EDU619: Module 2

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EDU619: Module 1

One Sentence Topic: To evaluate the effectiveness of differentiation and tiering of assignments in teaching high school technology.

Teachers must utilize a variety of techniques to engage students in their content as well as meet their students individual needs. While many instruction methods exist we must first understand how students engage with their learning. A large portion of psychological research in the late twentieth century was uncovering the newly translated research and writings of Vygotsky and his concept of the Zone of Proximal Development(ZPD) (Vygotsky, 1997) . Central to his work is the concept of scaffolding learning, the nature of student interaction with adults and peers, as well as how a students internal dialog informs their learning (Ormrod, 2019, p. 319). Recently an emphasis has been placed on the usage of differentiation as an instructional method in the classroom (Pete, 2018). It’s a method for teachers to meet student needs and actively individualize instruction and engage students in their respective content. This methodology relies on teachers proactively responding to student readiness, interest, and learning profile (Sousa, 2018, p. 10). This paper reflects on these concepts and their effectiveness by using them as a lens to view student engagement and their performance throughout Technology & Engineering Foundations, an introductory course for the Technology Department at High School 1A. The primary focus is on how digital technology effects the sequence of units in the course, its effectiveness for individualization or personalization of learning(Pete, 2018), how it could inform a zone of proximal development for our focus students, and key points where larger scale differentiation and tiering of assignments are involved with guiding student learning. This is all to inform how technology and differentiation should best be utilized in future curriculum or project revisions.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1997). Educational psychology. Boca Raton, FL: St. Lucie Press.

Ormrod, J. E. ​Human Learning ​ . [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134985312/

Pete, R.J.F.G.M.K.B. M. (2018). Unlocking Student Talent: The New Science of Developing Expertise. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780807776674/

Sousa, D. A. Differentiation and the Brain. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781945349539/

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