Chapter 6 Classroom Management PDF

Chapter 6 Classroom Management Considerations in Designing and Implementing STEM Project-Based Learning Jim Morgan Luciana R. Barroso Scott W. Slough CSU Engineering Zachry Department of Civil Professor of Science Education Charle...

Chapter 6 Classroom Management Considerations in Designing and Implementing STEM Project-Based Learning Jim Morgan Luciana R. Barroso Scott W. Slough CSU Engineering Zachry Department of Civil Professor of Science Education Charles Sturt University and Environmental Stephen F. Austin State Zachry Department of Civil Engineering University and Environmental Aggie STEM Engineering Texas A&M University Aggie STEM Texas A&M University Classroom management within a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) project-based learning (PBL) classroom involves two distinct issues: (1) how to design a PBL activity to maximize learning and the positive behavior of the learner and (2) a variety of topics related to the management of a classroom with groups of students working together. There is a mistaken perspective that STEM PBL simply involves creating an open-ended question and letting the students do all of the work, but this could not be further from the truth. Our definition of a well-defined outcome and an ill-defined task for STEM PBL has profound implications for classroom management (see Chapter 4: Engineering Better Projects). Although it may sound oxymoronic, a well-designed, ill-defined task does more than promote student learning. It also promotes student motivation and engagement, and, when paired with a well- defined outcome, it eases teacher and student concerns related to classroom management. Students are still expected to be on task; restrict conversations to planning, investigating, problem-solving, and communicating results; work in groups and individually; and follow procedures and routines (Wong & Wong, 2004). This chapter first deals with the design of a STEM PBL activity, as a good design will solve many classroom management concerns for both the teacher and the students. Secondly, it will deal with the issue of managing students working in groups, because implementing projects works better when both teachers and students are comfortable with the dynamics of a cooperative learning environment. 90 Classroom Management Considerations  Chapter Outcomes When you complete this chapter, you should better understand the issues related to students working in groups or teams the dynamics of a cooperative learning environment the features of an effective project When you complete this chapter, you should be able to design ill-defined tasks that encourage student learning and minimize classroom management concerns form, develop, train, and manage student groups develop effective STEM PBL activities Chapter Overview This chapter will describe the importance of implementing engaging activities to manage student behavior as well as strategies to maintain classroom focus. We then provide an example of how a teacher may successfully implement STEM PBL in a classroom while keeping students engaged and focused. Finally, we discuss the importance of teamwork for learning, the different characteristics of successful teamwork, and the various roles students may take when working in teams and how teachers can encourage and facilitate individual students taking on different roles throughout a long-term learning activity. Role of Ill-Defined Tasks to Promote Learning and Manage Behavior It is important to remember that the primary justification for STEM PBL is that active engagement generally leads to improved learning outcomes (Hake, 1988), which is fully supported by our definition of STEM PBL as a well-defined outcome and an ill-defined task (see Chapter 1). Classroom management in a STEM PBL environment is based on increasing active engagement and controlling the chaos. The first decision that promotes active engagement and control of chaos is the design of the STEM PBL activity itself. The well-defined outcome includes expectations for learning and behavior—even if the behavioral expectations are not explicitly stated. The ill-defined task is included to increase student motivation and engagement. Boredom, repetition, confusion about expectations, and easily completed tasks are a teacher’s enemy. It is a teacher’s responsibility to set the tone that is expected of students, namely to learn and to behave during PBL, just like the rest of the year. You do not get a second chance to make a good first impression. Well-established procedures and routines that allow students to actively engage in the task are critical and must be designed with as much care as selecting the learning objective. Remember, Classroom Management Considerations 91 the focus in a STEM PBL lesson is on what the student knows and is able to do, not what the teacher covered. Therefore, instead of procedures that emphasize listening to the teacher and following predetermined steps to problem solve, procedures that emphasize student engagement, decision making, and problem-solving need to be designed and implemented. Eventually, students internalize procedures into unprompted routines (for a full discussion of procedures and routines, see Wong & Wong, 2004). Beyond the development, implementation, and reinforcement of new procedures and routines, care must be taken to design projects that are in fact motivating and engaging to the students, not just the teacher. As such, projects that engage students in higher levels of learning through authentic tasks often result in the emergence of various learning outcomes in addition to the ones anticipated. Often, such projects include the characteristics of student-centered learning, students as teachers, teachers as coaches or facilitators, students working in groups, and performance-based assessment. Managing Behavior in Student-Centered Classroom Learning Activities Examples of some procedures for students to follow that are specific to student-led classroom activities such as STEM PBL include: 1. Check the board to see who is initiating project work today—the teacher or the students. 