The Regents Podcast is aimed to think about and equip how we practice that which is true, good, and beautiful in a 21st century context. The podcast gives Regents School of Austin a format to share with our community and beyond the amazing stories happening on our campus, and help equip parents shepherding their children’s hearts.
I was recently a guest on the podcast, along with four students from my AP Statistics class. We were invited to discuss their service-learning project in which they parter with a local homeless ministry for survey research and evaluating organizational effectiveness. You can listen to the podcast here.
Podcast summary:
Dr. Josh Wilkerson and a group of four AP Statistics Students (Cade Morris, Caroline Hooten, Lucy Gifford, and Chris Kuhlman) talk about their class survey/data analysis project with Mobile Loaves and Fishes and how they were impacted by the residents at the Community First! Village.
Note: this conversation was recorded last Spring and the Junior students who were involved are now Seniors!
AP and the College Board have partnered with WE to bring WE’s internationally recognized service-based learning framework and resources to AP courses, so students can use what they’re learning to tackle real-life social issues and challenges.service-learning to the AP classroom. Microsoft hosted the inaugural AP with WE Service Teacher Summit at their headquarters in Redmond, WA, March 4-5, 2019.
This event was an opportunity for teachers to meet fellow AP teachers, strengthen their implementation of AP with WE Service, learn best practices, and hear from Microsoft staff. A total of 50 teachers were selected to attend.
What follows below is the outline of the presentation I was asked to give at the summit on cultivating student affections through service-learning. I hope to be able to share the video of the presentation soon.
My name is Josh Wilkerson and I teach AP Statistics. I also teach other math courses and as a math teacher there is one big question that I am often asked. You are probably asked it to in your other disciplines, but it is especially prevalent in math. The question usually is accompanied by the student having his kind of expression…
Help me out, what is the big question? (Audience: when am I ever going to use this?)
When am I ever going to use this (said in an exasperated way). It is never “When? When I am going to get to use this!?” (said in an excited way). Rather it is a dismissive question. Since we are at a conference on service-learning you might think you know where this is going. However, I hope to lead you in a slightly different direction. If we are honest with ourselves, how we respond to the student varies based on our mood at the time. In the best of scenarios we can give them a meaningful future application. In other scenarios we respond with how they will need the information for their next course, or more immediately, they’ll need it for the test next Tuesday.
I would like to pose to you that none of those answers are sufficient because, if we are being even more honest with ourselves, we know that the student isn’t really asking a question. The student is making a statement – a statement that they feel validates their disengagement from the lesson. I would also like to pose to you that if you were to translate their statement to an actual question it would be this…
Why should I value this? I would argue that this is the most fundamental question to address in any classroom, even (or especially) mathematics. If we respond to the student’s surface level application question with cognitive information we will always have a disconnect. The student is actually longing for affective formation – however you want to parse that, into motivation or engagement or attitude or something else. The main thing is it is more than just being about what they know.
This is not only true for students. Close your eyes for a minute and imagine a great moment in your teaching career – something where everything was clicking and you were thinking “this is why I got into teaching.” Give me a word or short phrase to describe the mental image you came up with (solicit audience responses).
Notice that none of you told me “pythagorean theorem,” or “Great Gatsby,” or “mitosis.” None of you gave me content. Now, to be sure, the content was still there and was still operating on a high cognitive level I’m sure. My point is to not to dismiss content, but to perhaps reorient us on the primary objective of a classroom.
These aren’t just our feelings. The importance of affect in education has been documented in research.
Not only in research, but also in positional standards. I have here a few in mathematics but I’m sure that you can find something similar for any discipline. So with all this agreement and support, how are we doing?
(Read slide). This quote is from 1992 but it is not dated. I know that it is not dated because, as I mentioned at the beginning, I’m a math teacher. Whenever I introduce myself to anyone and the topic of what I do for a living comes up, these are the number one responses I receive. Math teachers may be second only to priests in the number of confessions they take.
This is what keeps me up at night. This is what I want my classroom to address. How do we do that?
We don’t do it by changing content or even focusing on student beliefs – we do it through rich experiences. The experience of the math classroom needs to change.
THIS is where I think service-learning is powerful. Not as an answer to application, but as an answer to offering rich and meaningful experiences in the math classroom.
