helenfwebb.files.wordpress.com€¦  · Web viewThe Magenta Principles: Does. reducing . and/ or transforming information improve understanding ...

Helen Webb

SID NO: 1236168/1

November 2012

Suffolk Anglia Ruskin University

Faculty of Education

MA (Education)

Module Title: Developing New Initiatives (CC430009S/D)

The Magenta Principles: Does reducing and/or transforming information improve understanding and enjoyment of learning in the classroom?

REPORT

1

Contents Page

Abstract 3

Aims 3

Background 3

Review of the Literature 4

Methodology 9

Results 10

Analysis and Discussion 15

Limitations 17

Summary and Conclusions 18

References 19

Appendices 21

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Abstract

This piece of action research involved investigating if the teaching and learning

strategies of reducing and transforming information increased understanding and

enjoyment of learning. These strategies were taught to two groups of year 13 AS

Biology students over a series of lessons. Each group had 12-13 students in, were

mixed ability and gender. Evidence was gained though observation and analysis of

student questionnaires and interview. It was found that both reducing and

transforming information did help students to consolidate their understanding of key

concepts if delivered effectively. Different activities were enjoyed by different

students and most encouraged student engagement. The variety of activities

students were exposed to during the series of lessons was particularly appreciated

as they catered for a variety of learning styles.

Aims

The aims of this study were to:

Trial specific teaching and learning strategies from “The Magenta Principles”.

Investigate if reducing or transforming information improved understanding in

the classroom.

Investigate if these specific teaching strategies promoted enjoyment and

engagement in the classroom.

Investigate if there was differing impact on girls or boys.

Background

As an experienced Science and Biology teacher I am constantly striving for new

ways to improve achievement and attainment in my classroom. As part of a CPD

training day I listened to a keynote speech and attended a training session on The

Magenta Principles lead by Mike Hughes in which he provided staff with numerous

suggestions of subtle ways to “tweak” lessons that could have a big impact on

learning.

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Whilst I felt that I could plan an effective lesson that included Bloomed learning

objectives, a variety of differentiated teaching and learning activities that catered for

different learning styles, Kagen’s Co-operative Learning (2009) structures, AFL and

opportunities for effective feedback, I felt that in order to raise achievement in the

classroom further I needed to focus on what is fundamentally most important;

learning. I needed to ensure that all students were learning and fully understanding

the concepts covered. As such, I was particularly interested in The Magenta

Principles as an effective strategy to tackle this issue. Following further research

and reading of Mike Hughes book “And the Main Thing is... Learning” I chose to

focus my investigation on the specific strategies of reduce and transform and

whether activities that incorporate these ideas can improve understanding and

enjoyment of learning in the class room.

Implications of this research could potentially impact on student attainment, my own

teaching and future lesson planning and on other teachers by sharing good practice.

This is particularly important as according to our department SEF (2011-2012)

progress in A2 Biology had fallen, mainly due to boys not achieving the top grades

and AS Biology results had fallen not only in attainment but also in progress.

Review of the Literature

There are many theories about the way in which young people learn. Dymoke

(2008:46-48) explains that “behaviourism is concerned with: modelling appropriate

behaviours; creating environments that enable or condition students to respond in

what are deemed appropriate ways; rewarding positive responses; and learning

though repetition. A key figure in this research is Burrhus Frederic Skinner.

Social constructivism focuses on the cognitive processes that occur as people

learn through social interaction, such as listening to and working with others. The

relationship between learner and teacher is a crucial relationship to consider in this

regard. These learning theories are often viewed as child centred and progressive.

[Jean Piaget] defined cognitive development as a sequential process of four phases:

sensory-motor (0-2 years); pre-operational (2-7 years); concrete operational; (7-12

years) and formal operational (12+ years but not attained by all). He discovered that

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children’s modes of thinking are completely different from those of adults and they

have different perceptions of reality. He argued that, as children matured, they

became increasingly able to learn from their actions and to interact with other people

and their environment. [These phases] are founded on an assumption that all young

people mature at similar rates without regard to the impact of other extenuating

factors such as culture, social class or well-being.

