Julia Callaghan, EDAC 634 Assignment 2 – Andragogy
Project Title: Getting college math students started with Desmos
Goal: The goal of this self-directed workshop is to introduce incoming college math students to the functionalities and usefulness of the free online scientific calculator available at desmos.com.
Objectives: By participating in this workshop, students will:
· Reflect on their attitude and level of confidence using calculators
· Learn how to access and use the online desmos scientific calculator
· Practice formatting various mathematical expressions in the desmos scientific calculator
· Determine whether they will use the desmos scientific calculator in their college math course
Rationales:
· Self-directed learning will be the framework for this workshop. The goal of this workshop is for adults to become familiar with and comfortable using a new technology, and the self-directed strategy is gaining popularity for adults learning new technology (Merriam & Baumgartner, 2020). Adults will practice self-directed learning as they develop and gain a new technological skill.
· This workshop is intended for the Stage 1: Dependent Learner from Grow’s Staged Self-Directed Learning model (Merriam & Baumgartner, 2020). Many of the adult learners I work with at the technical college start out with low self-confidence using calculators. I would classify them as being at Stage 1, having low self-direction and needing more guidance on what to do. This workshop, designed to be completed independently, provides enough structure to help emerging adult learners become more self-directed in their learning, thus promoting the autonomy crucial in advancing to further stages of self-directed learning.
· Reflecting on individual learning and evaluating outcomes are key parts of self-directed learning (Merriam & Baumgartner, 2020). Students should take inventory of the effectiveness of the workshop and consider the personal impact of this learning activity.
Design:
Component | Activity |
Module 1: Pre-reflection | This is an open-ended reflection to help learners self-assess where they are at with calculator use entering college. Here are a few questions to get students thinking… · What do you hope to gain from this workshop? · How confident do you feel about using a calculator in your upcoming math class? · What type of calculator have you used before? · What might be the benefits of using a free online calculator? · What might be the drawbacks? |
Module 2: Video | Watch this short video demonstrating the basic functions of the desmos scientific calculator: https://video.link/w/VRag |
Module 3: Practice | · Use the following link to access the desmos scientific calculator: https://www.desmos.com/scientific · Work through the problems on this worksheet to practice the functions and formatting on the desmos scientific calculator: desmos practice.pdf |
Module 4: Post-reflection | This is an open-ended reflection to get students to evaluate their learning and whether they found the workshop to be worthwhile. Here are a few questions to get students thinking… · How confident do you feel using the desmos scientific calculator for basic math problems? · Consider whether this will be a useful tool in your upcoming college math course. Will you use desmos, or do you plan to explore different calculators? · Are there more resources you plan to seek out in order to improve your calculator skills? |
Connection between activities and andragogy:
By signing up for this workshop, students have recognized a learning need in themselves and are being proactive in their pursuit of learning a new technological skill. The instructor involved in a self-directed learning activity can be effective by securing resources and promoting critical thinking through reflective learning activities (Hiemstra, 1994). The pre-reflection portion of the workshop is designed to set learning goals and assess readiness to learn, which are considered to be part of the self-directed learning process (University of Waterloo Centre for Teaching Excellence n.d.). The post-reflection portion is designed to help students reflect and evaluate the usefulness of this technology as well as encourage them to seek out additional resources on their own. With the target learners being Stage 1: Dependent Learners, the hope is for them to complete the worksheet (and workshop as a whole) independently so they can build the skills necessary for deeper, more sophisticated self-directed learning in the future.
References:
Hiemstra, R. (1994). Self-directed learning. In T. Husen & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Education (2nd ed.). Oxford: Pergamon Press. https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/pl3p/Self-Directed%20Learning.pdfLinks to an external site.
Merriam, S.B., & Baumgartner, L. (2020). Learning in adulthood (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
University of Waterloo Centre for Teaching Excellence. (n.d.). Self-directed learning: A four-step process. https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/catalogs/tip-sheets/self-directed-learning-four-step-processLinks to an external site.
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