Final Wicked Problem Project

Problem:
I chose to focus on the problem of how to create more opportunities for integrated units between core content areas.  It is a goal of our school to begin working toward fostering more of these learning experiences for students, and I set out to connect content areas through technology.  According to research done by Anthony Jackson and Gayle Davis in the book Turning Points 2000:  Educating Adolescents in the 21st Century, students greatly benefit from structured interdisciplinary learning experiences that allow them to connect concepts from different content areas.  For the Wicked Problem Project, I focused both on educating teachers and students through the planning and creation of an integrated Math and Social Studies project.  

My goal in all the work I do focuses on creating opportunities for deeper engagement in 21st century learning experiences for students. One other problem I sought to address in the Wicked Problem Project was how better we can teach students the skills of logic and computational thinking as those skills are often not explicitly taught.  


Solution
The solution to both issues came together through the lens of Scratch, a tool that introduces students to basic programming skills.  Scratch was the glue that would bring the content of 7th grade math and social studies together.  For the project, students would use Scratch in both math and social studies to create animations, games, reenactments, or digital stories based on the events surrounding the Battle of Gettysburg.   Scratch has a strong foundation in math, and it would allow students to apply concepts they have learned through the year to the creation of a project.  The projects they are in the process of building are based on their understanding of Civil War events.  Students will be asked to both apply their understanding of Math and social studies in order to create a successful final product in Scratch.  

The technology is serving as the solution for meaningful  cross-curricular integration and is  also solving the problem of teaching students the necessary skills of computational and logical thinking.  While building and creating their Scratch projects, students are engaged in these 21st century skills.  


Process:
After identifying the problem for the project, I went to one team I felt would be willing to try an integrated unit.  The math and social studies teachers expressed interest and we began meeting in March to plan the project and timeline.  During planning meetings we set out to begin teaching Scratch in math during the first week of April.  With the teachers, I scheduled co-teaching opportunities.  The teachers both felt that they could give up one day per week for Scratch lessons and project work time.  With the math teacher, I taught scratch introduction lessons for the first three sessions.   At this point, the students were not aware that the project they would eventually create would be based on the Civil War.  After the introductory lessons in Math, the Social studies teacher and I began integrating the historical component during social studies classes.  

The students are currently in the midst of building their Scratch projects, and can choose from creating an animation, game, reenactment, or digital story based on the specific details of Gettysburg, and specifically, Pickett’s Charge.  

Two days per week (once in math and once in social studies) the students will work on creating their projects.  During the week of May 20th students will meet in small groups or pairs for a peer review.  They will make the needed adjustments to their projects and begin presenting their work during the week of May 24th.  


Technological and Pedagogical Connection:
Technological knowledge worked in conjunction with pedagogical knowledge as the technology facilitated quality learning experiences for students. This project was designed in order to allow students to engage in complex cognitive tasks that they experienced  through the technology itself.  Students utilized the higher-order thinking skill of application as they planned and constructed their Scratch projects.  They were required to apply math concepts like:  number sense, equalities, geometry, and trigonometry in order to navigate and use the program itself.  Students were required to apply their understanding of Gettysburg and Pickett’s charge to plan, script, and program their animations or games.  


Technological and Content Knowledge:
The content from both math and social studies came alive through technology.  In math, students used math concepts and content in an authentic way.   This type of connection is sometimes hard to incorporate within the math class, and applying mathematical content to real life is sometimes difficult for students.  Through the technology in this project, students applied content knowledge in authentic ways.  

The technology and content also came together in the building of the final product.  Students were required to know and use content in order to bring the events to life through Scratch.  This project gave students a totally new experience with the content.  


Pedagogical and Content Knowledge:
This project was designed to solve the problem of creating a more meaningful integration between content areas.  Content knowledge interacts with pedagogical knowledge as the project required students to utilize higher-order cognitive skills.  These skills were used as students applied content knowledge to the creation of their Scratch projects.  The Scratch project is also acting as an authentic assessment for both content areas.  Offering students opportunities to demonstrate knowledge in meaningful ways is essential in order to promote enduring understandings.