KaraStucky

KansasStateUniversity
EDCI890
UnderstandingbyDesignTechnologyProject

ProjectDescription
Inthisproject,studentswillcreateapictureofafaceusinganonlinegraphingcalculator
calledDesmos(
www.desmos.com
).Thestudentswillapplytheirunderstandingoflinear
functions,quadraticfunctions,domain,andrangetodrawaface.Aftercreatingtheface,the
studentswillsharethepicturetheycreatedandreflectonwhattheyhavelearnedthrough
writingablogpost.EachstudenthasaChromebookthattheywillusetocompletethe
research,accesstheonlinegraphingcalculator,andcreatetheblogpost.

Rationale
TheUnderstandingbyDesign(UbD)frameworkallowsteacherstothinkpurposefully
aboutcurricularplanning.(McTighe,n.d.)Thisprocessisbrokendownintothreemainstages:
firstthedesiredresults,secondtheassessmentevidence,andfinallythelearningplan.Forthis
project,IwilluseaunitfromAlgebra1inwhichthestudentslearnaboutthecharacteristicsof
quadraticfunctions.Asaneducator,Iwantmystudentstounderstandthatonewaywemake
senseoftheworldaroundusisthroughmodelingrelationshipswithfunctionsinmathematics.
Thestudentswillbefocusingonquadraticfunctionsinthisunitwhilealsoreviewinglinear
functionsandexploringtwonewfunctions.Inthisrationale,IwillwalkthroughtheunitasI
wouldteachit.Youwillseevariouseducationaltheorieshighlightedthroughout,including
DalesConeofExperience,GardnersMultipleIntelligences,thehigherorderthinkingskillsin
BloomsTaxonomy,andBrunersConstructivistTheory.
Thisunitbeginswiththe
PennyCircle3Actactivity
.Typicallyamathunitwouldbegin
withtheteachergivingalectureonquadraticfunctions.Instead,thisactivelyengagesthe
studentsinthelearningprocess.Whilethestudentsdonothaveanauthenticexperiencewithin
thisunit,theydogettobeapartofacontrivedexperiencethroughthePennyCircleactivity.
AccordingtoDalesConeofExperience,learningthroughconcreteexperiencescultivatesbetter
memorythanthroughanabstractmethodsuchaslecture(Rhizome,n.d.).Also,thisactivityis
structuredintheYou,Yall,Wemethodwherestudentfirstworkindependently,theninsmall
groups,andfinallytheclasscomestogethertodiscussthelearningthathastakenplace.Thisis
inplaceoftheI,We,YoustructurethatissooftenseeninmathclassesintheUnitedStates
(Green,2014).Ratherthantheteachergivingthelessonandthenthestudentspracticingthe
skillstaught,thestudentsaregivenaproblemandtheopportunitytomakesenseofaconcept
forthemselves.ThisfallsundertheUbDlearninggoalto"makemeaning.Theteacher

engagesthestudentsintheinquiryprocesssothattheycanbegintocometoanunderstanding
oftheconceptforthemselves.(McTighe,2012)
AftercompletingthePennyCircleActivity,itisimportantforstudentstoexplaintheir
thinkingtotheclassandsharethevariousmethodstheyusedtofindtheirsolution.Thiswill
promptaclassdiscussionandevensomedirectinstructionfromtheteacherbasedonthe
topicsthatcomeupandthequestionsthestudentsask.Next,thestudentswilllearnmore
aboutquadraticfunctionsbydoingsomeresearchonline.Studentswillbeencouragedtostart
theirresearchonsitessuchas
mathworld.wolfram.com
,
www.mathopenref.com
,and
www.mathwarehouse.com
.Theywilllookupthecharacteristicsofaquadraticfunction:
parabola,vertex,maximum,minimum,zeros,andaxisofsymmetry.Thisactivitywillprovide
studentspracticefortheirperformanceassessmentwheretheyneedtoresearchtwonew
functions.
BoththePennyCircleActivityandtheonlineresearchhavebeendevelopedwith
BrunersConstructivistTheoryinmind.Theunderlyingideaofthistheoryisthatlearningisan
activeprocessinwhichlearnersconstructnewideasorconceptsbasedupontheircurrent/past
knowledge(Bruner,n.d.).Ratherthantheteacherlayingoutthepropertiesofquadratic
functions,thestudentsareengagedinaprocessofdiscoveringthepropertiesforthemselves.
Thestudentsaregivenanintriguingquestiontoanswerandthenaskedwhatinformationthey
willneedtoanswerthatquestion.Thiswholeprocessisrelyingonthestudentsprior
knowledgeandtheabilitytothinkcritically.
Next,itstimeforthestudentstoapplywhattheyhavelearnedbycompletinga
QuadraticFunctionsCardSortandaFormingQuadraticsCardMatch.Theseactivitieswill
givethestudentsanopportunitytopracticeidentifyingquadraticfunctionsandtheir
characteristics.Duringthistime,theteacherwilltakeonthecoachingroleandprovidesdirect
instructionasneededindividually,insmallgroups,ortothewholeclass.Studentswillworkin
smallgroupstomatchthecardsandexplaintheirthinking.Thishighlightstheverballinguistic
intelligence,givingthestudentspracticeinexpressingtheirmathematicalthinkingverbally.
Thefinaltwoactivitieshaveadualpurpose,allowingthestudentstolearnabout
quadraticfunctionswhilepracticingusingDesmos,anonlinegraphingcalculator.Studentswill
beintroducedtotransformingquadraticfunctionsthroughthe
QuadraticTransformationsPart
1Activity
inDesmos.Then,thestudentswillpracticetransformingquadraticfunctionsand
limitingthedomainandrangewiththe
Marbleslides:ParabolasActivity
inDesmos.These

