Domain 1: Innovation Instruction
Description: Identify real-world, relevant needs from external partners that require the students to progress through the design process to create feasible, desirable, and viable solutions. The challenge selection, learning experience, and innovative solution are aligned to state content standards.
Terms: Validate, Feasible, Viable, Desirable, Learning Experience, prototype
- Ineffective
The challenge lacks relevance to the students and is not well-connected to real-world issues (i.e. it may be overly simplistic or narrow, providing limited opportunities for exploration, lacks collaboration and community engagement). The learning experience does not effectively integrate skills and knowledge areas with little emphasis on connecting learning or applying skills in a meaningful context. The solutions are not evidence-backed nor do they directly address the given challenge.
- Moderatly Effective
The challenge has some relevance to students' lives and real-world issues but may lack engagement or depth, with limited collaboration and minimal community engagement. The learning experience integrates some skills and knowledge areas, but connections between different aspects of learning may be weak or unclear. Solutions are somewhat predetermined or limited.
- Effective
The challenge is highly relevant to students' lives, interests and community, directly connected to real-world issues. The challenge is well-designed to be engaging, thought-provoking, and open-ended, allowing for multiple solutions and encouraging deep inquiry. The learning experience fosters strong collaboration among students and encourages engagement with the broader community. Students work together effectively and connect their project to real- world stakeholders or audiences. It encourages students to apply and connect what they’ve learned in meaningful ways to propose feasible, desirable, and viable solutions to the community partners. Students and/or partners may be inclined to continue to work beyond assignment submission.
Description: Curating experiences based on the anticipated needs before a class begins work on the challenge. In real-time adapting the learning experience based on the evolving needs of students and groups as they develop their solutions. This approach emphasizes active engagement, continuous assessment, and the ability to modify teaching methods and materials to create a more effective and responsive learning environment during real-time instruction
Terms: Domain of knowledge, responsive teaching, Learning Experience
- Ineffective
Lesson plan for every challenge and each day is not adjusted during class based on identified student and/or group needs.
- Moderately Effective
Adjustments are made for the entire class. The teams are artificially held to the same timeline and types of deliverables.
- Effective
Adaptations and content are customized for each team and student once they are in the creative stage of thinking. Inquiry questions are specific to each team's needs in the moment. An outline for each unit is consistent but the "creative-stage" components within the unit are responsive to the external challenge and the interests, needs, and passions of the students.
Description: Using multiple models of teaching (e.g. direct instruction, inquiry-based, experiential, etc) to increase meaningful learning of content and skills. Using a range of models encourages critical thinking development and collaboration as students construct their own understanding. Comprehensive knowledge which includes procedural knowledge, conceptual knowledge and real world applicaiton is developed through the use of varied models of teaching.
Terms: Direct Instruction, Inquiry-based, critical thinking skills, models of teaching
- Ineffective
Teacher only models through direct instruction and students repeat the model. Students are not provided the opportunity to construct their own understanding.
- Moderately Effective
Teacher primarily uses a direct instruction model of teaching with inquiry-based models being used but not with the same frequency of Direct Instruction models. Students are primarily asked to recall information.
- Effective
Teacher consistently uses a balance of direct instruction when teaching procedural skills and inquiry-based models when targeting conceptual knowledge development. The selected model of teaching always provides an opportunity to construct knowledge as opposed to rote memorization and recall.