Multimedia Design Project Assessment (MDPA) Report Template

By Courtney Carver

Product URL: http://plantpackagingproblem.weebly.com/

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Analysis
Learner Analysis

This WebQuest was designed for 1st grade students at a STEM Certified
Elementary school. Martin Technology Academy of Math and Science is
a Title I school, with 67% of their student population receiving free and/or
reduced meals. Students in first grade at MTA are 5 7 years old and
have reading scores on the Developmental Reading Assessment that range
between a level A and a level 28. Out of the 107 students enrolled in 1st
grade at MTA, 12% of these students receive ESOL services, 4% are
identified as Gifted, and 3% receive special education services. Every
classroom at MTA is equipped with a 1:1 ratio of Google Chromebooks.
Classroom teachers at MTA are expected to use a blended learning
philosophy in their classrooms to have students utilizing devices daily.
MTA is also a STEM school, so students are very familiar with project-
based learning and utilizing the Engineering Design Process to solve
problems creatively.

Context Analysis

Class characteristics The typical 1st grade classroom at MTA has 18

20 students with one teacher. Most classrooms also have a support teacher
for students with special needs. This WebQuest would be presented to
students during their STEM block, which is a two-hour flexible block of
time for teachers to integrate Math, Science, and Technology content.
Technical considerations Every 1st grade classroom at MTA is equipped
with a Google Chromebook for every student (1:1 ratio), and an
interactive white board. Students use their devices daily and are very
comfortable with accessing the web on them. Students who have special
needs already have accommodations in place for the daily use of their
device, and they would continue to use these adaptations for this project.
Some students require headphones to assist with hearing impairments, and
two students use screen magnifiers to assist with visual impairments.
Teacher characteristics Each 1st grade teacher receives professional
learning throughout the year on Blended Learning, Chromebook Apps,
 and interactivity tools on their whiteboards. The teachers at MTA are
expected to stay on the forefront of technology to support the schools
STEM initiatives. The 1st grade teachers have more than enough technical
competencies to effectively implement this WebQuest with their students,
but also have access to support from their Media Specialist and Hall
Countys E-learning Specialists if needed.
Standards
Georgia Standards of Excellence:
S1L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the
basic needs of plants and animals.
Next Generation Science Standards:
K-2-ETS1-1 - Engineering Design: Ask questions, make
observations, and gather information about a situation
people want to change to define a simple problem that can
be solved through the development of a new or improved
object or tool.
K-2-ETS1-2 - Engineering Design: Develop a simple
sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the
shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a
given problem.
ISTE Standards for Students:
Digital Citizen - students recognize the rights,
responsibilities, and opportunities of living, learning, and
working in an interconnected digital world, and they act
and model in ways that are safe, legal, and ethical.
Knowledge Constructor - Students critically curate a
variety of resources using digital tools to construct
knowledge, produce creative artifacts, and make
meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.
Innovative Designer - Students use a variety of
technologies within a design process to identify and solve
problems by creating new, useful, or imaginative solutions.
Global Collaborator - Students use digital tools to broaden
their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating
with others and working effectively in teams locally and
globally.

Task Analysis

Learning Objectives
Essential Questions:
What are the four resources a plant needs to survive and
thrive?
What happens if a plant does not have access to these 4
resources?
How does technology help me to solve a problem?
 How does the design step of the EDP help me solve a
problem?
Dispositional Objectives:
How does working in a group help support my learning?
How does working with a group help improve my ability to
solve a problem?

Design
Overview

Introduction Students are presented with a problem, in video format,

from the teacher. In an attempt to send her mother a plant, she finds that
the plant keeps dying when she puts it in the package. She asks the
students to become her hero, and design a package that will give the plant
everything it needs to be safely shipped to her mom.
Task Students are tasked with researching one of the four resources a
plant needs to live. They will teach the other members of the group what
they have learned, then the group will work together to design a plant
package that ensures the plant inside will get all the resources it needs.
Process Students will be provided with a variety of resources to gather
the information they need. Students will work to answer four questions 1)
What is the plant resource you are the expert about? 2) How does the plant
get this resource? 3) What happens if the plant does not get this resource?
And 4) How could you make a package that makes sure the plant can still
get this resource? Each student will take on the role of becoming an
expert about one resource. Students will have access to a flash card with
information about their resource, a digital book about plants, and a choice
of four videos of teachers reading books about plants.
Resources When gathering resources, I made sure to evaluate each one
to ensure that they would deliver the appropriate content that students
would need to complete the project.
o Header Images: used from within the Weebly site builder
o All other images on site: www.pixabay.com, CC0 Public Domain,
Free for commercial use, No attribution required
o Plant Need Flash Cards (one per process page): 2005 2017,
SparkleBox Teacher Resources Limited (www.sparklebox.co.uk)
You are free to copy, distribute, display, and perform the material
provided you give SparkleBox credit, acknowledging
www.sparklebox.co.uk as the source; it is not for commercial use;
the digital versions of our products are not altered, transformed or
built upon in any way; you make clear to others these license
terms.
o Growing Plants Digital Book: created by myself on
StoryJumper.com
 o YouTube Videos:
[Ferrara, Kathy]. (2013, March 10). Oh Say Can You Seed
[Video File]. Retrieved from
https://youtu.be/kodG0m8MjMM
[Chen, Catherina]. (2011, May 26). The Tiny Seed by Eric
Carle [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://youtu.be/ls6wTeT2cKA
[Leighton, Jennifer]. (2014, April 8). How a Seed Grows
[Video File]. Retrieved from
https://youtu.be/uT4RprTqejs
[Gregory, Sheri]. (2016, May 16). Lesson 23 Zinnias
Flower Garden [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://youtu.be/J78U14jkjzY