activitieswillpreparestudentstotransferwhattheyhavelearnedaboutquadraticfunctionsand
theonlinegraphingtoolintotheperformanceassessment.
ThefinalpieceoftheUbDunitistoassessthestudentstoseeiftheyhavereachedthe
desiredresults.TheevidenceforthisunitinvolvescreatingapictureofafaceusingDesmos.
Studentswillgraphfunctionsandlimitthedomainandrangetocreateeyes,anose,amouth,
andotherelementssuchasachin,hair,ears,etc.Studentswillshowtheirunderstandingof
transformingquadraticfunctions,domain,andrangethroughthepicturetheycreate.Its
importanttonotethatthisassessmentinvolvescreating,ahigherorderthinkingskillas
identifiedbyBloomsTaxonomy.AftercreatingthefaceinDesmos,studentswilltakeascreen
capturetoincludeinablogpost.Thisfinalproductwillallowthestudentstosharethepicture
theycreatedandproduceawrittenexplanationabouttransformingquadraticfunctions.Itwill
challengestudentstoarticulatetheirthinkingandalsopushthemdotheirbestworkbecauseit
willbesharedonline.Thisprojectmotivatesstudentbyshowingthemhowcreativitycanbe
usedinmath.Thestudentshaveautonomyinwhattheycreatewhichalsostimulatestheir
interest.Inall,thisUbDunithasbeenconstructedwiththestudentinmind,focusingon
providingmanyopportunitiesforthestudenttomakemeaningandtransfertheirlearning.

AssessmentRubric

Meetsthe
Standard

FaceCharacteristics Thefacehaseyes,a

NewFunction

Doesnotmeetthe
Standard

Thefaceismissingone
ofthefollowing:eyes,a
nose,oramouth.

Thefaceismissingtwo
ormoreofthefollowing:
eyes,anose,oramouth.

Thefacehasmanylinear Thefacehasonelinear
andquadraticfunctions. andonequadratic
function.

Thefaceismissingeither
alinearoraquadratic
function.

nose,andamouth.

Functions

Approachesthe
Standard

Thefacehastwo
functionsthatwehave
notyetstudiedinAlgebra
class.

DomainandRange Boththedomainand

rangehavebeenlimited
inafunction.

Thefacehasone
Thefacedoesnothavea
functionthatwehavenot functionwehavenotyet
yetstudiedinAlgebra
studiedinAlgebraclass.
class.
Eitheronlythedomainor Neitherthedomainand
onlytherangehavebeen northerangehavebeen
limitedinafunction.
limitedinanyfunctions.

Creativity

Isunique,surprising,and Hasveryfewnewideas. Reliesonexisting

showsapersonaltouch. Mostideasare
models,ideas,or
predictableor
directions.Itisnotnewor
conventional.
unique.

Reflection

Postingprovides
comprehensiveinsight,
understanding,and
reflectivethoughtabout
thetopic.

Postingsprovide
moderateinsight,
understandingand
reflectivethoughtabout
thetopic.

Postingsshowno
evidenceofinsight,
understandingor
reflectivethoughtabout
thetopic.

BlogPost

Writtenresponseis
Writtenresponse
largelyfreeof
includessome
grammatical,spellingor grammatical,spellingor
punctuationerrors.The punctuationerrorsthat
styleofwritinggenerally distractthereader.
facilitatescommunication.

Writtenresponse
containsnumerous
grammatical,spellingor
punctuationerrors.The
styleofwritingdoesnot
facilitateeffective
communication.

(Franker,2012)

References
Bourassa,M.(n.d.).
QuadraticTransformationsPart1Activity
.RetrievedFebruary8th,2016,
from
https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/5626bd086053147c0df2fbd7
CAST:UniversalDesignforLearning.(n.d.).
CAST:AboutUDL
.RetrievedJuly28,2014,from
http://www.cast.org/udl/
ConstructivistTheory(J.Bruner).(n.d.).
TIP:Theories
.RetrievedJuly27,2014,from
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/tip/bruner.html
Franker,K.(2012,January17).
ARubricforEvaluatingStudentBlogs.
RetrievedJuly20,2014,
from
https://www2.uwstout.edu/content/profdev/rubrics/blogrubric.html
Green,E.(2014,July23).TheNewYorkTimes.
WhyDoAmericansStinkatMath?
.Retrieved
July28,2014,from
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/magazine/whydoamericansstinkatmath.html?re
ferrer=&_r=0
ISTEStandardsforTeachers.(2008).RetrievedFebruary8,2016,from
http://www.iste.org/standards/istestandards/standardsforteachers
ISTEStandardsforStudents.(2007).RetrievedFebruary8,2016,from
http://www.iste.org/standards/istestandards/standardsforstudents
Marbleslides:ParabolasActivity.(n.d.).RetrievedFebruary8th,2016,from
https://teacher.desmos.com/marbleslidesparabolas
MathematicsStandards.(n.d.).RetrievedJuly27,2014,from
http://www.corestandards.org/Math/
McTighe,J.(n.d.).
UbDinaNutshell
.RetrievedJuly28,2014,from
http://jaymctighe.com/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2011/04/UbDinaNutshell.pdf
McTighe,J.,&Wiggins,G.(2012).
UnderstandingbyDesignFramework.
RetrievedJuly27,
2014,from
http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/siteASCD/publications/UbD_WhitePaper0312.pdf
Meyer,D.(n.d.).
PennyCircle
.RetrievedFebruary8th,2016,from
http://threeacts.mrmeyer.com/pennycircle/
Nguyen,F.(2013,March21).
Desman.
RetrievedJuly20,2014,from
http://fawnnguyen.com/desman/
RhizomeguidetoDale'sConeofExperience.(n.d.).RetrievedJuly27,2014,from
https://rhizomenetwork.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/dalescone_web.pdf