For the Purpose Assignment, you will need to have access to either grade appropriate textbooks and/or the ability to observe classroom lessons. The purpose of this assignment is to give you some experience with noting and analyzing how teachers or authors set purpose for a unit of study or a chapter or a particular lesson. Remember the Purpose addresses Topic, Operation(s), and Situation(s).
Read (and print if you like) the Overview of Purpose. Then answer the following questions.
1. Topic. How would you describe the topic. Is it given as a concept word (Cells, The Battle of Lexington), an essential question, a big idea or in another form. Think about how students might respond if you asked, "What are your studying now?"
Look at the way the teacher/author represents the topic. Could you represent it in a graphic form: semantic/concept map, outline, list, other form that shows the major concepts and relationships among concepts?
2. Operation(s). What does the teacher/author expect the student to do with the information/ideas? How does the student know what to do? Does the author/teacher highlight the cognitive operations (cognitive verbs) visually or auditorily? Does the teacher/author use a format that signals the learner where to look for the tasks: Objectives, Embedded Qs, Qs at the end of written material, specific assignments? Is there a way to know if the students are capable of performing the operation(s)? Is there a way for the student to get help if the qs/assignments are not clear?
3. Situation(s). Where/When/How will the students use their work on Topics/Operations? Class discussion, test, assignment, application to a problem or problems in the real world? Is the situational use of their work clear? How does the teacher/author communicate that?
What feedback could you offer the teacher/author on the strengths and weaknesses of his/her/their treatment of PURPOSE?
Text and Classroom Examples of Purpose