5.1 Evaluating lesson plans with simulations and virtual labs
Watch
Watch the video above, where Victor Dusabumuremyi presents a structured overview of evaluating lesson plans that incorporate simulations and virtual labs. As he explains, You can evaluate the effectiveness of your plan along several dimensions: pedagogical alignment, student engagement, instructional design, assessment integration, and accessibility and technical feasibility. He then lists various methods and tools you can use when evaluating your lesson plan.
Read
Take some time and read the article below to understand how to evaluate and improve lesson plans that incorporate virtual labs and simulations.
Effective Pedagogical Strategies for STEM Education from Instructors’ Perspective: OER for Educators
https://dx.doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.12.2.1074
For an alternative approach to evaluating lesson plans emphasizing the teacher's competence, read the first two sections of the article below.
Assessing the quality of science teachers' lesson plans: Evaluation and application of a novel instrument
https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21832
Review
When evaluating your own lesson plans or plans developed by others, it's important to have a set of standards or a rubric to follow. Review the PhET Reflection Tool and Lesson Plan Evaluation Rubric below, and take a few minutes to determine where your own lesson planning would fit in these evaluation frameworks.
PhET reflection tool
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Lesson plan evaluation rubric
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[If you've already submitted your lesson plan assignment but want to make changes after reviewing the frameworks above, note that you can "unsubmit" your assignment to make changes - look for the small link at the top of your plan. Remember to submit it again when you're done!]
Explore
Explore the STEAM lesson plan incorporating virtual labs below and make an initial assessment of it based on one or both of the frameworks above. Note the structure of the plan and what the teacher has chosen to emphasize - how do these reflect the priorities of her Chemistry discipline? Consider how you would construct a similar plan for your own discipline - what would you choose to emphasize?
Lesson plan: Acid-base titration
Download the lesson plan
Respond
In this first discussion for Module 5, you'll be asked to review the dimensions or frameworks presented above for evaluating lesson plans, and then explain which of these aspects of evaluation might be easy or challenging to implement in evaluating your own lesson plans. Where will you need to focus your attention?