Tag Archives: scaffold

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.

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Best Days: Differentiated Instruction

There was an advanced group of students developing in one section of Chemistry I that began to act out in boredom in class during the Gas Laws unit.  I used pregnant pauses, proximal discipline and even stopped my instruction in an attempt to quell their behavior.  Over one weekend I really thought about how best to approach the situation and I came to the conclusion that that particular group of students simply needed to be given work and then set loose to complete their required assignments.  What was really needed was an equitable assignment for all students, but in multiple versions.  My second attempt at differentiated instruction had begun.

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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

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