Perplexity and Why I Love Dan Meyer

​I came across a Youtube video of a keynote that Dan Meyer gave entitled Teaching for Perplexity. ​ A colleague of mine has been a big fan of his for a while, but I just figured that it was probably a "math teacher" thing.  You know how that goes.  Though I have read some of his blog posts, it wasn't until I saw this video that I fell head over heels in love with his mission and his approach to teaching.  Paul Andersen, watch out!  I fear you have some competition for my #1 educator crush.  I identify completely with his purpose, and he articulates it so perfectly with this idea of perplexity.  So if you haven't seen him speak about this yet, stop reading and watch the video. 

Allow me to rephrase the question that guides his practice for my own selfish purposes. 

How do you generate engaging and challenging curriculum from the BIOLOGY you encounter in your own life?​

A couple of weeks ago, I received this text message from a friend:  ​

So on my way home, I saw yet another albino.  It seems like there are quite a few of them here.  Is this because they are more noticeable here than in Caucasian ​populations or is there a biological explanation?  No hurry answering, its just a lingering wondering. 

​Friend CAPTURED PERPLEXITY. 

​We are starting genetics in class tomorrow, so after receiving this text, I threw out my lesson plan and decided to teach genes, chromosomes, and mutations using a collaborative learning approach to answering this question.  I created a Google Doc with the following instructions: 

(copy of text message)

I have decided to send this out to you guys to collaborate on an answer and get back to her.

What do we need to know? Hint:  Your first step better be to address the syllabus topics in 4.1. :-)  (see where I am going with this?)

 Having said that, what ELSE do you need to know to accurately and completely answer her question.

Identify your big buckets here (add additional buckets if needed): 

This is a collaborative doc.  I expect to see all of you contributing to this doc.  You will indicate your contributions by selecting a color and including your name in parentheses after your contribution.  Since this is an open ended question, there is room for everyone to spin off and investigate a part of this question on your own.  It needs to be completed before the next class.  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.  I will not be "teaching" 4.1.1-4.1.3 as I expect you to learn these syllabus statements through your research.  We will discuss the answer to this question as well as evidence for 4.1.4 in class on Wednesday.  I will be checking on this doc to monitor your progress and add my two rupees from time to time! 

I SHARED PERPLEXITY.  ​

Right now as I write this post, my students are on fire on the doc.  They have already defined and identified the mutations and chromosomes and modes of transmission that are responsible for the four different types of albinism along with the characteristics of each.  They are analyzing data (graphs and stats) and even looking at gel electrophoresis and pedigrees.  They are also beginning to toss around theories ​regarding the social and cultural practices of Indians that could impact the incidence of albinism in the country.

They are even exploring tangents:  :-)

"Of course, in the winter an albino animal would have excellent camouflage."  Hmmmm....

Sounds to me like they are in the process of RESOLVING PERPLEXITY.​

At the end of this assignment, we might have an answer, we might not.  My takeaways: 

1. I will not have to lecture tomorrow about genes, chromosomes, and mutations.  ​
2. We have abandoned rote memorization and replaced it with a great learning experience.  ​
3. My students are not just learning about genetics at the moment.  They are analyzing data, critically evaluating resources and information, exploring tangents, making connections and framing it all in a cultural setting that they experience on a daily basis. 
   
4. I am totally stoked about class tomorrow and can't wait to dig into the mess that they have created with their exploration.  ​

​Up next for discussion?  Sickle Cell Anemia vs. Malaria:  How can something so bad be so good?

So thank you, Dan, for giving me the words to articulate what it is that I do.  I will  be sure to share our findings once we unravel this mystery.  But for now, I must go add some probing questions to the doc to send them all further down this rabbit hole of perplexity!  ​

Update:  My class's summary answer to this perplexing question can be found in the following post.  ​

IB Exam Review with Image Quiz

While scanning through some new tools posted on the blog Educational Technology and Mobile Learning by Med Kharbach, I came across this new online quiz create called Image Quiz.  This tool allows you to post images and quiz students on structures and functions.  Though it is still in its beta form, this tool has some great potential. 

