Introduction
It was the fall of 2014 and the Ebola outbreak was spreading rapidly across specific countries in West Africa. In our high school math class students were in front of computers inputting data from the World Health Organization about the number of days, cases and deaths that this horrible disease has caused. Avery, a freshmen, comes up to me with a stern, yet satisfied look of accomplishment on his face.
“What’s up Avery?” I casually asked.
“Mr. Ko, I used exponential functions to predict that Liberia’s population will be wiped out by the summer of 2015.”
“What?!” I replied in disbelief, knowing that there are millions of Liberians that proudly call the West African country their home.
“The growth is exponential, according to the data, and I have a correlation coefficient of 0.89.”
“Okay, let’s check your work and if it looks good start your letter.” I couldn’t believe that Avery figured this out. We were studying linear regression and the tall loquacious student took it a step further and discovered that an exponential function represented the data better than a line.
Avery went on the write to the Ambassador of Liberia to the United States, Ambassador Jeremiah C. Sulunteh. He shared with the honorable diplomat his shocking findings and supported it with corresponding correlation coefficient and coefficient of determination values. These two key terms were the backbone of what our unit aimed to teach students.
Project-based learning provides a springboard for students to explore topics in a variety of ways. However, what does a student like Avery do now? He has demonstrated his knowledge of the key concepts and applied them in a realistic and meaningful way. Avery learned these concepts in three days. There was a week and a half left in the project timeline. What does he do now? While on the other side of the classroom there are students who are struggling with plotting data and haven’t reached the point of using the correlation coefficient or coefficient of determination.
School Context
High Tech High is a charter school located in San Diego, California. Founded in 2000, its core values consist of providing a personalized education for its students that connect to the adult world around them, giving autonomy to teachers in designing learning experiences and giving opportunity for all students to access this type of education.
High Tech High has around 575 students. It operates its admissions through a blind lottery based on the county zip codes, ensuring a diverse student body that reflects our communities. Half of our incoming freshmen class of 160 students come from other High Tech High middle schools. The other half come from a variety of middle schools across the county. We have a special education population around 10% of the student population. The percent various across grade level going as high as 20% and as low as 6%, depending on the class. Our English Language Learner population is less than 20%. We have a free and reduced lunch program where less than 15% of our students participate in.
One of the best known attributes of High Tech High is its pedagogical championing of project-based learning. The commitment to this learning style is a way of life for the students, teachers and administration. Visible projects from years past decorate the walls and ceilings. Art, graphic posters, hands on rotating gears and other indescribable evidences of learning are everywhere.
Needs Assessment
Being new to the school I took time to adapt to the style of teaching project-based learning. As a math teacher I find myself in the middle of a healthy debate within the school. What does the relationship between project-based learning and the subject of mathematics look like? A more progressive way of learning math is on one side, while a more traditional way of teaching math is on the other side. What does this mean for students and their achievement in Math?
Andersen and Ward (2014) surveyed over 20,000 high achieving and ethnically diverse ninth grade students (14% Black, 27% Hispanic, and 59% White) across nearly 1,000 schools in the United States. One of their aims in the study was to see what role math achievement had on the students’ desire to pursue a field in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math. Results from their study found that for African American students, math achievement is an important factor in deciding to pursue those STEM fields. However, White and Hispanic students, no significant factor was found. Another study conducted with university students in Asia looked at the role of project-based learning in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. It was found that students had an increase in attitude toward these subjects (Tseng, Chang, Lou, & Chen, 2013). Whether their achievement level in math was affected as a result of project based learning is unclear.
Having finished my first semester of teaching the students completed three significant projects. These projects served as vehicles as we explored various math topics relating to our curriculum. One project recreated art pieces by using linear Algebra. Students plotted dozens and sometimes hundreds of points that represented important facets and nuances of the art piece. Then they created equations for lines that would connect the points. Graphing these points on an online graphing tool, students were able to recreate the art piece with lines and Algebra. In wrapping up the semester, I gave all my students a survey of the class and any feedback they wanted to give. One of the questions asked them “Name one thing you would improve with class.” Out of the 46 students who returned a survey, 26 of them answered this question. The results for to that question and are in graph one.
“What’s up Avery?” I casually asked.
“Mr. Ko, I used exponential functions to predict that Liberia’s population will be wiped out by the summer of 2015.”
“What?!” I replied in disbelief, knowing that there are millions of Liberians that proudly call the West African country their home.
