SCHOOL OF EDUCATION 

 

Senior Project

 

During your student teaching assignment you will complete a senior project.  The purpose of this project is to help you continue to understand the teaching/learning process and to demonstrate your skills and abilities as a teacher.

 

Your project will involve teaching a unit, which will include planning, teaching, assessing, evaluating learning and teaching, and reflecting on the teaching/learning process.

 

Completion of the Senior Project is a requirement for graduation and licensure through the School of Education at Utah Valley University.

 

Directions and scoring guides are included. Suggested page lengths are also included with each section.

 

 

General Format for all responses:

              Start a new page for each section

Please use bold headings for each section in your responses

12-point font

Font: Similar to Times New Roman or Garamond

Single Space -- Double space between paragraphs

Include graphics and or charts where requested

 

 

1.  Contextual Factors

 

Discuss relevant issues regarding the student population of your class and how these may affect the teaching-learning process. In your paper discuss:

• Community/district, school, and classroom factors and how this information will help me plan my instruction.
  • Geographic location, description of the community and school population.
  • Socio-economic profile (main type of employment, number of students on free or reduced price lunch); race/ethnicity, other cultural considerations of the community.
  • Classroom and school factors such as room/building arrangement, availability of learning resources, technology, classroom/school rules, grouping patterns, scheduling, etc.

 

• Student characteristics
  • Age, gender, race/ethnicity, special needs, culture, language, achievement levels

 

• Prior learning that may influence the development of your learning goals, instruction and assessment; knowledge students already have about the subject.

 

• Implications for instruction: (How does this information help me plan my lesson?  What information has implications for meeting student needs?)
  • Discuss the students’ prior learning and one other contextual factor listed above and how these influence your teaching and instructional planning.
  • Be specific

 

Requirement: Written response

Suggested length: 2+ pages

 

 

 

 

CONTEXTUAL FACTORS:
Indicator	Expectation
Community and school classroom, student characteristics	With few exceptions, comprehensive understanding of: -community, classroom, and student characteristics; -student skills and prior learning that may affect learning
Implications for instruction	Provides specific implications for instruction and assessment based on student individual differences and community, school, and classroom characteristics.

 

 

 

2.  Instructional Planning: Goals, Objectives, Instruction, and Assessment

 

• Choose learning goals and objectives that are appropriate for grade level, student readiness, and CORE requirements.  The goals and objectives should also be influenced by the student and classroom characteristics from the contextual factors section of your unit. 
• Design your instructional plan (a unit and lessons) to be taught in your student/intern teaching classroom. Use multiple instructional methods and strategies.
• Design assessment plans to monitor student progress toward learning goal(s). Use multiple assessment methods and approaches to assess student learning. Assessments should be conducted at appropriate times during instruction and at appropriate intervals.  These assessments should authentically measure student learning and may include performance-based tasks, paper-and-pencil tasks, personal communication, etc. 

 

Section 1: Plans

• Unit Instruction Plan/Overview:
  • Create an outline or chart to summarize your goals, objectives, instructional plan and assessments.

• Lesson and Assessment Plans:
  • Use the UVU School of Education Lesson plan form.
  • Make sure that all instruction, activities and assessments and materials support your goals and objectives for the lesson and the unit.
  • Include all lesson plans in your submission. Also include any worksheets, handouts, etc. you plan to use in your lessons.
  • Based on your goals and objectives, plan your assessment for the unit.  You need three types of assessment in your plan:  pre-assessment, formative, and summative (before, during, and after).
  • Include scoring guides or rubrics for each assessment tool, along with copies of assessments (tests, questions, etc.), prompts and or directions to complete tasks for assessment, and criteria for judging student success (scoring guides/ rubrics, rating scales, checklists, answer key, etc.)

 

Section 2: Written Discussion

• Discuss
  • Why your learning goals are appropriate in terms of prerequisite knowledge, skills and other student needs.
• Discuss
  • How you will evaluate your learning goals and how you will determine ongoing student progress throughout your instructional unit.
  • How you will determine if students meet criteria for mastery (standards of performance).

 

Requirement: Unit Instruction Plan/Overview; lesson and assessment plans, assessment instruments, scoring rubrics/keys, written discussion.

 

Suggested Length: Unit plan (1+ page); lesson plans (will vary); assessments and rubrics (will vary); written discussion (1+ page)

  

 

 

INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNING:
Indicator	Expectation
Goals/Objectives	All goals and objectives are: -appropriate for needs of all students; -clearly stated as learning outcomes -aligned with state/local standards
Instructional Design: Accuracy	-with few exceptions, all content appears to be accurate
Instructional Design: Alignment	-all learning goals are covered in the design.
Instructional Design: Sequence, Structure	-with few exceptions, all instruction: -follows a logical sequence -is based on accepted pedagogical practice, -appears to be useful in moving students toward achieving the learning goals.
Instructional Design: Suitability	-with few exceptions, clearly suitable to students varied learning needs
Instructional Design: Variety	-significant variety with a clear contribution to learning.

 

 

3. Instructional Decision-Making/Analysis of Student Learning

 

Section 1, Instructional Decision-Making: Provide examples of instructional decision-making based on students’ learning or response to instruction. 

