Education Excursion

Scenario

In our increasingly global economy, a number of organizations have developed international exchange programs designed to give educators and students an introduction to the culture and education systems of other countries. For example:

Students and teachers from the Baltimore County Public Schools and from China participated in a China Exchange Program in 2007-08:

Chinese Culture Comes to Lutherville Lab
BCPS Superintendent's visit with Chinese students
Being There: Dulaney Goes to China

In 2006 and 2008, Towson University’s College of Education participated in a Fulbright-Hays Study Abroad Project involving K-12 classroom teachers from public school districts across the nation.

Fulbright Hays Seminars Abroad

Perhaps one day you will have an opportunity to participate in an international educational exchange program. In the meantime, you can take an online "excursion" to another country to learn about its education sytem and answer the essential question:

How do contemporary education issues impact students, teachers,
and schools in different countries around the world?

Task & Product

teachers

You will use online resources to gather information about the education system of one of the following countries:

Canada	China	Egypt	France
Germany	India	Mexico	United Kingdom

Then you will use your research findings to create a PowerPoint presentation to inform your classmates about the education system in your assigned country.

Finally, you will view and listen to your classmates' PowerPoint presentations to compare the education systems of different countries around the world in a learning log.

Assessments

classroom

The following scoring tools may be used or adapted by your teacher to evaluate your research process, final product/presentation, and learning log.

Research Process Assessments:

Daily-- Formative
Research Process--Summative (Student/Self)
Research Process--Summative (Teacher)

PowerPoint Project/Presentation Assessment: HTML Rubric | MS Word Rubric

Learning Log Final Assessment: Constructed Response Rubric

Questions

male teacher

Essential question guiding your research:

How do contemporary education issues impact students, teachers,
and schools in different countries around the world?

Subtopics & Subsidiary questions: See the graphic organizer you will use for note-taking.

Gather and Sort

Gather information from a variety of sources.

Record and sort your research findings using this graphic organizer. Avoid plagiarism and keep track of your resources for a bibliography slide at the end of your presentation.

Follow a style guide to prepare your Bibliography (Works Cited) OR
Use an online citation generator such as EasyBib, CitationMachine, or Noodle Tools

Organize

notes

Analyze your research notes to determine if you have enough information to cover each subtopic.

Have you gathered sufficient details to address the project requirements?
Have you located relevant graphics to support and enhance your information?
Did you remember to cite all sources of information and graphics for your bibliography slide?

Synthesize your research notes to create your PowerPoint presentation according to the project guidelines.

Review the PowerPoint presentation assessment criteria

Conclusion

child with globe

Present your PowerPoint project bout the education system of another country to your class.

Take notes about education systems in different countries as your classmates present their PowerPoint projects. You will need these notes to complete your Learning Log for the final assessment:

Which country's education system seems to provide the best working conditions for teachers?
Which country's system seems to provide the best learning environment for students? Use details from your presentation notes to support your responses.