How are the affections of the student impacted when we change the experience of math class from this…
To this.
For the past three years my stats students have partnered with a local homeless ministry in Austin for survey research. Here is how they responded to a survey I gave them at the end of the year.
Transition through graphs – point to growth in content knowledge but then also appreciation.
Yes service learning is application – but it is so much more than that. Through service learning we can shift student postures to ones of self-service (when will I use this?) to the service of others. Ultimately their education is not just about them.
Let me close with some words from a student who began the year with a very negative attitude towards mathematics and that improved over the course of the service-learning project. I asked him about it and this is what he said.
(After first bullet) I like this quote because I’m also a realist – I’m not setting out to make everyone always enthusiastic about math. But there are steps we can take and I think this student took them.
Why should I value this? Because it will benefit me and it will benefit others.
This week I am leading a workshop at the 2018 AP Annual Conference on “Statistics and Service-Learning” in Houston, TX. The talk is on integrating service-learning projects into AP Statistics curriculum, specifically with the goal of impacting students on an affective level.In addition to the resources that you will find below, feel free to check out some of the prior posts on service learning:
ABSTRACT:
This session will equip participants to design, implement, and evaluate AP Statistics service-learning projects in which students partner with nonprofit organizations in their local community. These projects synthesize the major concepts of experimental design, data analysis, and statistical inference in the real-world context of community service. Through these projects students integrate their conceptual understanding of statistics with the practical functioning of their local community, ultimately gaining a deeper appreciation for the role of statistics in the organization and evaluation of service societies.
PRESENTATION:
You can click the image below to find the PowerPoint that accompanied my presentation.
For many of the service-learning projects that my students have completed I am indebted to the willing partnership of Mobile Loaves and Fishes. Here is some introductory information on this great ministry:
10 THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE IMPLEMENTING A SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECT:
The following are the foundational questions that you as an instructor should consider and reflect upon prior to implementing a service-learning project. This list is not meant to be chronological though some aspects will naturally precede others. Start by considering the course learning objectives and your method of assessing those objectives and then go from there.
1.What are the major learning objectives/big ideas/enduring understandings for your course?
The purpose of the AP course in statistics is to introduce students to the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing and drawing conclusions from data. Students are exposed to four broad conceptual themes:
Exploring Data: Describing patterns and departures from patterns
Sampling and Experimentation: Planning and conducting a study
Anticipating Patterns: Exploring random phenomena using probability and simulation
Statistical Inference: Estimating population parameters and testing hypotheses
2. What are real-world situations where students can apply the concepts studied in your course?
Identifying a non-profit service agency which requires survey research (program evaluation, client needs assessment, etc.)
Students develop a survey instrument, conduct survey, compile and code data, analyze data, present results
3. List some potential community partners along with some basic descriptors that may impact how your students work with each partner (ex: What is the size of the organization? What issues does the organization address? Is the organization non-profit, governmental, religiously affiliated? Etc.) In lieu of a partner organization you can also consider a general community need for students to address. List some general descriptors of the project involved in addressing this community need.
4. Look for potential matches between organizations on your list from question 3 and your responses to questions 1 and 2. If there are multiple potential matches then consider the pros/cons of each and list them. Be sure to recognize how your matching affects the organization of the project (large scale as a class v. small scale as groups), which in turn may affect your response to question 5 below.
5. Once you have begun narrowing potential community partners that offer opportunities for students to interact with course content, consider how will you assess students? What will be the final product? What expectations will you have for students throughout the project and how will you communicate that to the students?
6. How will students be organized to meet the objectives that they will be assessed on? Will students work as individuals, teams, as a whole class?
7. How will students be equipped to complete the project successfully? What will they have gained from the course up to the point of assigning the project that will aid them? What additional tools/skills/knowledge will students need as the project proceeds?
8. What will be the timeframe for the project? How will students be held accountable to the timeframe? At what points will students receive feedback on their progress?
9. Why should students care about the project? What will you do as an instructor to get student buy-in on the project?
10. How will students reflect throughout the project? What opportunities will you provide for students to pause and consider the work they have done?
