K-5 Geology Lesson Collaborrative Fifth-Grade Geology Lesson

K-5 Geology Lesson COLLABORRATIVE FIFTH-GRADE GEOLOGY LESSON Communicating Objectives: The objectives should be separated into those that relate to the course material and those that relate to the collaborative component. Regardless of the instructor's choice of methodology, students should understand that both aspects are equally important. To maximize student appreciation that working together efficiently and learning about geology are equal components of the practical lesson, the instructor should devote appropriate class discussion time to each element separately during the introductory lesson.

The substantive material should constitute roughly the first third of the lesson, including a discussion of the varied roles of geologists and the many useful applications of geology in the sciences, industry and technology. Ideally, the in-class discussion about geologists provides a transition to the second third of the lesson and the importance of collaborating with co-workers, in general, and particularly in the sciences.

The final third of the introductory lesson module consists of a brief in-class writing assignment, allowing students to define and explain various elements of both the substantive and collaborative components of the proposed practical geology lesson. Alternatively, the learning module can present the first two-thirds of the lesson, with the written portion assigned as homework between the introductory lesson and the practical lesson.

Written Protocol: The written assignment need not necessarily address the portion of the introductory material devoted to general principles of professional collaboration, because it will be incorporated into the portion of the written assignment pertaining to experimental protocol. Ideally, half the written assignment will reinforce geological principles, while the other half requires students to think about and explain the various tasks necessary.

In one incarnation, the instructor might provide a breakdown of the individual roles that the collaborative groups will share during the practical lesson in order for students to complete a written description of the respective roles and a procedure for working together. In an alternate incarnation, the instructor might allow the students to formulate their own conceptual understanding of how to breakdown the component tasks of the project within groups.

Reviewing Written Protocol: Regardless of which written protocol format the instructor selects, some time should be devoted to a review to determine whether or not additional instruction is required with regard to either (or both) the substantive geology lesson or the collaborative methodology. The main proviso in connection with the less guided version of the written protocol option is that it requires more time (at least half a subsequent learning module) between the introduction and practical modules.

In many respects, it is well worth the effort, because the less guided version allows students the opportunity to devise their own conceptual breakdowns of the various component tasks required by the practical module and to present them to the class during the protocol review (portion of the) lesson. Another advantage of the less guided version is that it presents a very natural transition to the group selection step.

Group Selection: It is anticipated that the less guided lesson version will lend itself to a natural gravitation between students sharing similar methodology conceptualizations when they explain their reasoning behind suggesting the various roles and tasks of proposed group members. Likewise, it is anticipated that where the more guided lesson version is appropriate, the instructor will (necessarily) play a more active role in group selection and composition.

It should be noted that either way, the instructor may still allow any degree of autonomy along the spectrum from students' selecting their own chosen partners to outright group/role assignment by the instructor. Generally, absolute student latitude will rarely be employed, but neither will rigid assignment often be necessary, either.

Ideally, the instructor will assist and supervise group selection to ensure that each group is composed of individual students likely to collaborate smoothly and which includes students enthusiastic about complementary aspects of the lesson (as opposed to groups where every member is primarily enthusiastic over the same individual role, for example). Monitoring and Facilitating Collaboration: Once the groups have been established and are ready for the practical lesson module, the instructor should assign a single rock (or set of several rocks) to enable.