Meta Reflection on Instruction

2. The teacher uses questioning and discussion techniques that engage all learners. To meet the needs of all students, a teacher should use instructional practices reaffirmed by research, pose effective questions and provide sufficient wait-times for student response and give assignments and organize activities that cognitively engage learners spanning the range in ability. Moreover, teachers exemplifying research-based and growth-centered teaching practice engage in habitual evaluation and modification of their lessons and their effectiveness to ensure that they meet the needs of all students [1].

                              Video 1. EdTPA Task 2 (engage) Lesson                           

 

 

                               Video 2. EdTPA Task 2 (facilitate) Lesson

In the video segments that show the teacher explaining to students how to complete and interpret a 2x2 Punnett square using parental alleles and calculating genotypic and phenotypic ratios and percentages using those completed Punnett squares, the teacher demonstrates exemplary command of posing questions that elicit higher-order thinking and providing adequate time for students to process questions, analyze information, and provide an answer in response [2]. Throughout the lesson shown in the two video segments, the teacher paces her questioning and explanation to meet the needs of learners spanning the range in ability and patiently waits for students to wrestle with the problem at hand, come up with an answer or solution and correct themselves if necessary [2]. The teacher supports a positive learning environment by affirming correct student responses and redirecting incorrect answers with questions rather than outright stating that a given answer is wrong, assuring students so that they willingly volunteer further insight and perspectives without the fear of being wrong [2]. Along the same lines, teacher accepted all student responses with respect and support, comfortably engaging students in a learning atmosphere of mutual respect wherein students of varying backgrounds feel comfortable with being randomly called upon (00:28-00:40) to volunteer answers—an exchange representative of the high expectations the teacher has for their students [5]. For example, the second video segment shows the teacher suggesting to students to look at their notes (00:00-00:30) since the definition of genotype and phenotype are “part of their vocabulary,” challenging students to engage and be prepared for questioning and giving all students—even those that struggle more with the learning material—an equal opportunity to participate in the learning process [3]. In the second video segment, the teacher’s classroom management demonstrates the reciprocal state of trust and respect the teacher and students have for each other: the teacher trusts in the students’ capability to think for themselves and regulate their own response after being notified that someone is indeed trying to speak and the students respect for classroom in that they immediately stop talking when asked (00:00-00:23) to let a fellow student properly volunteer her answer [4].

According to Pressley & McCormick in Child and Adolescent Development for Educators, expert on cognitive development Jean Piaget stresses that students must be “active participants” in their own learning, discovering knowledge in learning environments “conducive to student exploration” (2007, pp. 68-69). The teacher shows regard for such a learning environment in the first video segment when they prompt the students (03:20-03:29) to analyze the genotype designation for homozygosity in dominance and interpret the meaning of “homozygous” to predict the genotype labeling for the homozygous recessive state, and, when a student correctly provides an answer, they ask a probe (03:45-03:55) that prompts the students to evaluate the genotype terms for heterozygosity of alleles based on the concept of homozygosity [4]. Another instance in which teacher uses higher cognitive level of questioning to guide students toward expanding upon and justifying their thinking can be found in the second video segment, in which the teacher prompts (04:10-04:24) the students to think about allelic dominance in analyzing a completed Punnett square to realize that dominant alleles have phenotypic dominance [5]. During the lesson, there are some instances—missed opportunities—in which the teacher chooses to “tell” rather than let the students discover the answer themselves: when the teacher walks through the calculation of common ratios from completed 2x2 Punnett squares to the percentages of quarters to dollars (06:00-06:29) in the second video, she poses questions and immediately answers her own questions rather than wait for the students to arrive at each answer themselves. Although the students show that they follow the authentic parallel she conveyed when they answer her question (06:27-06:30) about how many quarters there are in a dollar, teacher could have, instead, slowed down and allowed students the chance to calculate and fully understand the meaning of ratio/percentage solved for a 2x2 Punnett square when applying their understanding of the comparison to money [6]. In this way, students are given the chance to practice solving the problem at their own pace, and engage in the higher-order thinking processes of analysis [5].

The two instances in the shown in the lesson on 2x2 Punnett squares in genetics demonstrates that the teacher exemplifies command of stimulating student engagement and motivation to think about the content at the higher cognitive thinking levels of analysis and evaluation and providing an adequate amount of time to allow for student to discover knowledge at their own pace and fully own their learning [5].

References

Crawford, J. [John Crawford]. (2014, Nov 13). EdTPA Task 2 (engage) Lesson 2. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoaEaA2m-g8&spfreload=1.

Crawford, J. [John Crawford]. (2014, Nov 13). EdTPA Task 2 (facilitate) Lesson 2. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_1pntnwkNs. 

Pressley, M. & McCormick, C. B. (2007). Child and Adolescent Development for Educators. New York, NY: Guilford Press.