Research Project
Learning Outcome:The student will identify the theoretical foundations of various approaches to teaching and learning and reflect on them in relation to their personal philosophy of teaching and learning.
This assignment gives you the opportunity to explore the implementation of a learning theory in greater depth by reading further on a selected topic. You will select a particular theory (or instructional approach or overarching idea) from the course readings related to teaching, learning, and/or pedagogy (see the Themes/Guiding Questions Column of the Syllabus) and develop a Research Project that applies your chosen topic.
The following conceptual considerations should be explored in your assignment:
· Clearly describe the theory and its history
· Who are the main proponents of this theory, and what are their backgrounds/experiences/research areas?
· What are the most important "big ideas" from this theory?
· Based on this theory, consider the following questions:
· What is the purpose of education/learning?
· What is the role of the teacher?
· What is the role of the learner?
· How do we know learning has occurred?
· Does the larger socio–cultural context matter? If so, why? And if not, why not?
· Are there other theories that are aligned to or are compatible with this theory? How so?
· What are the critiques or limitations of this theory?
· How has this theory been applied in practice? What instructional approaches/curriculum/pedagogies are aligned to this theory?
· Does this theory resonate with your own experiences, beliefs, and practices as an educator? Why or why not? This section should be substantial as it is 30% of the project.
Requirements
· You will need to read and reference from at least three primary academic sources and five practitioner articles
· You will have the option of sharing your project as a formal thesis, a presentation (PowerPoint or Prezi®), or as a video presentation
· APA writing, citations, referencing required
Notes: No page limit. Practitioner articles are not peer reviewed research. They are newspapers, magazines etc.
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Unacceptable |
Needs Work |
Acceptable |
Exemplary |
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Content (40%) |
Summarizes without depth, limited description of the relationships between the theoretical and pedagogical aspects of teaching and learning.
0-11 |
Limited depth in describing relationships between the theoretical and pedagogical aspects of teaching and learning.
12 |
Developing description of the relationships between theoretical and pedagogical aspects of teaching and learning
13-14 |
Clearly indicates complex relationships between the theoretical and pedagogical aspects of teaching and learning.
15-16 |
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Reflection (30%) |
Does not reflect on how the approach relates to their personal philosophy of teaching and learning.
0-8 |
Limited reflection on how the focal approach relates to their personal philosophy of teaching and learning.
9 |
Reflects on focal approach to teaching and learning in relation to their personal philosophy of teaching and learning.
10 |
Reflects on various approaches to teaching and learning in relation to their personal philosophy of teaching and learning.
11-12 |
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Composition (10%) |
Loses focus by including irrelevant ideas, lacks logical progression of ideas, poorly organized, and lacks scholarly writing style. Incomplete number or format of resource citations.
1 |
Focused on topic and provides basic structure, but includes loosely related ideas without support, lacks clear organization, and scholarly style. Incomplete number or format of resource citations.
2 |
Focused on topic, includes most of the relevant ideas, and demonstrates logical progression of ideas, organization, and scholarly style. Meets requirement for resources cited.
3 |
Focused on topic, purposeful, well organized, and scholarly writing style. Cites more than required number of resources.
4 |
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Mechanics (10%) |
Numerous consistent errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and/or APA format.
1 |
Several isolated errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and/or APA format.
2 |
A few isolated errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and/or APA format.
3 |
Reflecting exemplary word choice and thorough proofreading.
4 |
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Presentation (10%) |
Poor articulation of ideas and/or visual representation.
1
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Unpolished articulation of ideas and/or limited visual representations.
2 |
Good oral and visual presentation of ideas.
3 |
Reflecting superior articulation and visual presentation of ideas.
4 |