2. Record all design ideas in your lab notebook/journal. 3. Record all trials in your lab notebook/journal. 4. Keep in mind how you are going to communicate your results to others. 5. Keep in mind how you are going to answer your own questions. 6. Work cooperatively, not competitively. 7. All students are responsible for all phases of the project, regardless of their temporary roles within the group (see discussion on groups and roles below). In addition to the STEM PBL-specific routines that support increased student engagement, motivation, and problem-solving, specific routines that deal with working in groups need to be developed as well. The scariest part of adopting an active, inquiry-based pedagogy for many teachers is the potential loss of control of individual students and control of the classroom. Consistent application of traditional and STEM PBL-specific procedures will go a long way towards managing the behavior and learning of individual students and the class as a whole. Many teachers have been surprised by the increased attendance that accompanies team activities in class (students are sometimes willing to disappoint teachers but less willing to let down their classmates/team). Many techniques are listed in the active-learning literature; all 92 Classroom Management Considerations are simple, some are silly, but most require agreement in advance and practice to be effective. Some examples include: 1. Touchdown signal — The teacher makes a touchdown signal. Students seeing the signal raise their hands in a touchdown signal; students seeing this signal raise their hands in a touchdown signal, and so on. It is surprising how quickly a classroom becomes quiet; students who do not see the signal notice that the room is getting quiet and look up from their work. Of course, the students have to be informed that the signal means to (1) raise their hands, (2) stop talking, and (3) turn their attention toward the teacher. 2. Single raised hand — This method works much the same as the touchdown signal except that the teacher raises only one hand. 3. Air horn, bell, or buzzer — The signal is audible and (if neighbors are not nearby or if they are very understanding) can be either loud enough or at a frequency that will be noticed by even the most engaged students. 4. Blinking classroom lights — This method is silent and very effective; however, it must be used with caution if students are up and moving around or if there are obstacles in the room. 5. Other — Many teachers may simply move to the middle of the room and quietly give verbal instructions. Nearby students notice and become quiet. The teacher repeats the instructions; more students notice and become quiet. Gradually, the sound of silence propagates throughout the room. All of these procedures work if explained in advance, consistently applied by the teacher, and complied with by the students. Usually, students recognize the advantages to active participation versus passive learning and are thus willing to learn new procedures and routines as they solve new problems in more authentic learning environments. Designing PBL Projects To Promote Learning and Manage Behavior There are a variety of sources with lists of attributes of a good project. Although these lists are not the sole answer for designing good projects, they do provide a useful checklist. Classroom Management Considerations 93 Outstanding projects commonly: recognize students’ drive to learn make project work central rather than peripheral lead students to an in-depth exploration of important topics require the use of essential tools and skills, self-management of learning, and projects incorporate investigation, research, or reasoning include frequent feedback (opportunities to learn from experience) include high expectations and performance-based assessments encourage collaboration through small groups, student presentations, or peer and class evaluations of projects (Thomas et al., 1999) This list provides a convenient checklist when developing a project, converting problems into projects, or converting learning objectives into projects. The following sections give tips on modifying other STEM PBL activities, or other inquiry activities, as well as how to modify more traditional lesson plans into a STEM PBL format Modifying Other STEM PBL Activities A well-designed STEM PBL activity will have a well-defined outcome and an ill-defined task. If one is lucky enough to inherit a well-designed PBL lesson, then modification consists of assessing students’ prior knowledge, providing adequate resources, continuous individual and small group scaffolding, and the occasional whole-class discussion or direct instruction on an as-needed basis. Starting with a well-designed STEM PBL lesson is an excellent way to develop the procedures and routines