Assignment 4 - The ASSURE
Model
Jenny Ferguson
fergie13@vt.edu
7/20/2011
4-2. Locate a lesson plan on the Internet and
evaluate it using the ASSURE model as a guideline. Include a brief description of
the resource as well as an analysis of each piece of the ASSURE model. Please
provide the link to the lesson plan you are evaluating.
Link to lesson plan:
Instructional Situation: This lesson
plan was designed for middle school students, grades 6-8. It is called “Life in Space: International
Space Station.” It is meant to describe
and explain what life is like on the ISS and to give students some insight into
an astronaut’s career.
Analyze Learners
General Characteristics – The lesson was designed for 6-8th grade
middle school Science students. The
duration is two class periods.
Entry Competencies – This is not listed in this lesson plan, but the
lesson does begin by asking students what they already know and then lists
facts to go over before beginning the lesson.
Learning Styles – This is not taken into account for this lesson
plan.
State Standards and Objectives
Curriculum and
Technology standards – This lesson
plan did list all of the curriculum and technology standards according to a
compiled list of K-12 Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education. See below:
This lesson plan may be used to address the academic standards listed
below. These standards are drawn from Content Knowledge: A Compendium of
Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education: 2nd Edition and have been provided
courtesy of the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning in
1. Grade level: 6-8
Subject area: Technology
Standard:
Understands the relationships among science, technology,
society, and the individual.
Benchmarks:
Knows ways in which technology and society influence one
another (e.g., new products and processes for society are developed through
technology; technological changes are often accompanied by social, political,
and economic changes; technology is influenced by social needs, attitudes,
values and limitations, and cultural backgrounds and beliefs).
2. Grade level: 6-8
Subject area: Technology
Standard:
Understands the relationships among science, technology,
society, and the individual.
Benchmarks:
Knows ways in which technology has influenced the course of
history (e.g., revolutions in agriculture, manufacturing, sanitation, medicine,
warfare, transportation, information processing, communication).
3. Grade level: 6-8
Subject area: Technology
Standard:
Understands the nature of technological design.
Benchmarks:
Evaluates the ability of a technological design to meet
criteria established for a specific purpose (e.g., considers factors that might
affect acceptability and suitability for intended users or beneficiaries;
develop measures of quality with respect to these factors), suggests
improvements, and tries proposed modifications.
Objectives – The learning objectives were not presented in the
ABCD format. However, these are the
objectives that were listed.
Students
will understand the following:
1. An
environment with almost no gravity challenges humans living in space. Humans
must adjust their diets, sanitation, and sleep patterns; wear space suits; and
conduct specially designed experiments.
2. ISS
inhabitants perform the daily functions of life in space using special products
and procedures.
Select
Strategies, Technology, Media, and Materials
Media/Technology and Materials: For the class:
• Computers with Internet access (optional but very helpful)
• Additional reference materials on the ISS
Each group of three or four
students will need the following:
• Large sheets of paper
• Construction paper
• Colored markers
Each student will need the
following:
• Pencils
• Paper
• Classroom Activity Sheet: How Do Astronauts Live in Space? (see printable version)
• Take-Home Sheet: A Week in Space (see printable version)
Utilize Technology, Media, Materials
Preview – There is no preview of the technology, such as the
website students will use to help them find the 16 nations working together to
build the ISS.
Prepare technology – There is no preparation of technology mentioned
in this lesson plan.
Prepare environment – There is no preparation of the environment
mentioned in this lesson plan.
Prepare learners – There is no preparation of learner to use the
technology in this lesson plan.
Provide experience – There are many different excellent teacher and
learner-centered learning experiences included in this lesson plan. For starters, the students work in partners
and in groups on the computer to find detailed information on different parts
of life on the ISS. This includes the
food they eat, their space suits, and any extraterrestrial experiments they
might perform.
Require Learner Participation
Active mental engagement – There is a lot of class discussion where students
must draw conclusions about life on the space station. There are also opportunities for individual
mental engagement through websites and technology.
Engage learners in new
knowledge with technology – Some
examples included from the lesson plan are:
1. If
students have other questions about the ISS, have them find answers in the
following Web site http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/ISS_OVR/.
2. Tell
the class that they will be working in groups and using the Internet or other
resource materials to answer questions about living in space.
3. Divide
the class into five groups and give each group a set of questions outlined
below. Each group will use the Web resources provided to answer questions
Provide feedback – There are no assessments or feedback included in
the lesson except for the final and formal assessment.
Evaluate and Revise
Assessments – The following assessment is proposed:
Students should be able to work cooperatively in groups; research their
questions thoroughly and accurately; make an interesting presentation to the
class; and write accurate, lively essays about a week in space. Use the
following three-point rubric to evaluate students’ work during this lesson:
Examine instructional
process – There are adaptations
included in this lesson plan for higher level students. There are also extension activities. It would be important to revisit the lesson
to make sure that everything was covered accurately and effectively.
Adaptations:
Forty years ago, during the space race between the
Extension
Activities:
1. Check
It Out!
The ISS
orbits Earth every 90 minutes. At night, about 85 to 90 percent of the world’s
population can see it. As it passes overhead, it looks like a bright, slowly
moving star. It takes 3 to 4 minutes to cross the sky, traveling west to east.
To find out more about the ISS, students can access the following Web site,
which gives real-time data about the ISS’s location:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/index.html. Also, encourage students to look for the ISS
as it flies over your area by visiting this Web site, which gives city-by-city
information about ISS sightings.
2. Space
Spin-offs
Tools
developed by NASA for its space missions often have applications on Earth. For
example, cordless drills were developed for the Apollo missions. Another more
whimsical example of technology transfer is space pens, which are sold in
educational science stores. These pens are able to write when held upside-down,
underwater, and in extreme temperatures, which make them useful to astronauts.
Have students research other spin-offs from the space program. This Web site is
a good place to learn more: http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html.
Revisions to adjust
discrepancies – There are alternate
activities, but only for higher level learners.
If the objectives do not meet the student’s needs, the lesson would need
to be altered.
References: Jordan D. Brown, a freelance author in