In this paper I am to reflect on my performance as an educator over the course of my two week unit. To accomplish this I will begin by discussing my most successful learning goal, my least successful learning goal, and what may have led to those outcomes. My most successful learning goal for my two week unit was Learning Goal 1. That learning goal is as follows, Learning Goal 1: Understand that all energy originates from the sun. I say that this is my most successful learning goal, because it was on this goal that the students scored the lowest on the pre-assessment and ended with the greatest increase of scores on the post assessment. For this learning goal the class average on the pre-assessment was around 22% out of 100%. After the two week unit was completed and the post assessment was administered the class average for the same goal was around 86% out of 100%. The students ended up with a 64 point difference between the pre and post assessments. This was the greatest increase in points as Learning Goal 2 had a 16 point increase, and Learning Goal 3 had a 59 point increase between the pre and post assessments. I believe that the material that was associated with Learning Goal 1 was a new concept for most of these students. I think that one reason for the increase in score from the pre to the post assessment was the fact that this new concept was taught to them in a manner in which the students could understand. There were three questions that addressed this learning goal on the pre-assessment and three that did the same on the post, so there were not a huge number of differences in the number of questions that could have skewed the results between the two assessments. Additionally, I believe that the students were able to do well with this learning goal because, once explained the material associated with this learning goal is not complicated. So once the students were armed with the knowledge, I think they could easily identify the concepts and applications that applied to Learning Goal 1 and this attributed to their performance on the post assessment. The Learning Goal that I had the least success with would be Learning Goal 2. The goal stated: Learning Goal 2: Understand how radiant energy from the sun is transferred to electrical energy and then to chemical energy in the bonds of macromolecules. This goal basically deals with photosynthesis and the accompanying processes. Oddly enough the students scored higher on the questions aligned with this goal on the pre-assessment. The class average for Learning Goal 2 was 55%. This told me that the students came into the lesson with at least some basic knowledge of photosynthesis. However, on the post assessment the students only increased by 16 points to average 71% as a class. My objective for each learning goal was to have the students pass the assessment with a minimum of 70% accuracy. The class barely made this objective. This class is a very quite one, in which the students rarely ask questions unless prompted. Perhaps many in the class were confused about the processes of photosynthesis and I did not recognize this because no one asked for help. There is also the possibility that I did not present the information in such a manner as to allow the students to effectively learn the material. Because the students scored so well on the pre-assessment there was less room for overall improvement, but when compared to the increases in scores on the other learning objectives a 16 point increase is simply unacceptable. The formative assessments that I gave during the course of the two week unit gave no indication of problems with this particular learning goal, but something went wrong. If I could do this again, I would certainly implement a questioning strategy during the lessons on photosynthesis. If I had I think that I could have caught some of the issues that the students had with this particular learning goal.
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