you will implement in future STEM PBL lessons. Modifying Other Inquiry Activities The first task in modifying an inquiry activity into a STEM PBL activity is to develop a well- defined outcome. This assures that the activity is aligned with local, state, and national standards and communicates clear expectations for learning and behavior to the students. The second task is to check or modify the inquiry task to make sure that it meets the definition of ill-defined. This ensures that the primary elements of the STEM PBL lesson are in place, which will minimize off-task behavior. Modifying Teacher-Centered Instruction Modifying teacher-centered instruction requires the same emphasis on designing well-defined outcomes and ill-defined tasks. Good teacher-centered instruction should have easily modifiable learning objectives; the primary task at this point is to consider new behavioral objectives. Converting a teacher lecture or verification lab into an ill-defined task is quite 94 Classroom Management Considerations another task. The first priority for creating ill-defined tasks is to find a problem that has multiple reasonable solutions or multiple paths to a single solution. The connection between the well-defined outcome and the ill-defined task is as important to student behavior as it is to student learning. The consistent application of these two elements is the first routine that teachers should establish for themselves as they design STEM PBL. As teachers and students become more comfortable with this new style of learning, most of the new procedures will become routine. Teachers have to learn to trust themselves enough not to provide all of the answers, and they have to learn to trust that the students will be able to get to the place teachers want them to be without a step-by-step procedure. Although it does not matter how they get there, it is essential that they do get there. Communication in STEM PBL A final component of the design of the well-defined outcome that is essential to managing learning and behavior is the constant communication of learning and communication to learn. Students are communicating their conceptions, ideas, problems, and observations constantly during the STEM PBL activity. The teacher must support the active learning represented by this communication process or it becomes chaotic. It is important to share or post intermediate and final results of a project. This can be done by having different teams share their work or by the teacher summarizing the different approaches used by different teams of students. Either way, it is important to connect the projects back to the learning objectives; often, students can solve a problem or submit a good project and not realize that they used algebra, geometry, trigonometry, physics, and/or English (even though all are present in their solution). It is up to the teacher to help them celebrate their accomplishment and build self-confidence in applying the concepts that they have mastered and will need to demonstrate on assessments. Classroom Management Considerations 95 Figure 1. Mrs. Gonzalez’ Ninth Grade Integrated Physics and Chemistry Vignette Day 1 In a PBL activity on Non-Newtonian Fluids (see Appendix A), Mrs. Gonzalez introduces the following ill-defined task while playing with a large ball of silly putty at the front of the class (Engagement step of 5E model): What effect does percent water have on the viscosity of silly putty... and how can the general forms of functions help us interpret this relationship? The students are then given time to explore how to make silly putty, what exactly viscosity is, how it is measured, the general form of a function, what resources are available at the school that can be used to make silly putty, and why Mrs. Gonzalez is using math terms in a science class. The classroom becomes a blur of motion and the noise level increases. As an experienced teacher, Mrs. Gonzalez seems to ignore the noise and student motion. But closer inspection shows us that she is moving from group to group, checking progress, providing suggestions— never “the answer”—and keeping students on task. After the initial exploration phase (5E model), Mrs. Gonzalez has the students share ideas with the whole class before full-scale testing occurs. Day 2 Mrs. Gonzalez is still working the room. Students have found various recipes for making silly putty, GAK, and a host of other substances on the Internet. Mrs. Gonzalez has provided a limited set of materials, so the students are forced to choose a recipe that follows the general formula glue + borax + water = silly putty. After all of the groups have experimented with the mixture, Mrs. Gonzalez again has a whole-class discussion to make sure that all of the students are on task and to remind them how important taking good notes and having multiple trials will be in the next phase of data collection. Day 3 Students are wrapping up their explorations and beginning the explanation phase (5E model). Mrs. Gonzalez is focused today because she knows how critical today’s transition is—without good data, the students’ explanations will be weak. She has really taken a risk by requiring that the students use functions to explain their science, but as she checks the students’ notes, she only needs to make gentle reminders because the groups have all recorded good data. As the students begin to analyze data, questions about what type of graph to use, how many points it takes to make a graph, and