Reflection 5 (Video Case Analysis)

http://www.edutopia.org/video/movie.php?reset=cookie&keyword=037&id=Art_909

Geometry in the Real World: Students as Architects, is a ten minute video about application within Eeva Reeder’s high school Geometry class. The last five weeks of her class are based around teams of two to three students who create a model of a high school in the year 2050. Included in the students’ projects are costs of the building, an architectural sketch, a 3-D model of one classroom within the school, and a final presentation of the complete project. The significance of this specific project is that Eeva had two professional architects come to the school to mentor the students throughout their learning and to evaluate their final projects. Eeva has been doing this project with her students for a few years, and has continued to actively engage her students and impress her colleagues.
There were a few technologies within the video that I recognized, but there was one that I am not familiar with. Students used Microsoft Powerpoint for a part of their presentation, and used an architectural program to create buildings. Within these buildings, students could create layouts of rooms including staircases, windows, tables, chairs, etc. It was nice to see the students smiling and enjoying this project because it was applicable to what some of them might do after their education. All the students produced their own projects using the technologies mentioned with the help of Eeva’s Geometry lessons and the assistance of the two professional architects. Each group had to learn to talk to each other and work toward a compromise in their project, which is a valuable lesson to be allowing them to do early on.
Eeva mentioned that her colleagues ask her how she can allow these students to do a five week project when there are other lessons to be covered. She said that within this project lie the lessons that the students need, and their active engagement in the projects are helping them learn and understand through practical use and discussion. Before Eeva could have begun this project, she would have had to consider what technologies were available to her students, and would those technologies contain the necessary provisions to help the students learn and complete their projects. From a pedagogical standpoint, Eeva would have to consider what cognitive activities that the students would elicit from participating in this project. She would have to ask herself how project-based learning can benefit her students. She probably knew that by giving her students something practical like this and letting them figure it out for themselves, they would become involved in it to a higher degree than normal.
In the video, assessment was based on architectural design, reasoning behind the work, and the presentation itself. Eeva had a rubric for each part of the assessment, so it was noticeable that she had been doing this for a few years and was comfortable with the process. As a teacher in Eeva’s situation, I would not sway from the way that she does it. I am not familiar with the architectural programs that she uses, so I could not compare it with other architectural programs. I might have students take a field trip early on to take pictures of modern architecture or browse the internet to look for modern architecture that could influence students’ ideas. Overall, allowing students to use technology at all is a step in the right direction, as this generation thrives on technology.