Details
The Plant Packaging WebQuest was designed with a mutual interdependence
component. Students will take on a role and complete their research
independently, but their success on the task depends on the research of all their
other task members. This ensures that every students participation is critical.
The final scoring rubric is based on each individual students understanding of the
standards. The teacher has the option to have students complete the design and
construction of the packages individually or in teams. If students construct their
packages in teams, the teacher should call up students independently to ask
students to articulate their mastery of the standards. The teacher may prefer to
have students work in teams due to lack of materials, or because she wants
students to work on collaboration skills.
The multi-media elements included in this WebQuest are designed to support
student learning and mastery of the standards. I have included a personally
created video on the introduction and conclusion pages. I included a digital book
on the process pages, as well as audio links that read the flash card text. Finally, I
embedded videos on the process pages to engage students in the research process.

This WebQuest was designed for equal access by learners at all entry levels.
Although the resources on each role page look similar, the depth of vocabulary
knowledge for each resource is different. The resources may be the same, but the
facts the student are looking and listening for vary in depth of skill. When
considering grouping and roles for individual students, the roles are differentiated
and the following students were kept in mind when planning for each role based on
the skills needed to understand the concept: Water - Teir III or IV students, Light -
ESOL students, Nutrients - Tier I or II students, Air - Gifted/Advanced students. The
resources for the roles above were created with those students in mind, but they don't
have to be exclusively used by those students. All roles can be accessed by all
students. Some students may need more support for research gathering, such as
providing them with a graphic organizer. The product for the WebQuest is naturally
 differentiated, as each group or individual will come up with their own plan and
design for their plant package.

This WebQuest also adheres to the principles of Universal Design. I made sure to
provide multiple means of representation by including various ways to gather
information including text, audio, and video. I made sure to include closed caption
and a transcript with my videos for students with sensory disabilities. I also included
a link to Read Naturally on the home page for students with learning disabilities to
have all the text on the WebQuest read aloud to them. I made sure that all my
important images included alternate text for any students who may use a program to
read the webpage for them. I also made sure to provide multiple mans of action and
expression on the rubric by including the ability for student to show mastery verbally
as well as on their paper. This project lends itself to multiple means of expression
since the students are coming up with the final product on their own. There are very
limited constraints on their final design, only asking that it meet the four needs of the
plant. Students are able to choose the materials, size, shape, etc. Finally, I made sure
to provide multiple means of engagement by allowing the flexibility for students to
work individually or in groups and still be able to show mastery.

Development
The development of this WebQuest required that I learn a couple of new skills. I
spent time attempting to locate a digital book that gave me right to embed on my
website, with no luck. I then came across a website called StoryJumper where I
could create my own digital books. I spent a couple of hours on this site learning
how to navigate the site and creating my own digital book. I was then able to
embed this book onto my WebQuest for my students to access. Although this was
time I wasnt planning on spending, it was very valuable time that taught me a
new skill that I can use for future lessons, as well as use with my students.
I spent over 10 hours developing this WebQuest. The majority of my time was
spent upfront in the planning process. I spent a large amount of time looking for
resources as well. I wanted to make sure that each resource was valuable for my
students learning before putting it on my site. I have created websites in Weebly
before, so I was comfortable with the platform, and this made the technical part of
creating the WebQuest go much quicker.

Implementation
This project is designed with implementation flexibility. Ideally, this would be
implemented in a classroom with 1:1 devices for all students, but could also be
completed in small group rotations, as well as whole group using a projection
system. If 1:1 devices are not available, use of a computer lab or mobile laptop
cart would be the most effective implementation of this WebQuest. This would
allow the teacher to rotate around the room as a facilitator while these young
students worked.
 The teacher can allow students to choose groups of four, place them in groups of
four. The teacher can allow students to choose roles, or you can assign them roles
based on the differentiation embedded in the roles. The final scoring rubric is
based on each individual students understanding of the standards. The teacher
has the option to have students complete the design and construction of the
packages individually or in teams. If students construct their packages in teams,
she should call up students independently to ask students to articulate their
mastery of the standards. The teacher may prefer to have students work in teams
due to lack of materials, or because she want students to work on collaboration
skills. This WebQuest can be even more authentic by bringing in (or going on a
field trip) a local plant expert to help students with research, give them feedback
on their package designs, and/or assess the final packages for accuracy. (ie.
Master Gardeners, local nursery, retired high school/college biology teacher, etc.)
A teacher should plan to spend 4 5 days of science instructional time to allow
students the opportunity to complete the full engineering design process. To
shorten the amount of class time needed to complete this project, the teacher
could ask students to build their plant packages at home with their parents. They
could return them to school for the testing phase, and then complete the improve
phase at home. This would also allow the parents to be partners in the
engineering design process.

