Probing Questions

Teacher: Mary Bauwens

Interview

Overview

Principles of Learning

Information Processing

Content Standards

Tenets of Democracy

Questions

Interview: Previewing Questions

1. As a teacher, how would you assess a student-conducted interview? What assessment criteria do you consider the most relevant for an interview?

2. Discuss the technology tools you think are important for conducting an interview and the ways in which each of them contributes to the success of the interview.

3. How much responsibility do you, as a teacher, allow your students to have while conducting an interview? In which areas would you offer your support? In which cases would you allow your students to assume the whole responsibility?

Interview: Post-viewing Questions

1. How did Bauwens extend an older unit on Communities to include technology? What was her reason for doing that?

2. How does Bauwens’ assessment rubric differ from a regular assessment rubric? What are the aspects she assesses?

3. What technology tools are Bauwens’ students using during this project? In which way would this project have been different if the school partially lacked these technologies?

Overview: Previewing Questions

1. As an elementary student, were you ever asked to develop and conduct an interview with a famous person or community member? If so, what person did you choose to interview and how did you prepare in advance for the interview?

2. What technology tools did you make use of while conducting the interview? How did they hinder/help you during the interview process?

3. How would those tools differ today, if you were to conduct an interview again? What new tools would you consider more helpful, compared to those used 15 years ago? Explain.

Overview: Post-viewing Questions

1. The teacher starts this activity by modeling to her students an interview she conducted with Mr. Shakespeare. What makes an interview good, according to Bauwens? What are the steps she encourages her students to follow in order to successfully interview the personality they chose?

2. What technology competencies will Bauwens’ students acquire while they conduct the interview? What is the significance of these competencies?

3. Discuss Bauwens’ assessment rubric, as it appears in her lesson plan. If you were the teacher of this class, would you assess your students differently? What would you add or delete from the table?

Principles of  Learning: Previewing Questions

1. Read Peter Ewell’s article: “Organizing for Learning: A Point of Entry”, as it is presented in The Principles of Learning. According to you, what are the three most important principles?

2. How can Active Involvement enhance student learning?

3. How does Direct Experience affect how a person learns? Think of an example of something you want to learn, in which direct experience can help. How or why would the direct experience help in your learning?

Principles of  Learning: Post-viewing Questions

1. How did Bauwens’students display Active Involvement in this project?

2. What aspects of this lesson enable students to gain Direct Experience? How do they apply their skills and knowledge in a real-world situation?

3. How does the teacher help her students engage in sense-making?

Information Processing: Previewing Questions

1. Describe the steps an interviewer typically follows prior to conducting an interview in the Presearch stage of Information Processing.

2. Discuss the advantages/disadvantages an interview might have over information obtained from a book or the Internet.

3. How can the teacher involve students in the Interpretation of information? Name some activities.

Information Processing: Post-viewing Questions

1. In what ways does Bauwens lead her students in the Presearch stage of Information processing?

2. What is the search strategy planned by the students? Could you add more concepts to the list? 

3. How do the students communicate the information acquired to their peers? Can you think of other ways to guide the students in the Communication stage of Information Processing?

Content  Standards: Previewing Questions

1. Read the summary of Content Standards in the model. What are the three primary goals that content standards can accomplish? Do you think that content standards accomplish these goals in education? Why or why not?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of addressing content standards from different subject areas in the same project?

3. What factors does a teacher have to consider before integrating a specific standard into a lesson plan? 

Content  Standards: Post-viewing Questions

1. What are the activities that allow the implementation of Technology Performance Indicator Number 5 for Grades 3-5? What does this indicator address?

2. English Language Arts Standard Number 3 requires that students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret and evaluate texts. How are these requirements met by this class project?

3. How is English Language Arts Standard Number 6 demonstrated by this lesson’ s activities? 

Tenets of Democracy: Previewing Questions

1. Review the checklist of Observable Behaviors for Thinking Together and Making Meaning. Brainstorm activities that address these behaviors. Which of them do you consider would be more difficult to implement in a lesson and why?

2. According to Yankelovich, one of the definitions of dialogue is, “to seek mutual understanding and harmony.” Think about situations in which conflicts may appear in dialogue and give examples of strategies people might use to solve these conflicts.

3. How do you envision a democratic classroom setting? What are the characteristics of such a setting?

Tenets of Democracy: Post-viewing Questions

1. How does the teacher in this video create a democratic classroom setting?

2. How do Bauwens’ students demonstrate Civil Involvement with Others in their use of a digital camera? What behaviors do they display in their collaborative work?

3. What are the activities that enable the students to engage in Thinking Together?

Technology: Previewing Questions

1. Brainstorm activities you could use to teach 3rd graders how to use Word Processing software.

2. What technology tools were utilized most when you were a primary education student? Discuss their significance to student learning.

3. What technology should 3rd and 4th graders have a clear understanding of? How are schools vital in the process of learning about technology?

Technology: Post-viewing Questions

1. How is Technology Competency Number 4, Equipment Operation demonstrated in this lesson?

2. How does the teacher model the appropriate use and care of the technology tools needed in this lesson? What type of Technology Competency does this activity address?

3. How does Bauwens demonstrate Technology Competency Number 13? How does this improve student learning?

Teacher Knowledge : Previewing Questions

1. If you were to teach 3rd grade gifted students, how do you think the curriculum would differ from a regular 3rd grade curriculum? 

2. Do you think working with gifted students is more challenging than working with regular classroom students? If so, explain why.

3. Do you think gifted students, regular classroom students and students with learning disabilities can work together on the same class project? What could be some of the challenges both the teacher and the students might face as a result of such collaboration?

Teacher Knowledge : Post-viewing Questions

1. In what way is Bauwens’ In-Depth Content Knowledge evident in her method of Instruction?

2. How does Bauwens demonstrate Knowledge of Student Characteristics in the way she developed the curriculum to meet the needs of gifted students?

3. What activities does Bauwens use to address her students’ Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence?

Teacher Behavior: Previewing Questions

1. What characteristics must teachers possess to display proper Classroom Management?

2. In your own words, what is Pedagogy? How would a teacher’s pedagogy affect his/her communication with students? Give specific examples.

3. What do you feel is the most important aspect of effective classroom management? 

Teacher Behavior: Post-viewing Questions

1. How is Bauwens’ Pedagogy reflected in her choice of instructional resources?

2. How does Bauwens manage group work? How does this demonstrate Content Management?

3. The activities Bauwens developed for this project aimed to promote positive student achievement. Do you consider her successful?