Locating Electrons in Atoms: A Chemistry Unit Plan Implementing the 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching
The structure of the atom is one of the most fundamental concepts in science. Understanding where the electrons are and how they interact with matter and energy allows us to make predictions about the chemical and physical properties of materials in our universe. While these lessons are not new for me to teach, I have used the 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013) to make some adjustments that improved the learning experience for my students.
Rather than using the Essential Questions provided in the Colorado State Standards, I was able to develop more intriguing Essential Questions that captured my students imagination and stimulated their curiosity. I also asked the to add their own questions to my short list and I was very impressed with their level of thinking.
Students now have more opportunities for high quality feedback than they had before. In addition to using the leveled quizzes, I have also developed a single point rubric to guide the peer review of their Flame Test Lab Reports and turned my former scoring guide into a Checklist so they can ensure they have met every requirement before submitting their reports.
The end of class Launch is now more intentional as I have begun using the 56 Different Ways to Gather Evidence of Student Achievement (Wees) to gather feedback from my students about their progress.
There are still some aspects of the unit plan I would like to improve. In particular, I would like to find ways to add more student choice to the unit. I worked closely with another teacher who specialized in Project-Based Learning and I would like to utilize some of those strategies to increase student choice and relevance. I also need to get students up and moving at least one more time per class - 96 minutes is a very long time to sit still at a lab table!
Student growth is impressive so far. Although their final lab reports have not yet been submitted, I have gathered information about their progress towards each of the learning objectives. In Development of the Atomic Theory, students averaged only 47% on the pretest, but on the most recent quiz the average score was 78%. For the learning target Locating Electrons in Orbitals Around the Nucleus, students scored 12% on the pretest and on the post assessment the average is 85%. The final skill, Calculate the Energy of Electron Transitions, which is supported by the lab analysis, started out at a 14% average on the pretest. Since my class is asynchronous, not everyone has taken the quiz for this learning target yet. The five students who tried it so far have made an average of 100%, but they are the most accelerated students in my class and have already moved on to the next unit.
Access the Unit Plan Here: Click the image below to open the full Unit Plan for Locating Electrons in Atoms.