It is very important that all students, at all entry levels, have access to the Internet
to complete this assignment. This may involve bringing in assistive technologies
such as screen magnifiers, headphones, and/or adaptive mouse for students with
disabilities. This also might mean utilizing the support teachers to preview
vocabulary for students with learning or language barriers. It would also be
beneficial to collaborate with support teachers in creating graphic organizers for
students who need support gathering their research.

In the Teacher Notes page of my WebQuest, I have included possible

implementation and differentiation strategies that other teachers might implement
when using the WebQuest.

Evaluation
Student Learning

A rubric is provided to assess student learning. Students are expected to

meet mastery on one science standard, two engineering standards, and four
technology standards. The teacher should review the rubric before allowing
students to work so that they are comfortable with the expectations for
mastery. The final product that students are creating is their plant package,
but students should be assessed on the design they create. The design should
be labeled in a way (or verbally described by the student) that shows how
the plant will get its needs met. Since this lesson is designed for young
students, it may be difficult for them to actually make their plans into a
workable product, so this is why it is important to assess their understanding
at the design phase. Teachers will make observations while they facilitate in
order to assess students on their ability to work in a group (ISTE Global
Collaborator standard). The student scoring rubric is included on the
evaluation page of my WebQuest.
Product Design
In order to assess the design of the WebQuest, I have included a survey on the
Evaluation page. This survey can (and should) be completed by both students and
teachers who use the site. For students I used a choice of three images to ask their
perception about the overall ease of use, their engagement, and if they understood
their mastery. For teachers, I provided a 5 point Likert Scale for questions that
ask their perception about overall visual appeal, navigation and flow, mechanical
aspects, cognitive level of the task, scaffolding of the process, relevance and
quality of the resources, and clarity of the evaluation criteria.
Since I completed this project during the summer semester, I was only able to
complete a small piolet test. I asked three homeschool students to work through
the website and complete the survey. They all felt that the activity was engaging,
especially the final product, and the resources were sufficient to help them answer
their questions. They did provide me with some feedback that they were not clear
at first about where to go next. Based on this feedback, I went back into my
site and added a sentence at the end of each page directing students where to click
next.
Below are images of some of my pilot testers trying out the WebQuest. An added
bonus was that my testers tried working through the website on a tablet, and they
didnt have any technical difficulties.
Reflection
Project Development When creating this project, it was very clear that if
you wanted to create a project with high quality and a lot of content depth, it
would take a lot of time. The wonderful thing about creating this project
online is that other teachers and students can benefit from the time I
invested in this project, and I can use the project for years to come. I believe
that continuing to work with a platform I am comfortable with was a wise
choice. There are always new and wonderful tools out there, but sticking
with a comfortable platform allowed me to focus more time on the planning
of the project and lesson time on learning new technical skills. When I work
on another WebQuest, I would make sure to gather all my resources ahead of
time. Hunting resources on the web can be very time-consuming, and when I
stopped building my site in order to find more resources I felt like I wasnt
making the best use of my time. If I had all my resources ready to
upload/embed before I started creating the site, the development would
move along much quicker.

Instructional Design Designing a WebQuest is a wonderful way to engage

students in self-directed learning. Having a variety of resources, so that all
students had access to the knowledge acquisition worked really well. It I was
going to add additional resources, or improve on my resources, I would like
to add a website for students to gather information from that is age
appropriate. Sometimes it is difficult to find age-appropriate resources for
young students. When I was choosing my multi-media elements, I was
specifically looking for resources that were engaging, age appropriate, and
could be embedded on my webpage. I didnt want students to get lost on
the web by having to click back and forth to different sources.

Personal Growth By working on this project, I learned that I have quite a

bit of determination. I spent a few hours each night for a couple of weeks
working to make this the best project I could for my students. When I
couldnt find a digital book that allowed me to embed on my website legally, I
was determined to make one of my own. I wanted to make sure my students
had everything the needed to be successful. I also learned that I would
benefit from working with younger students more often. I spent a lot of time
questioning if my resources were age appropriate because I havent spent a
lot of time in classrooms below 2nd grade. I plan to make my personal goals
this school year to implement more technology in K-2 classrooms to build my
experience level.

For Others From this experience, I would suggest to other teachers who
want to complete a similar project, Dont be scared! Jump in! Many
teachers may feel intimidated trying to tackle creating an entire WebQuest
on their own. Finding support people is crucial, whether it is someone to
help with the technical parts, or the instructional parts. Yes, this is a time
consuming process that requires some technical skills, but what you will
learn along the way will be so valuable throughout your teaching experience.
We need to make sure we, as teachers, are stepping into the world of new
technologies and teaching our students where they are most comfortable. It
is time that we start teaching our children for their future, not ours!