Vygotsky coined the term the zone of proximal development to define the distance

which exists between the actual developmental level of learning and what could be

learned through problem-solving with guidance through that zone by a parent,

grandparent, sibling, other adult such as a teacher or in collaboration with more

capable peers.”

Scaffolding is a term associated with Bruner. Dymoke (2008: 49) explains that

“scaffolding can be seen in use in various classroom strategies where staged and

structured support will enable completion of complex tasks. As a child becomes

more confident with a specific task, and secure in their learning, the scaffolding can

gradually be dismantled and support withdrawn.” Writing frames are examples of

scaffolding.

Along with all the research on how the brain functions, the issue of retention of

learning is important. The level of retention can vary quite significantly during the

course of a lesson. Sousa (2006:90) showed that “potentially there are two prime-

times for retention during a lesson. These occur during prime-time 1 (the first 10-20

minutes, which has been shown to the period of greatest retention) and prime-time 2

(the final 5-10 minutes).”

In Frames of Mind, Howard Garner (1983) argues that learners could be said to have

strengths in particular types of intelligences rather that a level of intelligence based

on their IQ. Gardner’s intelligences were originally arranged in seven groups of skills

and abilities:

Linguistic intelligence

Logical-mathematical intelligence

Visual-spatial intelligent

Bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence

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Musical intelligence

Interpersonal intelligence

Intrapersonal intelligence

Dymoke (2008:56) goes on to explain that “the accelerated learning methods of

Alistair Smith centre on a range of visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic (often referred to

by teachers as VAK) strategies which are designed to support the three types of

learner identified by neurolinguistic programming (NLP).”

As well as focussing on how they learn, students need to develop their

metacognition – their ability to reflect on their own thinking processes. The

National Curriculum website identifies student’s Personal, Learning and Thinking

Skills as:

Information processing skills

Reasoning skills

Enquiry skills

Creative thinking skills

Evaluation skills

Dymoke (2008:62) goes onto explain that “specific teaching and learning strategies

such as odd one out, card sorting, cloze, sequencing, finding key words, concept

mapping and hot seating can support the development of thinking skills.” Some

programmes have also been developed that are subject-specific e.g. cognitive

acceleration through science education (CASE) or through mathematics education

(CAME).

Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues devised a hierarchical “taxonomy of educational

objectives” (Bloom et al., 1956). The taxonomy, now common place in classrooms

to frame differentiated learning objectives, was constructed on the understanding

that the higher-order skills embrace all those levels lower down the order. In other

words knowledge has to acquired before it can be fully understood and evaluated.

The Teaching and Learning Programme lists ten strategies that are essential for

effective teaching and learning. They are:

1. Assessment for Learning

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2. Co-operative Learning

3. Differentiation

4. Embedding Literacy

5. Experiential Learning

6. Learning Conversations

7. Modelling

8. Multi-Sensory Learning

9. Relating Theory and Practice

10.Using E-Learning and Technology

The Effective Teaching and Learning Network (2012) explains that “more effective

teaching and learning takes place when a variety of teaching strategies are provided

in the classroom and when the emphasis is on gaining understanding rather than just

right answers.  There are a number of reasons for the need of variety:

different methods are appropriate for different areas of knowledge

students have different learning preferences i.e. some are more visual

learners, some like working in groups, some prefer the written word etc

a monotonous diet of the same teaching style will cause even the most keen

student to lose interest

Effective learning activities are those that require students to process information

rather than transfer information or answer questions without understanding.

Mike Hughes (2006: 153) reiterates this point in And the Main thing is...Learning

(2006). He states that “in order to make sense of information you must do more than

simply receive and reproduce it – you have to do something with it.” He refers to the

list of actions that you can do with information in the classroom as The Magenta

Principles. These are summarised below.

You can:

Reduce it

Change it

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Assemble it

Search for it

Connect it

Arrange it

Enlarge it

Simplify it

Classify it

Compare it

Classify it

Compare it

Contrast it

De-construct it

Apply it

Prioritise it...

Mike Hughes (2006:69) makes the following points to remind teachers that:

The fact that something has been taught does not necessarily mean that it

has been learned.

