Category Archives: InTASC 1

Data: LAMP Project

Student teachers at Ball State University are required to complete an in-depth unit long data driven analysis of their student teaching called Learning Assessment Model Project (LAMP).  I chose to run the project during the stoichiometry  unit.  Stoichiometry is a unifying topic of chemistry.  It synthesizes previously taught topics of writing chemical formulas, calculating molar masses, performing molar conversions, and balancing chemical reaction equations so that students may apply prior knowledge to its fullest use.  Stoichiometry is rigorous and challenging for students.  My aim was to make this topic both accessible and useful for my students by relating it to their everyday lives.  We chose the stoichiometry unit to run our LAMP project in as most students, except possibly those who have taken integrated chemistry and physics, have no experience with stoichiometry.  We wanted to see the direct impact that our teaching had upon students.  The following is a summary of the project, its outcome and conclusions drawn from it.

FullSizeRender

Continue reading Data: LAMP Project

Stoichiometry Organizer

Stoichiometry is the heart of chemistry, but is often a challenging concept for students to grasp.  My goal was to generate an informational organizer for students to use to assemble all of the necessary pieces of information in order to successfully solve a gram to gram stoichiometry problem.  The resulting algorithm organizer was introduced to students during the stoichiometry unit:

Stoichiometry Algorithm

Continue reading Stoichiometry Organizer

Reading Fix-Ups Strategies for Better Lab Experiences

Mr. Smith talks to our students about reading techniques on a regular basis.  We have only a classroom set of textbooks for Chemistry I, so we don’t request required reading of them very often.  However, we do ask them to preview a chapter after an exam, or when there is time after laboratories.    When we ask students to read the textbook, we give them specific techniques with which to preview the text:

1) Look at the pictures and figures first.

2) Read any boldface vocabulary words.

3) Skim for key phrases/vocabulary.

4) Read for content.

We give them a specific reading technique, because reading a science text is not as straightforward or easy, as reading for leisure is.

Continue reading Reading Fix-Ups Strategies for Better Lab Experiences