Free trial = add to our research
- Lesley Goddard
Big Picture
Compare the learners' learning progress when teaching:
the school’s existing units within the scheme of learning for 3 to 6 weeks (the control) with
the same learners' progress using timely practice for the same time period.
Comparing is a little complicated because …
We are comparing 2 quite different ways of teaching and embedding learning:
| The school’s existing unit(s) (control) | The allocated timely practice topics (experiment) |
|---|---|---|
Spiral though the annual scheme of learning | One spiral per year Depth first journey through the SOL Teach everything everything that will be taught on a topic during the year within a few days. | A few spirals per year Breadth first journey through the SOL Teach a small bite on a topic within a lesson. Teach the topic a few times per year |
Embedding of learning | Often self directed revision. 20-60 minute test on the topics (soon) after the 2-3 weeks teaching block. | Revision organised by timely practice Recently learned topics practised more frequently but in each 10-15 minutes session in each lesson, any topic may be revised. |
So we need to find a way to measure progress fairly
| The school’s existing unit(s) (control) | The allocated timely practice topics (experiment) |
|---|---|---|
Unit of measure | timely practice layers are small bites of learning on each topic | |
Which topics will be taught in the trial | e.g. 1 of the 2 units of algebra from the SOL | e.g. all of the topics from at least one topic theme geometry and measure and some from another probability and statistics |
Auto pre assess the topics in the trial using timely practice | Set up class.controlBefore in timely practice app Add all topics within the unit to the scheme of learning | Set up class.experiment in the timely practice app Add all topics allocated to timely practice |
Preparation: time to fully assess learners on the topics before teaching begins. Before each lesson, create and print the assignments, after each lesson assess the completed assignments. | Allow 10 minutes from each of 6 lessons for learners to do a pre assess from class.controlBefore | Allow 10 minutes from each of 6 lessons for learners to do a pre assess from class.experiment. Not all topics will be pre assessed, but enough will be pre assessed that teaching may begin. |
Calculate number of layers each learner “already knows” | Take a snapshot of each topic in class.controlBefore. All the blue layers are the layers count as “already knew” | Take a snapshot of each topic in class.experiment before planning teaching for the unit. All the blue layers are the layers count as “already knew” |
Duration of teaching
| The school will chose the units, and therefore the number of lessons of the trial. e.g. 11 x 1 hour lessons of a 3 week unit | The same number of lessons, but subtract time spent embedding learning after the teaching time. e.g. 11 lessons - 2 lessons = 9 lessons (see Wait below) |
Teach | Teach the unit as normal Revise and test after the unit as normal | Teach all the topics from the first topic theme (e.g. 11 topics from geometry and measure) and as many as is comfortable from another topic theme (e.g. 3 to 7 topics from probability and statistics). Continue to create pre assess assignments for learners who still have topics which are not fully pre assessed. |
Wait | Wait 6 weeks - no revision allowed | Continue with 5 to 10 minutes of timely practice 1st fortnight: every maths lesson 2nd fortnight: twice a week 3rd fortnight: once a week This might be 17 sessions of 7 minutes = 120 minutes , hence duration of teaching time has 2 lessons subtracted. |
Assess | Set up class.controlAfter in timely practice app. Add all topics within the control unit to the scheme of learning. Or if continuing with timely practice, add the topics from the control unit to class.experiment SOL Create and assess up to 6 pre assess assignments, allow about 10 minutes per lesson. All the blue layers are the layers from the control topics count as “now knows” | Take a snapshot of each topic in class.experiment after 6 weeks. All the medium and darker blue layers are the layers which count as “now knows”, the very pale blue layers are fragile - meaning the learner is still learning them, so they should not be counted. |
Calculate embedded progress | For each learner calculate: progress = number of layers “now knows” - number of layers “already knew” | |
Analysis | Compare the progress with both types of teaching. Compare number of layers learned from each topic. | |