Levels of Teaching Innovation

Since I teach 5th grade (all subjects) to my students, I thought that I would use the LoTi framework to assess the level of teaching innovation I used when teaching a specific science unit during my last school year. Since I know that our 5th grade unit on learned behaviors and inherited traits will be coming up in a few weeks, I want to reflect on how I used technology last year when I taught this subject, and then how I could improve this as we approach the unit this year.

When I taught my class last year, we used a combination of direct instruction note taking, some inventory/quiz style activities where students compared various inherited traits they had acquired, and a handful of Kahoot online review quizzes as we prepared for the unit test. Being completely transparent in my evaluation of these activities from last year, I can see that there is a lot of room for growth.

In the "H" area of student questioning, I notice that most of the activities ranged from a level 1 - level 4. The highest level of questioning occurs when students have to use the definitions of inherited vs. learned to characterize different traits.

In the "E" area for engaged learning, activities again ranged from a level of 1 to 4. Most tasks involve students reporting their findings, which is a lower rating level. I allow and encourage my students to collaborate often, which brought the engagement level higher. Level 3 and 4 activities that allow students to solve a problem were more rare during the unit, and only used for one activity where students had to read a paragraph about a child, like a case study, and then categorize the traits in the story as learned or inherited.

In the "A" level for authentic learning, I found that the activity may be stuck at Level 1 on the LOTI framework, because I was not sure the relevance or authenticity of the inherited and learned behavior activities. I believe that in order to reach a higher level, there would need to be a more purposeful and relevant project associated with the tasks.

Finally, in the "T" level for technology integration, I would rate the unit as a level 3. The Kahoot activity was a neat add-on in order for students to be able to test their knowledge on the unit material, but it was not an essential component of the learning in this unit, and could have easily served the same purpose as a class review game without technology.

In order to improve the LOTI rating for this unit, there are two activities that I would add to the unit to transform its rating using the HEAT acronym.

One of these activities is the Gene Finder Simulation activity from the Centre of the Cell website (https://www.centreofthecell.org/learn-play/games/gene-finder/). In this activity, students watch a short video clip of a young girl who has a genetic disease called Harlequin Ichthiosis. Then the students look at the patterns of each gene among a group of siblings. They use what they have learned about genes to determine which gene is responsible for the disease. This activity will increase the "A" authentic learning component of the activity, as well as the "T" for technology integration. The technology is necessary for the activity and the students will see real life application of these skills by analyzing the genes and connecting it to real people with these diseases.

Another activity I would like to try is for students to create a presentation about the traits and behaviors of themselves. I would give them a list of common, well-known inherited traits as a jumping off point, but encourage them to question about traits that they have that are not on the list. Then we will take time to conduct research about the traits they have chosen, trying to determine if these traits are indeed inherited or learned. Then students will present what they have learned using a technology tool of their choice. Students will have the online research library with online encyclopedias and articles to access. Also, I will curate a symbaloo of several kid-friendly websites that list commonly and rarely inherited traits. It could take some research and luck, but finding a genetic scientist to interview or consult would also be an incredible opportunity for my students. I believe that this activity would increase the "H" "E" and "T" levels. Students will be using higher-level thinking skills because they are conducting research about their own questions, and will therefore be engaged in the activity. Since they will be researching traits not only listed in their science textbook and that I, their teacher, don't necessarily know the answers to, this will mean that technology becomes an essential part of the task.