Facilitator Reflection

Reflect on the impact of the project on students' learning experiences and engagement levels. How did the project empower students to take ownership of their learning?

Dr. Johnson presented an extremely open-ended project. She asked the students to identify a real-world problem within their community and propose possible solutions. By doing this, she gives them options to select a real-world problem that interests them. She allows them to choose a topic they care about instead of an assignment where everyone has to write about the same thing. They get to decide what platforms to use and what subjects to research. This will help them to think deeper and not just go through the motions. By having students work in groups, she is helping to teach them communication and collaboration. This will also make them more engaged in the project because each person will need to contribute for it to succeed. Giving the students free rein to choose their own topic empowers them to take ownership of their learning.

Personally, I am not a big fan of open ended projects. It makes me anxious, but I do believe that it is empowering for students who enjoy them. However, for students with anxiety or who are more people pleasing it is more difficult. 

Comments

  1. Ashley Van GiesonAugust 13, 2023 at 7:31 AM

    Teya, Dr. Johnson did do a great job of allowing students to take ownership of their learning. With taking the Facilitator role, Dr. Johnson's students had to brainstorm and problem solve how to take action. They were given guidance as to what was expected. However, students had to decide how to tackle the assignment. Having this as a group project is much deeper than it seems when it comes to collaboration. Students had to learn how to agree to disagree. For example, some students in the group might find homelessness as the most important, but some may think access to water is important. This issue that might arise is up to the students to figure out how to make a decision.

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  2. Daija PlanasAugust 13, 2023 at 12:53 PM

    Hey Teya, I agree the project that Dr. Johnson give is empowering in the ways you mentioned like them being able to choose and not everyone doing the same thing. It can be stressful for others because you can unsure what the teacher truly expects, maybe if she gave a list of subjects and a rubric its still structured for the anxious students but open for the other students.

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  3. Willis AllenAugust 13, 2023 at 4:08 PM

    Hey Teya! I agree with you that students were empowered by having the autonomy to choose. This allows students to learn different things from their peers. Just like you, open-ended assignments made me really anxious. I never knew what to do! I feel a little differently now that I have found a comfortable medium to use for my own assignments.

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  4. Keegan GlennAugust 13, 2023 at 4:52 PM

    Hello Teya, I like how you pointed out the collaboration aspect of this lesson. When initially going over the hypothetical case study I did not connect the dots that Dr. Johnson is actually combining multiple ITSE standards by promoting both collaboration and facilitation. I think this is important for the success of the lesson as it will challenge kids to compromise and expand their horizons instead of simply choosing a project they feel comfortable with.

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