HANDOUTS:
From my AP Statistics Project 2018:
(Clicking the image above will take you to the students’ final presentation)
This week I am giving a presentation at the 2017 Society for Classical Learning (SCL) conference on “Cultivating Mathematical Affections through Service-Learning.” The talk is on integrating service-learning projects into mathematics curriculum, specifically with the goal of impacting students on an affective level. Since this is my dissertation topic, I’ve presented on it numerous times before – and now that my dissertation is done (!), I hope to finally be able to devote more time to building out resources on this site. In addition to the resources that you will find below, feel free to check out some of the prior posts on service learning:
ABSTRACT:
This session will examine the benefits of service-learning projects in mathematics. Service-learning projects engage students in integrating their conceptual understanding of math with the practical functioning of their local community. Ultimately students gain deeper content knowledge and a deeper appreciation for the role math plays in society.
PRESENTATION:
You can click the image below to find the PowerPoint that accompanied my presentation.
For many of the service-learning projects that my students have completed I am indebted to the willing partnership of Mobile Loaves and Fishes. Here is some introductory information on this great ministry:
10 THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE IMPLEMENTING A SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECT:
The following are the foundational questions that you as an instructor should consider and reflect upon prior to implementing a service-learning project. This list is not meant to be chronological though some aspects will naturally precede others. Start by considering the course learning objectives and your method of assessing those objectives and then go from there.
1.What are the major learning objectives/big ideas/enduring understandings for your course?
2. What are real-world situations where students can apply the concepts studied in your course?
3. List some potential community partners along with some basic descriptors that may impact how your students work with each partner (ex: What is the size of the organization? What issues does the organization address? Is the organization non-profit, governmental, religiously affiliated? Etc.) In lieu of a partner organization you can also consider a general community need for students to address. List some general descriptors of the project involved in addressing this community need.
4. Look for potential matches between organizations on your list from question 3 and your responses to questions 1 and 2. If there are multiple potential matches then consider the pros/cons of each and list them. Be sure to recognize how your matching affects the organization of the project (large scale as a class v. small scale as groups), which in turn may affect your response to question 5 below.
5. Once you have begun narrowing potential community partners that offer opportunities for students to interact with course content, consider how will you assess students? What will be the final product? What expectations will you have for students throughout the project and how will you communicate that to the students?
6. How will students be organized to meet the objectives that they will be assessed on? Will students work as individuals, teams, as a whole class?
7. How will students be equipped to complete the project successfully? What will they have gained from the course up to the point of assigning the project that will aid them? What additional tools/skills/knowledge will students need as the project proceeds?
8. What will be the timeframe for the project? How will students be held accountable to the timeframe? At what points will students receive feedback on their progress?
9. Why should students care about the project? What will you do as an instructor to get student buy-in on the project?
10. How will students reflect throughout the project? What opportunities will you provide for students to pause and consider the work they have done?
(From Arches, a magazine published by Regents School of Austin)
AP Statistics student Vanessa Aguirre shares how their class harnessed the power of surveying, statistics and service to help the Mobile Fishes and Bread ministry in their efforts to combat homelessness in Austin.
On a rainy Tuesday morning, the thirty-six AP Statistics students walked through the Community First! Village of Mobile Loaves and Fishes, a local Austin non-profit focusing on the needs and betterment of the homeless community. The community village this organization founded is a beautiful, solitary sanctuary, with mini-homes right out of a housekeeping magazine and gardens dotting the landscape. Weaving through the clusters of houses and RVs, the high school students knocked on doors and waited with baited breaths, holding copies of a survey they helped design for the residents of the village.
“I was pretty nervous,” senior Lydia Strickland said.
Over the course of the morning, the students went from door to door, talking to the residents and sharing their stories, working to fill the survey as their school project that would help Mobile Loaves and Fishes (also known as MLF) in its aim to fight homelessness. The math students worked in tandem with MLF to, ultimately, answer the question: Does a lack of community cause homelessness? The high school students used ideas and concepts learned throughout the year to edit, carry out, and analyze a survey given to the residents living in the community village the non-profit has made.
This question is largely based on Bruce K. Alexander’s “Rat Park” study, where Alexander and other scientists set up a study administering drugs to rats not in isolated cages, but in communities with a positive environment, and found that the drug intake of rats went down dramatically. This shows that environment and community play a significant role in drug use—and leads others to wonder if more than just drug use can be improved. The AP statistics and MLF worked together to explore this train of thought, and to reaffirm MLF’s community-based program.