The aim of the lesson must be for students to understand new information

rather than just receive it.

The emphasis must switch from teachers transferring information to helping

students make sense of it – the mantra ‘What have they understood? How do you know?’”

Of course examination results give us one measure of students understanding, but

how can we tell if learning is taking place in the classroom? Mike Hughes

(2006:180) gives the following indicators of learning:

“Children are:

Explaining something in their own words

Asking Questions

Making connections

Recreating (rather than reproducing) information

Justifying their decisions

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Explaining their thinking

Talking to each other

Are active – doing something with the information

Reflecting at a conscious level

Are offering analogies and metaphors of their own

Are re-drafting, revising, re-thinking and so on

Are frowning (the penny is stuck) ... and then smiling (as the penny drops)

This point is well summed up by the Department for Education and Skills (2006) in

their publication Personalising Further Education: Developing a Vision: Students

should be "an active, motivated partner and not a passive, disengaged recipient".

However, as Mike Hughes (2006:75) points out: “substantial learning will only occur

when students:

1. Want to learn

2. Believe they can succeed

3. Are engaged in an active and meaningful process”

Methodology

The research was carried out at a state secondary school in Leicestershire, England.

It involved two groups of year 13 Biology Students. In total there were 12 boys and

13 girls. The classes were of mixed ability with ALPs target grades varying from A*-C

with a mixture of students performing above, on and below their targeted ALPs grade

according to their AS Biology grade. Whilst I had taught some students in previous

years, these classes had been re-organised and this was their first autumn term with

me in year 13.

Each class was taught the same series of lessons which followed the specification

for OCR A2 Biology Module F214, Unit 2 Respiration. Evidence from both classes

was collated for analysis. Evidence was gathered through observation of students’

performance in lessons, questionnaires and discussion with students themselves.

A variety of teaching and learning strategies were employed throughout these

lessons and at least one activity per lesson was based upon Mike Hughes’

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(2006:153) Magenta Principles, specifically focussing on transforming and/or

reducing the information given to the students. Clear learning objectives were

displayed and explained in every lesson and a variety of AFL strategies were used to

review students’ progress.

Results

I taught the first three stages of respiration in a lecture style typical to A Level

teaching. Concise teacher notes edited from the course text book were given to

students and all the key concepts, ideas and relevant diagrams were explained to

the students at their own pace with frequent checks to confirm their understanding.

However, I also asked students to transform the information by singing a song

explaining glycolysis (the first stage of respiration) to the tune of The Hokey Cokey.

Students were also required to animate the process of glycolysis for homework using

Microsoft PowerPoint and part of a subsequent lesson was spent with students

evaluating each other’s presentations. When students were later asked to recall, in

groups of three, the first three stages of respiration on a large piece of sugar paper,

the results were striking. Even though students had constantly affirmed their

understanding of the Link Reaction and the Krebs Cycle (the second and third stage

of respiration) in their taught lesson, little information was recalled, yet almost every

group had confidently drawn a diagram illustrating glycolysis.

Table 1 and graph 1 both illustrate the results of a questionnaire in which students

were asked how well they understood the concepts oxidative phosphorylation and

chemiosmosis at the start of the lesson, in the middle of the lesson following a typical

teacher explanation and after copying notes given by the teacher, and at the end of

the lesson following a couple of consolidation activities based upon the Magenta

Principles. A score of 1 indicated no understanding of oxidative phosphorylation or

chemiosmosis at all, and a score of 10 indicated that the student understood the

concepts well. The first activity was a reduction strategy, in which students had to

work in groups of four to sum up each concept in three words. Each class collated

their ideas and chose the best three words for each concept. Students were

observed talking to each other, arguing why one key word was better than another,

justifying decisions and explaining the concepts in their own words in order to

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persuade their team mates – all indicators of learning. The final activity again

involved transforming the information. As a group students worked together to

build a human model that explained the concept oxidative phosphorylation and

chemiosmosis; a task that involved a lot of moving around, discussion and

contributions from students that corrected, tweaked and improved the effectiveness

of the model.