a variety of questions about functions start to permeate the room. After she conducts several small group interventions, Mrs. Gonzalez decides to have a short, whole-class review on functions and graphing. She takes the time to find out where each group is at and facilitates an exchange that is largely student- driven because she knows where the groups and individuals are in the process. The students return to their groups and work well to complete their analysis and start with their presentations. Day 4 It is the fourth day in a multi-day PBL lesson, and Mrs. G is rewarded by students coming into class and starting immediately on their projects. Most of the students are really focused on completing graphs and placing them in PowerPoint presentations. Mrs. Gonzalez notices that although the students were able to collect good data and were able to determine the equation on their lines, they really had not focused on answering the question presented to the class on Day 1. From experience, she had expected this and had planned some extension activities (5E model) that would hopefully prompt the students to think beyond just the graph and to understand how the shape or form of the line was critical to differentiating between linear and non-linear flow. Examples of appropriate extensions include the following: What would the data for a Newtonian fluid look like? How do engineers take advantage of nonlinear flow? 96 Classroom Management Considerations The vignette above (also in Appendix A [Non-Newtonian Fluids]) shares a brief introduction to how an experienced teacher and well-trained students are able to perform in a STEM PBL environment. Not all procedures for active learning and student problem-solving are readily apparent, but they are present as students are comfortable with Mrs. Gonzalez checking their work rather than giving them the answers. Students are able to transition from group work to full-class discussions and direct teacher instruction without devolving into chaos. Students have taken good data and are planning their presentations. They even demonstrated a transition from a teacher-driven procedure to a student-driven routine by starting the fourth day without prompting from Mrs. Gonzalez. Was this classroom quiet for the four days? Certainly not! Was this class engaged for the four days? Apparently yes! Did chaos ever rule this class during the four days? Probably not! Can regular classroom teachers and professors implement a few new procedures and routines to effectively manage student learning and behavior? Absolutely yes! Students Working in Groups as Teams The purpose of cooperative learning is cooperating to learn, not learning to cooperate (Wong & Wong, 2004). There is a wealth of information on the issues related to effectively using student groups in a classroom. These issues range from maximizing student learning to balancing individual and team activities to controlling the classroom. In addition to these issues, it is sometimes important to consider the difference between a student group and a team of students. The distinction between student groups and student teams can be largely one of longevity. Informal groups of students are often assigned on the fly for low-stakes, in-class cooperative Classroom Management Considerations 97 activities. Projects often take longer and are typically higher stakes, so in STEM PBL it is important to deal with the interpersonal dynamics that may affect team performance. These include the following: Training Roles Goals and rules Monitoring team progress Accountability Additional information, hints, and techniques can be borrowed from research on active learning, collaborative learning, and cooperative learning (Bonwell & Eison, 1991; Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1986; Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1991; Katzenbach & Smith, 1993; Seat & Lord, 1999). Training Although orientation to group work is a good idea in any cooperative learning environment, it is essential in STEM PBL. Like anything else, teachers should train students as they would at the introduction of any new concept. Even those who have played successfully on a sports team will not naturally apply their experiences to a classroom environment. The process of teaming is not instinctive but can be learned. Team training should provide a clear understanding of the following: the forming, storming, norming, and performing team development cycle (Tuckman & Jensen, 1977); what makes a good team player (i.e., expectations); and how performance will be evaluated (teacher only, peer evaluation, or both). Training also should include instruction on using skills such as setting an agenda, running a meeting, verbal and non-verbal communication, and decision-making processes (consensus is much better for a team than voting—rarely do the students think past voting unless prompted to do so). When groups are expected to work outside of the school environment to complete a project, they need to develop additional procedures to follow. For example, they may need to create a guideline for setting agendas. Figure 2. Example Guideline for Agendas Agendas for out-of-class meetings must include the following: When and where will the meeting take place? What is the purpose of the meeting? What resources do we need? Who will bring what to the meeting? When will the meeting end? (Some of us have a life outside the team and need to be able to plan for living it.) 98 Classroom