Homelessness is, after all, a very real problem. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, there were 564,708 homeless people in the United States in January of 2015, 15% of which were considered chronically homeless. More pragmatically, each homeless person costs taxpayers around $14,480 a year. When you do the math, that amounts to homelessness costing more than eight billion annually.
Not only does homelessness affect those directly involved, but it impacts society as well. Efforts to curb homelessness will have a positive impact on everyone. As a large and established homeless outreach ministry based in Austin, Mobile Loaves and Fishes attempts to do just that—curb, and ideally eventually end, homelessness and the factors behind it. In partnering with the AP Statistics students of Regents School of Austin, MLF hoped to gain more data on the effectiveness of their Community First! Village and the philosophy that poor environment and lack of community are the root problems of homelessness.
“We believe what we’re seeing anecdotally on the property is being verified through the statistical analysis, so we love this [the AP Statistics project,]” Alan Graham, Mobile Loaves and Fishes co-founder and director, said. “It confirms our model at Community First, that the only model that’s going to move the needle in a significant way is a kingdom-based model that’s all about community. So we need that data.”
Not only has the AP Stats project helped as a service, but it’s also helped as learning tool for the students, giving them a deeper appreciation of the concepts they learned in class.
“I liked the real-world application,” junior Emily Raeder said. “That was great.”
This service-learning model is meant to lead students into developing higher-order critical thinking, in a real-world environment, where service to the community (such as alleviating homelessness) is presented as crucial to the course objectives and larger applications of education. Dr. Wilkerson, the Regents AP Statistics and Calculus teacher, sees service-learning as a valuable tool in math education.
“I think it helps because you get to use statistics in a real-life situation that’s meaningful in an immediate context,” he said. “Students realize that what you learn in math class aren’t things you would just have to do down the road, in the distant foggy future. Students learn the connection between helping people and using statistics, and they learn it on a deeper level.”
The project showed that math and making a difference in the world can go hand in hand. In order to help Mobile Loaves and Fishes and its residents, the AP Statistics students at Regents had to learn exploratory data analysis, data collection, probability, and statistical inference. On top of all this, students also got to practice their speaking skills. Students presented the results to representatives from MLF, the culmination of the class’s hard work.
The high schoolers also got a better appreciation of how even the little things can affect the world around them.
“I talked to this one man who talked about what a difference people who give out bags with goodies at stoplights made, that it made his day,” one junior said. “He said those things made a big difference. But we don’t put much thought into it.”
These math students may just be proof that math really can accomplish anything.
This week I am leading a workshop at the 2017 NCTM Annual Conference in on “Cultivating Mathematical Affections through Service-Learning.” The talk is on integrating service-learning projects into mathematics curriculum, specifically with the goal of impacting students on an affective level. Since this is my dissertation topic, I’ve presented on it numerous times before – and now that my dissertation is done (!), I hope to finally be bale to devote more time to building out resources on this site. In addition to the resources that you will find below, feel free to check out some of the prior posts on service learning:
ABSTRACT:
This session will examine the benefits of service-learning projects in mathematics. Service-learning projects engage students in integrating their conceptual understanding of math with the practical functioning of their local community. Ultimately students gain deeper content knowledge and a deeper appreciation for the role math plays in society.
PRESENTATION:
You can click the image below to find the PowerPoint that accompanied my presentation.
For many of the service-learning projects that my students have completed I am indebted to the willing partnership of Mobile Loaves and Fishes. Here is some introductory information on this great ministry:
10 THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE IMPLEMENTING A SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECT:
The following are the foundational questions that you as an instructor should consider and reflect upon prior to implementing a service-learning project. This list is not meant to be chronological though some aspects will naturally precede others. Start by considering the course learning objectives and your method of assessing those objectives and then go from there.
1.What are the major learning objectives/big ideas/enduring understandings for your course?
2. What are real-world situations where students can apply the concepts studied in your course?
3. List some potential community partners along with some basic descriptors that may impact how your students work with each partner (ex: What is the size of the organization? What issues does the organization address? Is the organization non-profit, governmental, religiously affiliated? Etc.) In lieu of a partner organization you can also consider a general community need for students to address. List some general descriptors of the project involved in addressing this community need.