• For two instructional situations from your unit, respond to the following (approximately ½ page single-spaced for each):
  • Choose a time when the students’ learning or response to instruction caused you to modify your original instructional plan.
  • Describe the student learning or response that caused you to rethink your plans. Cite specific evidence to support your answers. This may come from assessments (please don’t use pre-assessment for this response), or from student responses during your instruction.
  • Describe what you did and explain why you thought this would improve student learning and progress toward reaching your learning goals and objectives.
  • Describe how your instructional decision worked (or didn’t), and what you would do in a similar situation in the future.

 

Section 2, Analysis of Student Learning:  Analyze all of your assessment data, Pre-, Formative, and Post-, to determine students’ progress toward the unit learning goals.  Describe the effect on student learning that transpired during instruction for the whole class, a subgroup, and an individual.

Whole class (Describe the instruction given to the whole class)

Create a table or chart of the data* for your whole class (use pseudonyms, initials or numbers for the students – not full names) on the assessment measures from your unit (*Note: This can be done easily in Microsoft Excel).

AND/OR provide a summary of qualitative data (i.e., anecdotal records, etc.) for your whole class on any assessment measures that did not result in quantifiable scores.

Summarize what the data showed concerning the progress your whole class made toward your learning goals and objectives. Use three sub-paragraphs, describing Pre-Assessment performance, Formative Assessment performance, and Post-Assessment performance for the whole class.

Create a graph* of the Pre- and Post-assessment data for the entire class. You may also include Formative data in the graph if you wish (*Note: This can be done easily in Microsoft Excel).

Include scans of student work – artifacts of at least the Pre- and Post-Assessments (though you may include other artifacts as well) for a representative sample of your class (2-3 lower functioning, 2-3 average functioning, 2-3 higher functioning – black out the names!) These scans may be included in a file labeled “Student Work” or “Student Artifacts,” OR you may insert them into the text.

 

Sub-group (Describe the learning of the sub-group receiving the instruction)

• Select a group characteristic (language, socio-economic status, special needs, etc.) to analyze.
• Provide a rationale for why you chose this characteristic to form subgroups.  Suggestion – you wanted to look at performance based on English as a first language vs. English as a second language, etc.)
• Indicate on the above table or chart of the data which students in the class are part of your selected sub-group (e.g., lower socio-economic groups vs. higher socio-economic groups etc.).
• AND/OR provide a summary of qualitative data (i.e., anecdotal records, etc.) for the selected sub-group on any assessment measures that did not result in quantifiable scores.
• Summarize what the data showed concerning the progress the selected sub-group made toward the learning goals. In other words, compare results describing Pre-Assessment performance, Formative Assessment performance, and Post-Assessment performance for the selected sub-group - using three sub-paragraphs.

 

• Individual (Describe the learning of the student receiving the instruction)
  • Select one student. Use a pseudonym, first initial, or number for this student.
  • Explain why it is important to understand the learning of this individual.
  • Use data from all assessment measures to draw conclusions about the progress of this student on the learning goals. Describe Pre-Assessment performance, Formative Assessment performance, and Post-Assessment performance for the selected student – using three sub-paragraphs.
  • (No graphic representation is necessary for this section.)

 

Required:  Written discussion, assessment results, charts and graphs, scans or pictures of student work/artifacts (black out student names).

Suggested length:  Discussion, charts and graphs (2-3 pages); student artifacts (will vary)

 

 

 

INSTRUCTIONAL DECISION MAKING & ANALYSIS OF STUDENT LEARNING
Indicator	Expectation
Instructional Decision Making	-with few exceptions, all -modifications of the instructional plans are made to address individual student needs; -modifications in instruction are congruent with learning goals; -modifications are informed by the analysis of student learning/performance, best practice, or contextual factors; -includes explanation of why the modifications would improve student progress.
Analysis of Student Learning/ Data Interpretation	-with few exceptions, all -interpretations are meaningful, and appropriate -conclusions are drawn from the data.
Analysis of Student Learning/ Evidence of impact on student learning	-analysis of student learning includes complete evidence of the impact on student learning in terms of number of students who achieved and made progress toward each learning goal.

 

 

4.  Reflection and Self-Evaluation

 

Reflect on your performance as a teacher and link your performance to student learning results.  Evaluate your performance and identify future actions for improved practice and professional growth.

• Success:
  • Select one learning goal/lesson where your students were most successful.
  • Provide possible reasons for this success. Consider your goals, instruction, and assessment along with other relevant classroom characteristics.
• Improvement:
  • Select one learning goal/lesson where your students were least successful.
  • Provide possible reasons for this lack of success. Consider your goals, instruction, and assessment along with other relevant classroom characteristics.
  • Discuss what you could do differently in the future to improve your students’ performance.
• Possibilities for professional development:
  • Describe at least two professional learning goals that emerged from your insights and experiences with this unit.
    • For example, redesigning instructional goals, objectives, instruction and/or assessment; classroom management; instructional planning, etc.
  • Identify two specific steps you will take to improve your performance in each of the critical areas you’ve identified.

 

 

Required:  Written response

Suggested length:  1 ½ to 2 pages, approximately ½ page for each of the 3 sections

 

 

 

REFLECTION AND SELF-EVALUATION:
Indicator	Expectation
Interpretation of student learning/ Successes	-effectively uses “Analysis of Student Learning” section  to explore and explain multiple reasons for successful student outcomes.
Interpretation of student learning/ Improvements	-effectively uses “Analysis of Student Learning” section  to explore and explain multiple reasons for unsuccessful student outcomes.
Implications for future teaching/ Professional Development	-provides explicit and meaningful discussion of personal professional goals and -describes specific steps to meet these goals.