Management Considerations Roles In a team environment, it is often desirable to have students take on a variety of different roles and to rotate these roles. Assigning different roles creates efficiency by dividing the work and reducing the time when one or more team members are watching the others work and waiting for someone to tell them what to do. Rotating roles is beneficial because some jobs are initially more/less desirable than others. Students often do not know which jobs they will be good at until they experience each of them and improve their performance by trying each one repeatedly. Although there are many possible roles, common ones include the following: Facilitator — This term is preferable to “leader.” This person facilitates team meetings and discussions and makes sure everyone knows where meetings will occur, when they will start/end, what to bring, and so on. Recorder — This member keeps notes of action items (minutes of meetings are rarely necessary), that is, a list of who agreed to do what by when. This record needs to be shared with all members of the team to minimize any misunderstandings. Timekeeper — This person is in charge of keeping track of the timeline (both for the project as a whole and for individual team meetings or activities), keeping the team on task, and reminding team members of when items are due and how much/little progress has been made towards completion of the deliverable. Gatekeeper/Encourager — This person is responsible for making sure everyone has an opportunity to participate in team discussions and activities by noticing that one member has not said anything and asking his/her opinion or gently reminding a vocal teammate that others may have something to share. Roles can be combined, and additional team roles are possible. However, teams larger than three or four are generally less effective because of the decreased accountability and corresponding increased likelihood of someone disengaging or slacking off. Depending on the complexity of the project, teams of two are possible, but teams of three or four are generally ideal. It is important to note that these roles are not for the duration of the project; roles should be rotated on a daily (or at least weekly) basis. All students deserve the opportunity to practice each role multiple times—this cannot be stressed enough. Also, be certain that students do not see different roles as opportunities to not participate in the project. Goals and Rules It is important for project teams to establish goals and rules within the larger classroom-based procedures and routines. These could be viewed as shared norms for the team and should be available to each team member and to the teacher at all times. The goals should include the teacher’s goal that all members of the team master the learning objectives included in the Classroom Management Considerations 99 project as well as whatever additional goal the team wishes to set (winning the competition, finishing ahead of schedule, everyone passes, etc.). In addition to goals, the team needs to set rules; these are often called “ground rules,” “codes of cooperation,” “team contracts,” “rules of engagement,” as well as other things. Rules are simply an agreement among team members about expected behavior and agreed-upon penalties (see Appendix N [Simple Group Contract], Appendix O [Comprehensive Group Contract], and Appendix P [Team Contract]). Oftentimes, rules include unrealistic promises, such as “everyone will give 110% and put the team first above all things.” It is a good idea to have teams revisit and revise the rules during long projects. On shorter projects, classroom procedures and routines can suffice. REMEMBER: a good set of rules (see Appendix H [Establishing Cooperative Group Behaviors and Norms for STEM PBL] and Appendix I [Building High-Quality Teams]), which has been agreed to by all members of the team, goes a long way towards avoiding problems as the team struggles to approach the deadline. Figure 3. Sample Team Ground Rules 1. All meetings will begin and end on time. 2. Sarcasm is left at the door. 3. All members will participate in group decisions. 4. Conflict will be managed and resolved before irritations become overwhelming. 5. All debates are no-fault discussions. 6. State the purpose of the meeting. 7. Only one conversation at a time. 8. No cheap shots or personal attacks. Some are not comfortable with the concept of rules or contracts. This can easily be handled by using an alternate form called an agreement to cooperate (see Figure 4). While effectively functioning as ground rules, an agreement to cooperate focuses on establishing the environment for cooperation through setting clear expectations of all team members. Although some will view the differences as semantics, the subtle and not-so-subtle differences can be important to set the framework for cooperation and a productive team environment. Figure 4. Sample Agreement to Cooperate 1. All members will attend meetings or notify the team by email or phone in advance of anticipated absences. 2. All members will be fully engaged in team meetings and will not work on other assignments during meetings. 3. All members will complete assigned tasks by agreed-upon deadlines. 4. Major decisions will be subject to group discussion and consensus or majority vote. 5. The roles of recorder, facilitator, and timekeeper will rotate on an agreed-upon timeframe (all members will take their turn—NO EXCEPTIONS). 