Table 1:

Start Middle End

Mean Range Mean Range Mean Range

Male (10) 2.1 1-3 5.8 4-8 7.5 6-9

Female (13) 2.5 1-5 5.8 3-8 7.4 5-9

All (22) 2.3 1-5 5.8 3-8 7.4 5-9

Graph 1:

Start Middle End0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

Male (10)Female (13)All (23)

The overall mean score for both groups at the start of the lesson was 2.3 (Range 1-

5). Following the typical teacher notes and explanation the mean score was

increased to 5.8 (Range = 3-8). As this is not a statistically significant research

project I shall use our simple GCSE Science method of analysing results. The mean

scores are both different and outside the range of the other score, which means

there is a real difference. The overall mean score for both groups increased from 5.8

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MeanUnderstanding

Score

following teacher explanation and notes to 7.4 (Range 5-9) following the reduce and

transform activity. Notably, no students rated themselves 10 at all and the increase

in understanding did not show as big an increase as from start to post teacher

explanation, but all did show a further increase in understanding. No significant

differences were observed between girls or boys scores.

Graph 2 illustrates the results of a second questionnaire that was given to students

at the end of this series of lessons. Students were asked if they thought that each of

the teaching and learning activities that they had experienced during the Respiration

topic had helped them to understand the concepts covered and if they enjoyed the

activities. To allow for comparison, a variety of activities were included in the

questionnaire, not just activities based upon the Magenta Principles. Following initial

analysis of the questionnaires, there were only minor differences between the

responses of males and females so results below have been collated to ease further

analysis.

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Graph 2: Which activities enabled students to understand new concepts in the topic

of respiration.

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Graph 3 Which activities students enjoyed in the topic of respiration

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Analysis and Discussion

Following discussions with students, my own observations and analysis of the final

questionnaire I have concluded that transforming and reducing information did

help students to consolidate their understanding of new concepts.

During discussion with students, the majority felt that a clear teacher explanation

helped them most with their learning. Results from the questionnaire indicated that

96% of students agreed or strongly agreed that creating the glycolysis animation

helped them understand the process, 87% agreed or strongly agreed that

researching and then organising notes in a specific format e.g. draw, label, annotate

and highlight helped them understand how the structure of the mitochondria related

to its function and 88% of students agreed or strongly agreed that transforming text

to diagrams or vice versa aided their understanding too.

Other transforming activities had less positive results with only 50% of students

agreeing or strongly agreeing that the glycolysis song helped them to understand the

process. Despite this 71% of students agreed that they enjoyed this activity. From

my own observations the glycolysis song in particular had significant impact on the

students’ ability to successfully recall information. On a number of subsequent

lessons we sang lyrics from the song to remind students of key points.

Again, only 21% of students agreed that making a human model to demonstrate

oxidative phosphorylation helped them to understand this concept, but 64% agreed

or strongly agreed that they enjoyed the activity. It is worth noting that with one

class, the activity was a little rushed in the delivery as other parts of the lesson had

taken longer. This probably had significant impact on the effectiveness of the

activity.

Interestingly, I felt during my own observations that the reduction activity in which

students had to sum up the concepts oxidative phosphorylation and chemiosmosis in

three words had significant impact on understanding. Only 56% of students agreed

or strongly agreed. I felt that recalling the three words in subsequent lessons served

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as an excellent aide memoire for students to go on to give high quality explanations

of the concepts. This is a strategy that I will use regularly in future lesson planning.

It is important that students understand information but it is equally important for

students to enjoy their learning. If students are looking forward to their lessons and

engaged in their learning, success is probably more likely. A balance is needed

however, for example only 26% of students agreed that they enjoyed doing past

exam questions but 88% felt that completing them helped them understand

concepts.

During discussion, students said that they had really enjoyed the series of lessons,

mainly due to the variety of activities they had experienced. They felt that whilst

these activities were far more enjoyable and engaging than other more traditional

teaching methods such book work, the teacher’s personality and rapport with the

class had more effect on the enjoyment of the lesson and the resulting motivation of

students. One student exclaimed that “we did one of these activities with another

teacher and it just wasn’t any fun with her.”