“The growth is exponential, according to the data, and I have a correlation coefficient of 0.89.”
“Okay, let’s check your work and if it looks good start your letter.” I couldn’t believe that Avery figured this out. We were studying linear regression and the tall loquacious student took it a step further and discovered that an exponential function represented the data better than a line.
Avery went on the write to the Ambassador of Liberia to the United States, Ambassador Jeremiah C. Sulunteh. He shared with the honorable diplomat his shocking findings and supported it with corresponding correlation coefficient and coefficient of determination values. These two key terms were the backbone of what our unit aimed to teach students.
Project-based learning provides a springboard for students to explore topics in a variety of ways. However, what does a student like Avery do now? He has demonstrated his knowledge of the key concepts and applied them in a realistic and meaningful way. Avery learned these concepts in three days. There was a week and a half left in the project timeline. What does he do now? While on the other side of the classroom there are students who are struggling with plotting data and haven’t reached the point of using the correlation coefficient or coefficient of determination.
School Context
High Tech High is a charter school located in San Diego, California. Founded in 2000, its core values consist of providing a personalized education for its students that connect to the adult world around them, giving autonomy to teachers in designing learning experiences and giving opportunity for all students to access this type of education.
High Tech High has around 575 students. It operates its admissions through a blind lottery based on the county zip codes, ensuring a diverse student body that reflects our communities. Half of our incoming freshmen class of 160 students come from other High Tech High middle schools. The other half come from a variety of middle schools across the county. We have a special education population around 10% of the student population. The percent various across grade level going as high as 20% and as low as 6%, depending on the class. Our English Language Learner population is less than 20%. We have a free and reduced lunch program where less than 15% of our students participate in.
One of the best known attributes of High Tech High is its pedagogical championing of project-based learning. The commitment to this learning style is a way of life for the students, teachers and administration. Visible projects from years past decorate the walls and ceilings. Art, graphic posters, hands on rotating gears and other indescribable evidences of learning are everywhere.
Needs Assessment
Being new to the school I took time to adapt to the style of teaching project-based learning. As a math teacher I find myself in the middle of a healthy debate within the school. What does the relationship between project-based learning and the subject of mathematics look like? A more progressive way of learning math is on one side, while a more traditional way of teaching math is on the other side. What does this mean for students and their achievement in Math?
Andersen and Ward (2014) surveyed over 20,000 high achieving and ethnically diverse ninth grade students (14% Black, 27% Hispanic, and 59% White) across nearly 1,000 schools in the United States. One of their aims in the study was to see what role math achievement had on the students’ desire to pursue a field in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math. Results from their study found that for African American students, math achievement is an important factor in deciding to pursue those STEM fields. However, White and Hispanic students, no significant factor was found. Another study conducted with university students in Asia looked at the role of project-based learning in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. It was found that students had an increase in attitude toward these subjects (Tseng, Chang, Lou, & Chen, 2013). Whether their achievement level in math was affected as a result of project based learning is unclear.
Having finished my first semester of teaching the students completed three significant projects. These projects served as vehicles as we explored various math topics relating to our curriculum. One project recreated art pieces by using linear Algebra. Students plotted dozens and sometimes hundreds of points that represented important facets and nuances of the art piece. Then they created equations for lines that would connect the points. Graphing these points on an online graphing tool, students were able to recreate the art piece with lines and Algebra. In wrapping up the semester, I gave all my students a survey of the class and any feedback they wanted to give. One of the questions asked them “Name one thing you would improve with class.” Out of the 46 students who returned a survey, 26 of them answered this question. The results for to that question and are in graph one.
Graph 1
The survey revealed that the students desired more of a challenge in class. This needs assessment led me to reflect on the project-based learning model in the mathematics classroom and ultimately, shaped my research question. Looking forward I want to research what effect project-based learning has on achievement in math. I plan to measure student achievement through a standardized assessment given to all students, student questionnaires, and observations.
Research question:
What effect does project based learning have on student achievement in an Integrated Math I ninth grade math classroom?
Research question:
What effect does project based learning have on student achievement in an Integrated Math I ninth grade math classroom?
- How is student achievement defined and who is measuring it?
- What aspects of a project-based learning environment are conducive or inhibiting to achievement in the high school math classroom?
- What aspects of a more traditional lecture-based learning environment are conducive or inhibiting achievement in the high school math classroom?