6. The team meetings will occur only at the regularly scheduled (weekly) time OR with at least a two-day notice. 100 Classroom Management Considerations Monitoring Team Progress The primary job of the teacher/coach/facilitator is to monitor learning and behavior, not to solve problems or transmit knowledge. The teacher needs to balance student frustrations and motivations. Give the students the answers, and they will not try to solve the problem on their own; ignore legitimate questions, and they will become so frustrated that they will quit. Although the students need to find their own way through the winding path of discovery, they must occasionally be guided gently down the proper path. See Appendix J (Personal Responsibility and Time Management Report) and Appendix K (Accountability Report) for examples of gentle reminders. Frequent questioning, whether formal or informal, is the best way to monitor progress. Sometimes the answers to these questions will lead to helping a team reengage. Other times, a question will help the team avoid a brick wall or discover that they learned something in this or another class that might be helpful. Answers also might allow the teacher to discover that the team is making progress (perhaps on an unexpected path). Communication and participation within the group are essential and must be monitored and supported by the teacher. Accountability The matter of accountability is both an issue of motivation and of fairness. Students are more engaged if they have a clear understanding of expectations and know they will be held individually accountable. Students are also more engaged if they know that the members of their team will be held accountable (even if only in part) for their individual failure. Everyone is less concerned with fairness if they know that at the end of the day, week, project, or semester, more credit will be received by those who deserve more credit (see Appendix M [Leadership/Effort Bous Here are some possible alternative questions to include in a peer evaluation Worksheet]) and less credit (Compare to questions presented in Appendix L [Peer Evaluation Handout]). will be received by those Please explain in your own words whether this team member: 1. Contributes to group discussions deserving less (see 2. Welcomes comments from others Appendix L [Peer 3. Listens even when he/she disagrees Evaluation Handout]). 4. Comes prepared to meetings Most accountability 5. Works hard systems include both 6. Makes our work FUN! observations by the teacher and peer assessments of team performance (Felder & Brent, 2001; Kaufman et al., 2000). Peer evaluation aids the perception of fairness—those who work harder usually get more credit, and those who slack off get less credit. In addition, in most classes, the team component of the course grade is rarely the major factor. Those who depend mostly on teammates to carry the load do not typically achieve the learning objectives and therefore do not do well on individual Classroom Management Considerations 101 quizzes, tests, and exams. On the other hand, the high engagement associated with STEM PBL, combined with peer pressure to participate, results in fewer disengaged students and fewer students failing exams. An important component of peer assessments is to ask a student to complete a self-reflection so as to have a balanced view of the dynamics of the group. (See Appendix Q [Self-Reflections]). Challenges and Opportunities Any pedagogical strategy will be faced with unique challenges when being implemented in an actual learning environment with real and diverse student needs and abilities. In PBL, the ill- defined task allows students the freedom to interpret the problem and formulate diverse solutions that will meet the well-defined outcome. This also means that it inherently allows for flexibility in how to achieve the desired learning outcome. The well-defined outcome does not mean a set of exactly prescribed deliverables for every group or for every student. The challenges can then become opportunities to enhance student learning, create differentiated instruction where appropriate, or accommodate individualized instruction plans. Virtual Environment Most items in a team contract can remain unchanged in a virtual environment. However, new norms and agreements must be negotiated when moving to a virtual setting, including mechanics of how and when communication will happen, what will happen if the internet fails, etc. Key to this is the understanding that effective team meetings are still essential in the new environment and that it is up to all team members to make them happen. Freeloaders on Teams A common concern when working with teams is the potential for freeloaders to arise. They are also the source of much of the resistance to team activities, from both students and teachers. This is particularly true if freeloaders are allowed to receive credit when they have failed to complete their allocated tasks, making it so that either the group grade suffers or others on the team must pick up the slack. Freeloaders are not solely a problem in academic teams. They can and do occur in the workplace. The key to managing this issue lies in individual accountability even within a team environment. If everyone on a team knows that slackers will be reprimanded, the slackers behave better and the naturally cooperative people, seeing a fairer system, become more willing to invest their time and efforts. But if team members see that