#5. Blended Model Course Format - Pilot Overview

My pilot for the blended learning class was approved in the fall of 2017.  It will be the first blended learning class at our school.  This provided me with a great deal of flexibility in terms of format and expectations.

The AP Psychology, blended-model course will meet three days per week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 45 minutes.  During this time period, the students will participate in traditional lessons that  include lecture, discussion and demonstrations.  They will be expected to complete additional assignments outside of the classroom so their experience will be comparable with students in the traditional model.  The out of class assignments could range from watching videos, reading experiments and creating authentic assessments.

If a student's grade drops below a C-, he or she will be required to attend class every day until their grade is satisfactory.  My intent for this requirement is two fold; 1) it will provide an opportunity for me to help them individually & 2) it offers an incentive for student's who do not want to attend class daily to complete their work and maintain a passing grade.  In addition, I will require that all students attend class on a Tuesday and Thursday 1-2 times per month in small groups of 5-8 students.  the purpose of these meetings are to establish stronger relationships with my students, further develop critical thinking skills and prepare them for taking the AP exam.  For example, we could use this time for class discussions, Socratic seminars, writing and grading free response questions or developing research questions.

I will be rigorously recording data on the outcome of the blended model as compared to the traditional model.  I am not interested in pursuing blended learning because it is the hot topic.  I want to do what is best for our kids.  For our data to be meaningful, we decided to randomly select the population which will be following the blended model.  The students will not self-select into the course; however, they will have the option to opt-out if they so choose.  AP Psychology will be open enrollment for all students, sophomore to senior, with no prerequisites or other limitations

We have also clearly defined what data we will be using to measure success.  We will be monitoring the effectiveness of this model using quantitative data including student scores of the unit tests, semester exams and the AP exam.  We will also be collecting qualitative data from the students in the form of surveys and interviews.  I will be chronicling my successes and failures throughout the year using this blog.I am extremely excited to begin this journey!