In IB Biology, the list of structure-function diagrams that students are required to know is quite extensive.  My seniors will be finishing their syllabus in the next couple of classes, and then the intensive two-year review begins as they prepare for their exams in May.  During review, I typically provide my students with a list of diagrams that they need to be able to draw and annotate with the respective functions of different structures.  This year I am thinking of incorporating this tool into this review process. 

For my purposes, I can see two key applications of Image quiz.  The first is the simple labeling of structures.  Below is one that I made for the male reproductive system.  ​

You can click through on the image to take the quiz.  This is one type of question that students might get on a Paper 1 exam in biology.  ​

The second is quiz to test their knowledge of the functions of different structures.  The plant diagram at the top of this post is an example of this type of quiz.  Again you can click on the image to take the quiz.  ​

So this is how it works.  You need to first select an image that you want to use for the quiz.  You can either use a image URL or a file from your computer. 

​You then fill out the fields on the screen above and go to create quiz.  On the next screen, you outline the areas of the image that you want the students to click on and then you enter your descriptor. 

For example, in the image above, I would outline the germinal epithelium cell identified in the micrograph by drawing a box around the area in green.  When I complete the box, I double click and a text box appears.  Depending on what I want the students to do, I would either enter the name of the cell or I could write the function of the cell.  You then click submit and then continue to outline structures.  When you finish, you click submit outlines, and the quiz is ready to go. 

As I mentioned before, this is still in its beta form, so I have a few tips on how to avoid some of the issues that I encountered.  ​

1. ​Be sure to select an image that is large enough for outlining.  Once you submit your title and image etc. you can't go back and change it for that quiz.  You will have to start from scratch.  A couple of times I used an image online that was too small once I moved to the outlining page.  If this happens, just submit the outlines and then you will have the opportunity to delete the quiz. 
   
2. When selecting an image, be sure that you select one that has the area indicated with either an arrow or letter etc. if there are multiple areas on an image that they could select.  If you look at the leaf quiz that I created, there are several areas on the screen that could be selected for the palisade mesophyll.  Since I cannot select multiple areas for one question, I indicated the areas that they were to choose from to turn it into more of a matching exercise.  ​This of course is not necessary if you there is only one possible area to select. 
   
3. If you don't find an image that fits these specification, you can always use a image editing tool to create the image that you want as you can upload images from your computer. Skitch is a handy online tool for this purpose.  ​
   
4. Be sure to plan out how you want them to indicate their answers on your picture and include those instructions in your description.  As long as you are logged in, you can edit the quiz after completing it.  When it takes you to quiz mode, you will find both the edit and delete buttons.  Here you can revise your instructions if additional instructions are needed.   ​If you do make edits, this program will save it as a new quiz, so you want to delete older versions.  These can be found under the "my submissions" tab.
   
5. The outlining is pretty easy, but occasionally you make mistakes in your outline or it submits before you are finished due to a clicking error.  If this happens, I just enter the word delete in the text box, and then when I finish my outlining, I delete all of these outlines by clicking the trash can image (see above).  ​

​I have emailed the developer about these issues, so hopefully these will not be a problem once it is out of beta.  Regardless this is an easy tool to use for both teachers and students.  As part of my review, I am going to have students signup to create quizzes for each of the required diagrams in the syllabus.  When I finish putting this together, I will post the assignment under the IB Biology lessons tab.  For those of you teaching online classes or using blended learning in the classroom, this would be a great way for students to assess their understanding as they navigate the material.  This would also be great for foreign language teachers for connecting vocabulary with images in scenes.

If you know of an alternative tool that I could use, I would love to hear about it.  ​

Update:  The developer wrote me back within a couple of hours.  He was very helpful with answering my questions.  If you run into any issues, you can contact him at:  simon@imagequiz.co.uk

Knowledgeable Networker Part II: It Takes One to Know One

Image credit:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/75279887@N05/6914441342/

The other day, a colleague of mine asked me how to insert a hyperlink with text into a Google spreadsheet.  I remembered doing this once before, but I had forgotten how to do it because I don't practice it on a regular basis.  I immediately searched for a solution and within 30 seconds, I solved her problem. In case you are wondering, you simply enter the following code:  =HYPERLINK ("URL","visible text"). Though I instinctively search out a solution on the Internet when I don't know the answer to something, I am not confident that this is everyone's instinct.  In fact I suspect that many people would give up on finding an answer before venturing down that rabbit hole.