44% of students stated that they did not enjoy copying teacher notes. However,

when asked if they would prefer the option of writing their own notes as part of their

independent study and spend the lesson doing more creative activities the response

was unanimous; all students wanted to be given some notes prepared by the teacher

that they could annotate, amend and re-write at home. I also felt that by giving

notes, explaining concepts and then “doing something” with the information aided

learning by repetition. Mike Hughes (2008:181) re-iterates this point “...when

students are re-doing, and re-thinking they are almost certainly learning, because

they are in the process of making sense of new information and the world around

them”.

Incorporating the Magenta Principles into this series of lesson encouraged me to

plan lessons that consistently catered for different learning styles. Eric Jenson

(1994) argues that “... the average teacher reaches the same 60-80% all the time

while the great teacher reaches a different 60-80% on a regular basis. One student

explained to me that “what I like about your lessons is that every lesson we do

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something different, a lot of teachers just seem to talk at us for most of the hour

whilst we just write stuff down!”

Clearly results from this questionnaire suggested that not all students embraced

every activity, but it was apparent from discussion that all appreciated the variety.

With varied lesson planning I am sure to engage the majority of students the majority

of the time and cater for all styles of learning. A student response in the final

questionnaire surmised “I enjoy some things, but they don’t always help me learn. A

variation [of activities] helps.”

This point is reiterated on the Teaching and Learning page of the Department of

Education and Children’s Services, Northern Territory Government website;

“Effective teachers use an array of instructional strategies because there is no

single, universal approach that suits all situations. Different strategies used in

different combinations with different groupings of students will improve learning

outcomes. Some strategies are better suited to teaching certain skills and fields of

knowledge than others. Additionally, some strategies are better suited to certain

student backgrounds, learning styles and abilities. The key to effective teaching and

learning is the teacher's ability to select and weave these strategies to meet the

specific learning needs of each student.”

Limitations

Data was collected from a sample of only 25 students, which would render

any statistical analysis insignificant.

The deadline for submission of this module was prior to our internal topic test,

mock exam and the external OCR F214 exam so I have no data to show if

these teaching strategies have improved performance during examinations.

The success of these teaching and learning strategies may not be guaranteed

with other subjects or year groups.

Observations and interpretations were made by me and therefore wholly

subjective.

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It is difficult to lead discussions and administrate questionnaires without bias,

or leading questions.

Summary and Conclusions

The teaching and learning activities designed to reduce and transform

information did increase understanding in the classroom.

There were no significant differences in understanding or enjoyment between

girls or boys.

The effectiveness of each strategy was in the delivery as well as in the

design.

Students felt that a strong teacher explanation had the biggest impact on how

well they understood a new concept.

Including activities based upon these Magenta Principles in conjunction with a

clear teacher explanation and a set of concise teacher notes served to repeat,

reiterate and revise the main concepts taught, which aided learning.

The activities were on the whole extremely well received and although

students preferred these to listening and copying teacher notes, all students

still preferred to be given some notes that they could then build on during their

independent study time.

Students also felt that whilst these activities were far more enjoyable and

engaging than other more traditional teaching methods such book work, the

teacher’s personality and rapport with the class had more effect on the

enjoyment of the lesson and the resulting motivation of students.

Planning creative activities in every lesson that consistently cater for a variety

of learning styles and personalities serves to not only promote inclusion but

also increase student engagement and enjoyment of lessons.

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References

Books

Bloom, B., Engelhart, M., Furst, E., E., Hill, W., and Krathwohl, D., (1956) Taxonomy

of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook 1:

Cognitive Domain. London: Longman.

Dymoke, S., and Harrison, J., (2008), Reflective Teaching and Learning: A guide to

professional issues for beginning secondary teachers, London: SAGE Publications

Ltd.

Gardner, H., (1983) Frames of Mind. London: Heineman

Hughes, M., (2006), And the Main Thing Is... Learning, Cheltenham (UK): Education,

Training and Support.

Jenson, E., (1994), Superteaching, USA: Turning Point Publishing.

Kagen, S. and Kagen, M., (2009). Kagen Co-operative Learning, San Clamente

(CA): Kagan Publishing.

