Transcript Reseda High School Stephen London -- Science Fiction Literature 5/23/2016

Stephen London -- Science Fiction Literature
Reseda High School
CTAP 295 - Teaching With Technology
5/23/2016
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Introduction
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
Build Your Own Ecosystem is
derived from a lesson I have
implemented in my Science Fiction
Literature class for several years.
The purpose of this lesson is to
encourage students to apply
scientific principles to the creative
writing process both to gain a
greater appreciation for science
fiction and a deeper understanding
of effective use of sensory details. 2
Introduction
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The highly structured, detailed
nature of this lesson lends itself
well to an online activity. Dozens of
web sites are linked to encourage
students to delve into the study of
other fictional environments before
creating their own.
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
Topics of Discussion
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Responses to the Online Format
Responses to the Lesson Content
Responses to the Pre-quiz
Responses to the Culminating Activities
An Analysis of the Data and the
Lesson’s Effectiveness
Revisions
Conclusion
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
Responses to the
Online Format
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As I have 24 computers in my
classroom, students were able to
complete a substantial portion of the
assignment during class time. Without
the computers, the project would take
several more days, and students
without computers in the home would
be at a disadvantage.
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
Responses to the
Online Format
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Students were generally on-task and
able to meet the deadlines for the
project. Far fewer came to me with
questions about the grade scale and
requirements for the paper than did so
in previous years, as most everyone
found the web site sufficiently
informative.
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
Responses to the
Lesson Content
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Most students grasped the twin purposes
of the project – applying scientific
principles to a fictional context and
concocting intriguing aliens – and
diligently worked to invent
extraterrestrial creatures and ecosystems
that were both creative and plausible.
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
Responses to the
Lesson Content
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About a quarter of the class had a
fundamental problem with this unit.
They failed to adequately apply the
yardstick of “theoretically possible
ideas,” stumbling into nonscientific
fantasy or not writing sufficiently
detailed or convincing descriptions for
their ecosystem and its alien inhabitants
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
Responses to the Pre-Quiz
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The pre-quiz helped students
understand how the components of
ecosystems interact with and affect the
evolution of life forms, as well as
prompting them to consider ways in
which life forms could evolve in
radically different directions on other
planets
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
Responses to the Pre-Quiz
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The pre-quiz also helped students
brainstorm in a logical manner about
the possible development of specific
creatures in extraterrestrial
environments
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Several students incorporated their prequiz responses into their fictional
creatures and ecosystems
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
Responses to the
Culminating Activity
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Students were prompted to describe how
their ecosystem and fictional creatures
could affect the plot of a story, how it
would impact characters who
encountered this world, and what
thematic elements could be introduced
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
Responses to the
Culminating Activity
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Students creatively described how the setting
could impact plot and how characters would
react to a variety of elements in their world
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A smaller number were able to form
appropriate themes that clearly related to
their fictional environments, such as
tolerance between species, the urge to
conquer new domains, and the ethics and
consequences of depending upon technology
for survival in hostile places
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
An Analysis of the Data
CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
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The culminating activity effectively indicates
whether students are able to analyze how
science fiction can be both uniquely creative and
meaningful, and whether they’ve learned to
appreciate the genre as more than merely
escapism
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Many students who could not create a believable
fictional world were still able to grasp how
science fiction elements can produce engaging
characters, provocative themes and dramatically
involving plots
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An Analysis of the Data
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As all pre-quiz and culminating activity
responses are in short essay form, it is not
possible to quantify responses
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I have made an effort instead to categorize
students by the quality of their written
responses
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32 seniors participated in the Build Your Own
Ecosystem unit in May 2001
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
An Analysis of the Data
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Over 50 percent of the class could
adequately describe how elements of
their fictional world could give
direction to the plot of a science
fiction story.
The basic plot of conflict between
space explorers/invaders and
extraterrestrial species was cited by
over 30 percent of students.
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
An Analysis of the Data
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Fewer than one third of students could
adequately describe how their fictional
environment could produce particular
personality attributes among inhabitants
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Fewer than one quarter of students could
adequately discuss thematic concepts relating
to their ecosystems and the inhabitants. A
majority did not display an understanding of
theme
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CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
Revisions
CTAP 295 Teaching With Technology
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Unfortunately, it can not be assumed that high
school seniors grasp basic literary elements
such as characterization or theme. These
concepts should be reviewed before the unit is
introduced.
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Most students would benefit from seeing at
least one model of the assignment. Models
would alert them to pay greater heed to the
unit’s key goals -- applying scientific principles
to the creative writing process and producing
compelling new characters
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I thoroughly enjoyed the process of turning
one of my favorite units into a web site. It’s
been a valuable learning experience, and the
student response was gratifying. It was a
great deal of work, but the actual teaching of
the online unit went quite smoothly. The
students got more out of the assignment than
ever before. I look forward to creating more
web sites for my classes.
Stephen London
Build Your Own Ecosystem:
http://berners.bcoe.butte.k12.ca.us/~slondon
5/23/2016
Email -- [email protected]
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