freeloading is tolerated, many will start holding back or become resentful of being forced to be in a team. Some strategies that can be used to mitigate the negative behavior and influence of slackers include the following: 102 Classroom Management Considerations  Ask groups to keep formal minutes of their meetings, which must then be signed off by a member. Make an individual student’s grade for the project a function of the group deliverables as well as their individual contribution. One approach would be to use peer evaluations to weigh the final score earned by any individual student. Another approach would be for the teacher to weigh the group mark on their knowledge of individuals' contributions. This would need to be based on documentation that is accessible to all members and the teacher and can include formal meeting minutes or required descriptions of individual member contributions that are part of a common final report or memo from the group. Conclusion Classroom management in a STEM PBL environment is based on increasing active engagement and controlling the chaos. The central components of our STEM PBL definition, the well- defined outcome and the ill-defined task, help support proper management of learning and behavior. The thoughtful identification and implementation of appropriate procedures and routines are essential to the well-defined outcome, and, when paired with the motivating and engaging components of ill-defined tasks, provide a framework to actively engage and control. It also is important to realize that different methods can be used to satisfy the requirements of a project—all can be correct approaches and all are valuable learning opportunities! Students can learn a great deal from each other, from the process of struggling to find the information needed to complete the project, and from applying the concepts they have learned in the class (and previous classes). Reflection Questions and Activities 1. Considering the vignette: a. What is the well-defined outcome of the activity? What is (are) the ill-defined task(s)? b. Mrs. Gonzalez is described as “taking a risk” in asking students to use functions to describe the data. What are the potential consequences if “failure” occurs? How did she mitigate this risk? How can this risk be further mitigated? c. Mrs. Gonzalez is described as “working the room.” What strategies do you think she is using to manage the classroom during this time? What strategies might you use in a similar situation? 2. Why is it important to have students contribute to the classroom norms and the agreement to cooperate? Classroom Management Considerations 103  3. Thinking back to the concepts of Chapter 4: Engineering Better Projects, how could you take the Non-Newtonian Fluids activity from Appendix A and convert it to a full-blown engineering PBL lesson? How could you incorporate some of the classroom management techniques into the design of that project? 4. Consider a course you are currently teaching or planning to teach. How can you incorporate the development of group and team activities in your course so as to explicitly develop and assess teamwork skills? This should include explaining how teamwork skills are an explicit learning outcome and their value now and in the future. Don’t assume your students know how to function well in a team. Create a plan of activities that will build those skills over a semester. References Bonwell, C. C., & Eison, J. A. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom (ED336049). ERIC. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED336049.pdf Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2001). Effective strategies for cooperative learning. Journal of Cooperation & Collaboration in College Teaching, 10(2), 69–75. Hake, R. R. (1988). Interactive-engagement vs. traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses. American Journal of Physics, 66(1), 64–74. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.18809 Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Holubec, E. J. (1986). Circles of learning: Cooperation in the classroom (Revised ed.). Interaction Book Company. Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (1991). Active learning: Cooperation in the college classroom. Interaction Book Company. Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (1993). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Harvard Business School Press. Kaufman, D. B., Felder, R. M., & Fuller, H. (2000). Accounting for individual effort in cooperative learning teams. Journal of Engineering Education, 89(2), 133–140. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168- 9830.2000.tb00507.x Seat, E., & Lord, S. M. (1999). Enabling effective engineering teams: A program for teaching interaction skills. Journal of Engineering Education, 88(4), 385–390. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168- 9830.1999.tb00463.x Thomas, J. W., Mergendoller, J. R., & Michaelson, A. (1999). Project-based learning: A handbook for middle and high school teachers. Buck Institute for Education. Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. C. (1977). Stages of small-group development revisited. Group & Organization Studies, 2(4), 419–427. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F105960117700200404 Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (2004). The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher. Harry K. Wong Publications. 104 Classroom Management Considerations