My IB students just completed their photosynthesis design labs.  Since they have to take a minimum of five trials for each of their five independent variables, there is no way that they could have used one probe for all of their trials due to the time investment that would require.  As a result most of them ended up with data that was not aligned because the different probes were calibrated to a different starting point.  In order to take the mean and standard deviation of their five trials, they first have to calculate the cumulative change in their data.  As surprising as this might be, this is not instinctive for most students :-)  So today a student asked me how to do this on Excel.  After I explained the method to the class, Shiva the Destroyer had a look of exasperation on his face.  When I asked him if he was confused, he confessed that he had individually calculated each and every cell of his data rather than using the Excel functions to program a couple of cells and then dragging through the rest of his column.  Now, I don't know how many of you have used Vernier probes to collect data before, but imagine 25 trials with data points collected every 15 seconds for 10-20 minutes.  He might as well have just used a single probe to collect his data!  Just a few weeks ago, I posted about how resourceful Shiva was at finding information on the Internet.  Yet, when he encountered an issue with Excel, he did not think to use that same skill to solve his problem.  Nor did he think to come and ask me for a solution.  There are two other pieces of information that you need to consider when you reflect on this.  Shiva is taking two higher level science courses, and this was at least the third design lab in biology that we have done in a year and a half where he has had to process his data in this manner.  He had been shown this method before as had the rest of my students.

What are my takeaways?  ​

1. We as teachers in the 21st century need to be knowledgeable networkers.  If you are not sure what this is, check out the links in my previous post, Old Habits...Don't Seem to Die.  If you rely on textbooks for the majority of your information, how will you prepare your students for what awaits them once they graduate?  Check out this provocative video called Infowhelm and Information Fluency.
   
2. I am responsible for the fact that my students did not remember how to process their data using Excel.  ​Practicing this skill on three isolated assessments over a year and a half was not sufficient to make this stick.  However, in this day and age, that is not my failure.  My failure is that they did not take the initiative to find a solution to their problem on their own.
   
3. It is not good enough to just model these practices.  We need to embed these skills into our lessons across disciplines on a regular basis so that our kids can not only practice these skills but also transfer them to new situations. 
   

​On a positive note, Shiva did redeem himself.  I posted a link to Kottke's blog on our Facebook group and asked the kids to identify the specific enzymes used to produce the sugars mentioned.  The Destroyer had an answer for me within minutes.  :-)

Oh, and if you are ever wondering how to customize error bars using the 2008 version of Excel for a Mac, here is a video tutorial for you :-) 

Kanye of the Biological Grammys

​This morning before school, I received this message:  ​

Student:  NUKE NUKE NUKE NUKE! I may have found the best cell respiration video EVER like EVER!  Biororz post worthy even (clearly I agree).  ​

Me:  ​(Ignoring him) It is 8:10, you better be no more than 5 minutes from school.  Don't be late!  (class starts at 8:30)

Student:  (Ignoring me) It's called Oxidate or Love it.  Soooooo goood! I have no words.  It's perfect! ​

Now I don't know the last time you saw a student this excited about cellular respiration, but it is a pretty unusual occurrence for me.  The video that he was referring to was made by Tom McFadden, who was working on his masters degree in "Popularizing Science" in New Zealand.  Check it out!  It makes me want to go back to school.  ​He is now my poster "child" for song lyric adaptation described in my post, Mitosis Revisited.  I will definitely be including this video as THE example when I introduce this to my next group of IB biology students.  I might just have to make a change from the Academy Awards to the Grammys!  Their attempts at raising the bar should be entertaining to say the least!  Be sure to check out his blog, The Rhymebosome: A primordial soup of biology, hip hop, and education.  It is really great!   You can download a pdf of the lyrics to Oxidate it or Love it from his blog.  Thanks Tom for making my job easier.  I had a student ask me to post the video to our Facebook group so that she could memorize the lyrics for the test.  I can live with that.  My favorite lyrics? Definitely NADH HYDRO and Oxy Phoz!  I might just start using this lingo when I teach it.  NADPH HYDRO and Photo Phoz are coming up next.  I might not be able to wait for next year!