4. Look for potential matches between organizations on your list from question 3 and your responses to questions 1 and 2. If there are multiple potential matches then consider the pros/cons of each and list them. Be sure to recognize how your matching affects the organization of the project (large scale as a class v. small scale as groups), which in turn may affect your response to question 5 below.
5. Once you have begun narrowing potential community partners that offer opportunities for students to interact with course content, consider how will you assess students? What will be the final product? What expectations will you have for students throughout the project and how will you communicate that to the students?
6. How will students be organized to meet the objectives that they will be assessed on? Will students work as individuals, teams, as a whole class?
7. How will students be equipped to complete the project successfully? What will they have gained from the course up to the point of assigning the project that will aid them? What additional tools/skills/knowledge will students need as the project proceeds?
8. What will be the timeframe for the project? How will students be held accountable to the timeframe? At what points will students receive feedback on their progress?
9. Why should students care about the project? What will you do as an instructor to get student buy-in on the project?
10. How will students reflect throughout the project? What opportunities will you provide for students to pause and consider the work they have done?
This week I am leading a workshop at the 2016 AP Annual Conference on “Statistics, Significance, and Service” in Anaheim, CA. The talk is on integrating service-learning projects into AP Statistics curriculum, specifically with the goal of impacting students on an affective level. In addition to the resources that you will find below, feel free to check out some of the prior posts on service learning:
AP Conference Presentation: Serving the Community through Statistics: workshop with numerous resources for integrating service-learning into AP Statistics, presented at the 2015 AP Annual Conference. I’ll be giving a follow-up workshop at the 2016 AP Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA.
CAMT 2012 Presentation: Presentation I gave at the Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching based on the first statistics service-learning project mentioned above.
Geometry and the Homeless: the first service-learning project I did with my geometry students. An updated version from this last school year should find its way onto the site by mid summer.
ABSTRACT:
This session will equip participants to design, implement, and evaluate service-learning based statistics projects in which students partner with non-profit organizations in their local community. These projects synthesize the major concepts of experimental design, data analysis, and statistical inference in the real-world context of community service, ultimately cultivating in students a deeper appreciation for the discipline of statistics. In this session participants will evaluate successful examples of such projects, critically analyze the benefits of the innovative assessment methods involved, and engage in discussion assessing the feasibility and logistics of implementing service projects in their own curriculum.
(This session will expand on the session “Serving the Community through Statistics” from the 2015 AP Annual Conference by including results of my completed dissertation research on cultivating a productive disposition in statistics students through service learning)
PRESENTATION:
You can click the image below to find the PowerPoint that accompanied my presentation.
10 THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE IMPLEMENTING A SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECT:
The following are the foundational questions that you as an instructor should consider and reflect upon prior to implementing a service-learning project. This list is not meant to be chronological though some aspects will naturally precede others. Start by considering the course learning objectives and your method of assessing those objectives and then go from there.
1.What are the major learning objectives/big ideas/enduring understandings for your course?
The purpose of the AP course in statistics is to introduce students to the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing and drawing conclusions from data. Students are exposed to four broad conceptual themes:
Exploring Data: Describing patterns and departures from patterns
Sampling and Experimentation: Planning and conducting a study
Anticipating Patterns: Exploring random phenomena using probability and simulation
Statistical Inference: Estimating population parameters and testing hypotheses
2. What are real-world situations where students can apply the concepts studied in your course?
Identifying a non-profit service agency which requires survey research (program evaluation, client needs assessment, etc.)
Students develop a survey instrument, conduct survey, compile and code data, analyze data, present results
3. List some potential community partners along with some basic descriptors that may impact how your students work with each partner (ex: What is the size of the organization? What issues does the organization address? Is the organization non-profit, governmental, religiously affiliated? Etc.) In lieu of a partner organization you can also consider a general community need for students to address. List some general descriptors of the project involved in addressing this community need.
4. Look for potential matches between organizations on your list from question 3 and your responses to questions 1 and 2. If there are multiple potential matches then consider the pros/cons of each and list them. Be sure to recognize how your matching affects the organization of the project (large scale as a class v. small scale as groups), which in turn may affect your response to question 5 below.
5. Once you have begun narrowing potential community partners that offer opportunities for students to interact with course content, consider how will you assess students? What will be the final product? What expectations will you have for students throughout the project and how will you communicate that to the students?