Sousa, D.A., (2006) How the Brain Learns. 3rd edn. Thousand Oaks (CA):

Corwin/Sage.

Websites

Department of Education and Children’s Services, Northern Territory Government:

http://www.det.nt.gov.au/teachers-educators/literacy-numeracy/evidence-

based-literacy-numeracy-practices-framework/key-elements/teaching-learning

accessed: 19/11/2012

National Curriculum

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110223175304/http:/

curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/key-stages-3-and-4/skills/personal-learning-and-

thinking-skills/index.aspx accessed: 25/11/2012

The Effective Teaching and Learning network:

http://www.etln.org.uk/resources/page13.html, accessed: 19/11/2012

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The Teaching and Learning Program

http://tlp.excellencegateway.org.uk/tlp/pedagogy/quickstartguide/twollnresourc

es/index.html, Accessed; 19/11/2012

Publications

Department for Education and Skills, (2006), Personalising Further Education:

Developing a Vision.)

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Appendices

Appendix 1

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Appendix 2

Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire.

Are you male or female?

Which of the following activities enabled you to understand new concepts in the topic of Respiration?

Strongly Disagree

Disagree Not Sure Agree Strongly Agree

1 Learning objectives displayed & explained

1 2 3 4 5

2 Teacher explanation of new concepts 1 2 3 4 53 Copying notes given by teacher 1 2 3 4 54 Transforming diagrams into written

explanations or creating diagrams from text

1 2 3 4 5

5 Glycolysis Song 1 2 3 4 56 Creating an animation using Power

Point to illustrate glycolysis1 2 3 4 5

7 Watching & evaluating other student’s glycolysis animations

1 2 3 4 5

8 Reducing – Choosing 3 words to sum up oxidative phosporylation & chemiosmosis

1 2 3 4 5

9 Creating a human model to demonstrate oxidative phosphorylation and chemiosmosis.

1 2 3 4 5

10 Reducing – summing up the evidence for chemiosmosis into a 1 minute speech.

1 2 3 4 5

11 Opportunities for class discussions & questioning

1 2 3 4 5

12 Paired explanations & discussion 1 2 3 4 513 Past exam questions 1 2 3 4 514 Creating respiration videos 1 2 3 4 515 Watching & evaluating other student’s

videos1 2 3 4 5

16 Practical Activities 1 2 3 4 517 Organising notes for the structure of

mitochondria in a specific format e.g. draw, label, annotate, highlight

1 2 3 4 5

18 Creating a lonely hearts profile page for a mitochondria

1 2 3 4 5

19 Independent Study 1 2 3 4 5

Please write any further comments over the page.

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Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire.

Are you male or female?

Which of the following activities did you enjoy?

Strongly Disagree

Disagree Not Sure Agree Strongly Agree

1 Learning objectives displayed & explained

1 2 3 4 5

2 Teacher explanation of new concepts 1 2 3 4 53 Copying notes given by teacher 1 2 3 4 54 Transforming diagrams into written

explanations or creating diagrams from text

1 2 3 4 5

5 Glycolysis Song 1 2 3 4 56 Creating an animation using Power

Point to illustrate glycolysis1 2 3 4 5

7 Watching & evaluating other student’s glycolysis animations

1 2 3 4 5

8 Reducing – Choosing 3 words to sum up oxidative phosporylation & chemiosmosis

1 2 3 4 5

9 Creating a human model to demonstrate oxidative phosphorylation and chemiosmosis.

1 2 3 4 5

10 Reducing – summing up the evidence for chemiosmosis into a 1 minute speech.

1 2 3 4 5

11 Opportunities for class discussions & questioning

1 2 3 4 5

12 Paired explanations & discussion 1 2 3 4 513 Past exam questions 1 2 3 4 514 Creating respiration videos 1 2 3 4 515 Watching & evaluating other student’s

videos1 2 3 4 5

16 Practical Activities 1 2 3 4 517 Organising notes for the structure of

mitochondria in a specific format e.g. draw, label, annotate, highlight

1 2 3 4 5

18 Creating a lonely hearts profile page for a mitochondria

1 2 3 4 5

19 Independent Study 1 2 3 4 5

Please write any further comments over the page.

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