Rocket Scientist: Ready for Launch

Hello out there, I just watched a clip where a teacher successfully integrated technology in his classroom. This teacher stepped up a common bottle rocket creation project to teach numerous concepts. In groups the students formed companies, budgeted, researched multiple plans, bought materials, assembled rockets, and tested their designs. They used an internet program from NASA to project how their rocket would fly. Some characteristics of effective learning environments are exemplified in this lesson such as group work, hands on projects, working towards a goal, and learning multiple concepts (not just about rockets but companies, economics, teamwork). With these ideas in place this lesson incorporated “learner centered” and “knowledge centered” environments. This lesson, I feel, could also be “assessment centered” even though it does not have explicit assessments noted. The teacher has many opportunities during the lesson to provide feedback to the students with formative assessments. For instance, the teacher could check each group’s budget and materials lists to estimate if they are on the right track or need helpful feedback. The students, themselves, also receive feedback by plugging their data into the NASA program, which gives them a way to test their rocket before launch day. Outside of this being a group project I do not see them building a large sense of community from this project. It’s a very competitive project against the rest of the class and I also do not see a connection outside of the classroom or at home. However, for the most part this is a successful learning environment project.

The role of technology described in this lesson is to guide the students rocket designs to achieve an advanced design without physically testing their model. The NASA program enables the students cognitively think about important factors of optimal rocket design, change variables affecting their rocket, and test out a rocket simulation to check their ideas. I use to help conduct this same bottle rocket project at Rowan University summer camp that I chaperoned. The participants broke into teams and made a rocket. When complete they would go outside and test it. The problem with that is that after a few tests (if they were lucky to get a second or third attempt) the rocket would break beyond repair. This technology eliminates the initial guesswork at which design will prevail by running their design through a simulation as the initial testing period. Then on launch day they should be pretty confident that their rocket will venture far distances. This technology piece adds an efficient touch to this project. As this week’s reading suggests this lesson uses technology that connects real world problems with the classroom instruction. The students are transformed from bored science learners into rocket scientists ready for launch.     

The only things I would do differently in this teaching example would be integrated groups and more computers per group. While watching the video, I noticed that the groups where same gender and, for the most part, same ethnicity. It seemed that the teacher let the students select their own groups. I, instead, would conduct this more like the business structure the teachers tries creating and select their groups. This makes it more realistic to work together in unfamiliar groups to achieve a common goal. Also, I would (if possible) give the students more laptops to work with for this NASA program. If students could explore their individual ideas first they might be able to contribute more heavily to the group design, by figuring a fast design or launch pad. The students could even delegate group members to focus specifically on design, fuel, pad, or launch. This would maintain a realistic business feel to the rocket project.

http://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/lessons/lp0028.html