6. How will students be organized to meet the objectives that they will be assessed on? Will students work as individuals, teams, as a whole class?
7. How will students be equipped to complete the project successfully? What will they have gained from the course up to the point of assigning the project that will aid them? What additional tools/skills/knowledge will students need as the project proceeds?
8. What will be the timeframe for the project? How will students be held accountable to the timeframe? At what points will students receive feedback on their progress?
9. Why should students care about the project? What will you do as an instructor to get student buy-in on the project?
10. How will students reflect throughout the project? What opportunities will you provide for students to pause and consider the work they have done?
HANDOUTS:
From my 2015-16 AP Statistics Project (Organized as an entire class project over the full year):
Reed, G. (2005). “Perspectives on statistics projects in a service-learning framework.” In C.R. Hadlock (Ed.), Mathematics in service to the community: Concepts and models for service-learning in the mathematical sciences. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America.
Root, R., Thorme, T., & Gray, C. (2005). “Making meaning, applying statistics.” In C.R. Hadlock (Ed.), Mathematics in service to the community: Concepts and models for service-learning in the mathematical sciences. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America.
Sungur, E.A., Anderson, J.E., & Winchester, B.S. (2005). “Integration of service-learning into statistics education.” In C.R. Hadlock (Ed.), Mathematics in service to the community: Concepts and models for service-learning in the mathematical sciences. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America.
Hydorn, D.L. (2005). “Community service projects in a first statistics course.” In C.R. Hadlock (Ed.), Mathematics in service to the community: Concepts and models for service-learning in the mathematical sciences. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America.
Massey, M. (2005). “Service-learning projects in data interpretation.” In C.R. Hadlock (Ed.), Mathematics in service to the community: Concepts and models for service-learning in the mathematical sciences. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America.
Chapter 6: Getting Down to Work
Webster, J. & Vinsonhaler, C. (2005). “Getting down to work – a ‘how-to’ guide for designing and teaching a service-learning course.” In C.R. Hadlock (Ed.), Mathematics in service to the community: Concepts and models for service-learning in the mathematical sciences. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America.
Duke, J.I. (1999). “Service-Learning: taking mathematics into the real world.” The Mathematics Teacher, 92 (9), pp. 794-796, 799.
Leong, J. (2006). High school students’ attitudes and beliefs regarding statistics in a service-learning-based statistics course. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Georgia State University.
For many of the service-learning projects that my students have completed I am indebted to the willing partnership of Mobile Loaves and Fishes. Here is some introductory information on this great ministry:
This week I am leading a workshop at the 2016 Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching in San Antonio, TX on “Cultivating Mathematical Affections through Service-Learning.” The talk is on integrating service-learning projects into mathematics curriculum, specifically with the goal of impacting students on an affective level. Since this is my dissertation topic, I’ve written about it numerous times before here on GodandMath.com. In addition to the resources that you will find below, feel free to check out some of the prior posts on service learning:
AP Conference Presentation: Serving the Community through Statistics: workshop with numerous resources for integrating service-learning into AP Statistics, presented at the 2015 AP Annual Conference. I’ll be giving a follow-up workshop at the 2016 AP Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA.
CAMT 2012 Presentation: Presentation I gave at the Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching based on the first statistics service-learning project mentioned above.
Geometry and the Homeless: the first service-learning project I did with my geometry students. An updated version from this last school year should find its way onto the site by mid summer.
ABSTRACT:
This session will equip participants to design, implement, and evaluate service-learning projects in which students partner with non-profit organizations. Through these projects, students integrate their conceptual understanding of math with the practical functioning of their local community, ultimately gaining deeper knowledge of content and a deeper appreciation for the role math plays in society. Examples from geometry and statistics will be provided.
PRESENTATION:
You can click the image below to find the PowerPoint that accompanied my presentation.
For many of the service-learning projects that my students have completed I am indebted to the willing partnership of Mobile Loaves and Fishes. Here is some introductory information on this great ministry:
10 THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE IMPLEMENTING A SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECT:
The following are the foundational questions that you as an instructor should consider and reflect upon prior to implementing a service-learning project. This list is not meant to be chronological though some aspects will naturally precede others. Start by considering the course learning objectives and your method of assessing those objectives and then go from there.
