Assessment Overview: Classroom Application Assignment & Rubric

Assessment Overview: Classroom Application Goal & Rubric
Weeks 6, 9, 12, and 15

Goal: Develop cooperative activities that engage your students in understanding Earth as a system through analyzing the causes and effects of an event.

Rubric
Use what you have learned about Earth system science with your students and apply it toward the development of a classroom application. You may also choose to locate and submit a classroom application. Whichever approach you choose, make sure that the classroom application describes the following:

The learning activities your students will participate in the classroom
How the content will be relevant to your students
How the classroom application fits with the curriculum, standards, or discipline
How you will engage students in different roles at different levels with cooperative learning instructional methods
How you will know your students’ knowledge and systems thinking has evolved as a result of this classroom application (assessment).

Your application should be tailored to your students and geared toward outcomes. You can use the rubric below to plan, evaluate, and improve your classroom application. Notice that the last criterion is quality of your reflection on the development and effectiveness of your classroom application.

What learning activities your students will participate in
4 Rating: A “hook” into the content that is exciting to students and that they can see immediate use for.	3 Rating: An engaging introductory activity that provokes students’ curiosity.	2 Rating: A way to identify and use existing student knowledge and interests for knowledge development.	1 Rating: An opportunity for students to relate what they are learning to their lives and interests.
Curriculum connections
4 Rating: Integrates ideas from different disciplines for systems thinking.	3 Rating: Integrates ideas from several areas through systems thinking.	2 Rating: Uses Earth system science to focus on systems.	1 Rating: Connects Earth, Life, and Physical science around Earth system science.
Instructional strategy
4 Rating: Uses jigsaw groups for cooperative learning with students becoming experts in several areas.	3 Rating: Uses coop- erative learning with roles for students to become experts.	2 Rating: Uses cooperative learning with roles.	1 Rating: Uses teams.
Assessment methods
4 Rating: Assessment is integral to the classroom application as reflection for students. Uses rubrics to show the continuum that is expected.	3 Rating: Begins with revealing students’ theories about ESS. Reveals changes in students’ ESS thinking over several activities.	2 Rating: Analyzes pre and post knowledge of ESS and systems thinking through activities.	1 Rating: Identifies pre and post knowledge and skills.
Personal Reflection on what you have learned
4 Rating: A detailed comparison of your initial theories with your current ones with an explanation of what caused the evolution of your thinking.	3 Rating: A comparison of your initial theories from Week A and your current theories with evidence to support your current understanding.	2 Rating: An explanation of why you think your current theory is more supportable than your original theory.	1 Rating: A description of the ideas that support your current theory.