportunities exponentially.  I’m grateful for his openness about his process and his support.

In the example shown (Mike Lyon’s “Rod”), the original image has been separated into 16 layers of “luminosity” using Adobe Photoshop (or similar) and then a reverse image woodblock was cut using a CNC router for each layer.  Then each layer gets printed separately on a press using progressively darker shades of ink.  The result is an ink print with photographic qualities. 

For art students, this project exposes them to technologies not traditionally associated with printmaking; however, they certainly have a role to play, and more importantly are widely used in various industries, from graphic arts, to cabinetmaking and machining. 

Sharon Marriott and Lorraine Mageau, the art teachers at William Aberhart High School, have offered great support with the printmaking side of this project, helping to source the right ink and paper to use with the woodblocks and setting the printing press.  To experiment, we made a two layer image from a local historical photograph.  After a lot of trial and error, from Photoshop, to the CNC, to the printing process, we arrived at the right combination of variables to make successful prints.  It has taken a long timeframe of short moments of collaboration.  Sharon and Lorraine are, now, shopping the idea to some of their Art students who they think might be interested in pursuing this as an independent project for their portfolios.  I’m looking forward to seeing what the students do with it.

There is an excellent book, called “Post-Digital Printmaking” that is worth reading for anyone with an interest in this subject.  This links to the chapter on Mike Lyon and his process: http://mlyon.com/2012/post-digital-printmaking/