1.What are the major learning objectives/big ideas/enduring understandings for your course?
2. What are real-world situations where students can apply the concepts studied in your course?
3. List some potential community partners along with some basic descriptors that may impact how your students work with each partner (ex: What is the size of the organization? What issues does the organization address? Is the organization non-profit, governmental, religiously affiliated? Etc.) In lieu of a partner organization you can also consider a general community need for students to address. List some general descriptors of the project involved in addressing this community need.
4. Look for potential matches between organizations on your list from question 3 and your responses to questions 1 and 2. If there are multiple potential matches then consider the pros/cons of each and list them. Be sure to recognize how your matching affects the organization of the project (large scale as a class v. small scale as groups), which in turn may affect your response to question 5 below.
5. Once you have begun narrowing potential community partners that offer opportunities for students to interact with course content, consider how will you assess students? What will be the final product? What expectations will you have for students throughout the project and how will you communicate that to the students?
6. How will students be organized to meet the objectives that they will be assessed on? Will students work as individuals, teams, as a whole class?
7. How will students be equipped to complete the project successfully? What will they have gained from the course up to the point of assigning the project that will aid them? What additional tools/skills/knowledge will students need as the project proceeds?
8. What will be the timeframe for the project? How will students be held accountable to the timeframe? At what points will students receive feedback on their progress?
9. Why should students care about the project? What will you do as an instructor to get student buy-in on the project?
10. How will students reflect throughout the project? What opportunities will you provide for students to pause and consider the work they have done?
This week I am leading a workshop at the 2015 AP Conference in Austin, TX on “Serving the Community through Statistics: A Capstone Project.” The talk is on integrating service-learning projects into AP Statistics. Being that this is kinda my dissertation topic, I’ve written about it numerous times before here on GodandMath.com. In addition to the resources that you will find below, feel free to check out some of the prior posts on service learning:
CAMT 2012 Presentation: Presentation I gave at the Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching based on the first statistics service-learning project mentioned above.
Geometry and the Homeless: the first service-learning project I did with my geometry students. An updated version from this last school year should find its way onto the site by mid summer.
ABSTRACT:
This session will equip participants to design, implement, and evaluate service-learning based statistics projects in which students partner with non-profit organizations in their local community. These projects synthesize the major concepts of experimental design, data analysis, and statistical inference in the real-world context of community service. Through these projects students integrate their conceptual understanding of statistics with the practical functioning of their local community, ultimately gaining a deeper appreciation for the role statistics plays in the organization and evaluation of service societies. In this session participants will explore several successful examples of such projects, identify the key components of a successful project, engage in discussion assessing the feasibility and logistics of implementing service projects in their own curriculum, and critique project evaluation rubrics.
PRESENTATION:
You can click the image below to find the PowerPoint that accompanied my presentation.
SUMMARY PACKET:
I prepared a packet of information for those attending my session. You can access the packet here. The packet contains the following:
Presentation Outline
Classroom Handouts
Resources
ADDITIONAL HANDOUTS:
I could not include every classroom handout that I use in the packet that I prepared. Here are some of those additional handouts:
This week I am giving two different talks at the 2015 Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Antonio, TX. What follows is information relating to the second talk. You can find my first talk here. My first talk was on cultivating mathematical affections – how we can change the way we understand affect in math education to produce students who value their mathematical experiences. My second talk is actually one practical example that can you can implement in the classroom to instill in students an appreciation of mathematics.
This talk was for a session on best practices for teaching introductory statistics. The focus of my talk was on integrating service-learning projects into the statistics curriculum, a topic that I have written about numerous times here at GodandMath. In addition to the resources that you will find below, feel free to check out some of the prior posts on service learning:
Serving through Statistics: the first (and largest) service project that I implemented complete with video summaries and interview with students.
CAMT 2012 Presentation: Presentation I gave at the Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching based on the first statistics service-learning project mentioned above.
Geometry and the Homeless: the first service-learning project I did with my geometry students. An updated version from this last school year should find its way onto the site by mid summer.
