Well, we're back from break this week and I have a feeling that this time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is going to seem really long. The students are anxious for a break again and it definitely shows in their motivation during class time. The forensics projects are not nearly as complete as I had hoped they would be. Many students didn't work on them over the break and now need additional class time to get them done. While this is a nice alternative to giving a quiz at the end of a unit, it does take a lot more time to prepare as well as grade. I developed a grading rubric and it has helped to give me clear guidelines to grade them by.
I really enjoyed all of their presentations, and there were a few groups that far exceeded my expectations! It was so nice to see their enthusiasm for this topic. I especially noticed that several students who usually don't put much effort into their classes really took the time to make this project good. They shared stories about involving the help of parents, aunts, and grandparents as well. I think this is great because parents can have such a huge impact on their success.
This is the last set of data that I am collecting for my action research, and i've now decided to especially focus on their interest survey responses more than their grades. I am far more interested in their engagment and motivation than their ability to achieve a specific grade on a quiz. I hope that all this data from the semester is representative of some clear results. Just from my own observations I have seen an increase in motivation and engagment from many of the students, as well as an increased interest in science in general. I've had more than one student tell me that this is the first science class that they have ever really enjoyed. While I don't like to hear that they haven't had a good experience before- it is great to know that I have provided a new view of science classes.
Next week I will wrap up the grading of the projects and start into my final topic for the semester! Can't believe it's almost over!
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