ABSTRACT:
This presentation will outline the design, implementation, and evaluation of service-learning based statistics projects in which students partner with non-profit organizations in their local community. These projects synthesize the major concepts of experimental design, data analysis, and statistical inference in the real-world context of community service. Through these projects students integrate their conceptual understanding of statistics with the practical functioning of their local community, ultimately gaining a deeper appreciation for the role statistics plays in the organization and evaluation of service societies. Successful examples and practical resources will be provided.
PRESENTATION:
Below you will find the PowerPoint that accompanied my short 10 minute presentation (click on the image below to access the PowerPoint). Due to time constraints, the meat of the information can be found in the resource documents that I have also included below.
OUTLINE:
The main question I aim to address is this: what is the best resource that a teacher can introduce into his/her statistics classroom to help students make meaningful connections between course material and the true value of statistics?
I don’t think it is technology (be that calculators, iPhone apps, online applets, or statistical software packages) which is often discussed as a teaching aid in statistics. I don’t even think that is integrating current articles and published studies into classroom discussion.
Don’t get me wrong, both technology and current events can be powerful pedagogical tools and there certainly is a place for them in the classroom. As a teacher who regularly uses technology and “real-life” articles in my lessons, I would like to submit to you that there is actually something else, something better, that when used well can really cement the value of statistics in the hearts and minds of students. That something: service-learning. As it turns out, I think the best resource that you can introduce into a statistics classroom is to actually get the students out of the classroom and into the local community.
Why I think service-learning is an effective vehicle for communicating the significance and value of statistics to students:
Students are actually doing statistics.
There is something about the physical practice of getting outside the classroom to collect and analyze data that implants an appreciation for the processes of statistics into students.
Students are actually doing statistics in an unfamiliar/uncomfortable (read: human) way.
In service-learning there is interaction with actual human beings. The data on the paper now has a face and the analysis becomes a little messier and less clinical. I find this tends to stretch students out of their comfort zone in a good way. It also encourages their focus to shift from individualistic outcomes (such as what grade they might receive) to more altruistic aims of education.
Students are actually doing statistics in an unfamiliar/uncomfortable (read: human) way and they (as well as the community) are experiencing firsthand the fruits of their labor.
I require students to complete their project by giving an oral presentation to the service agency. Interpreting confidence intervals/levels, p-values, and significance levels becomes so much more meaningful to students when they have to explain these concepts to a service-agency and build connections for the agency as to what to do with this information practically moving forward.
DESIGN:
A non-profit service agency which requires survey research for program evaluation, grant applications, or client needs assessment is identified by the students.
Students will participate in a group which will provide the following services:
Meeting with agency and developing a survey instrument
Piloting and conducting survey*
Compiling, organizing, and analyzing data
Presenting final results to the agency
The teacher acts as a consulting facilitator outside of the direct chain of project command
KEYS TO SUCCESS:
The Power of Choice
Students have a vested interest in a personal topic
“How can we apply the concepts learned in statistics to benefit our local community/service agencies?”
Meaningful Applications
Real life scenario with real people
The “Aha Moment” – Deep connections drawn from course material to project implementation
Improving Civic Mindset, Professionalism, and Presentation Skills
Obligation is to the community/organization, not just a grade
Comfort levels stretched through community interaction
Required Reflection Beyond Calculations
Students chose the topic so they have to defend why it matters
Importance of statistics cemented
NEED FOR REFLECTION:
“Some people may think that this reflection process refers to a kind of ‘touchy-feely’ exercise that might be quite foreign to the mathematics classroom. I prefer to think of it as the processing of a rather complex set of experiences to assure that students share and solidify their insights and thus obtain maximum lasting benefits. This has actually been one of the most important contributions of the service-learning initiative.”
Hadlock (2005)
“Service-learning in its most effective and well-developed sense is more than another name for ‘real-world learning’ and consists of more than applied work in the public/non-profit sector. It involves a multilayered reflection process that can substantially increase its educational value in a broad sense…. Service-learning reflection asks the learner to become more aware of what he/she brings to the learning process: values, assumptions, biases – many of which are unexamined and potentially problematic….To leave these aspects unexplored would be to miss a vital educational opportunity, for they invariably stir up thoughts and feelings highly deserving of reflection and discussion.”
Zlotowski (2005)
Check out the presentation and the resource documents for more information. Always feel free to contact me through this site if you have any further questions or want to discuss the topic in more detail.
Service-Learning in Mathematics 