The STREAM Camp outlined in my Innovation Plan is sure to be a large undertaking this year as we are adding a few innovative layers to our previously successful camps:

• hosting twice as many students as before
• including virtual learners
• including 3D printing activities
• hosting a specialized location and activities for middle school students

My Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) for the camp is to engage 400 students in a STREAM camp both virtually and face-to-face providing equal opportunities for exploration, learning, and support that includes choice. In order to create a significant learning environment at STREAM camp for four hundred students, several factors need to be taken into consideration. L.Dee Fink’s Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning is a useful tool for considering the goals, needs and outcomes of a significant learning environment. The guide provides a roadmap which includes three course design phases which pulls all of the components of a successful course together.

The initial design phase, Build Strong Primary Components, requires the instructor to identify important situational factors and learning goals. Then the instructor should formulate assessment and feedback methods and select effective learning activities. Finally the instructor, or course designer, should ensure that the primary components are integrated. The integration of the learning goals is critical, as Fink proposes that each element of learning is reliant upon the other and that assessment, feedback and activities must align with the goals or final outcomes of the course.

Below is the initial design phase of the STREAM camp to include situational factors, learning goals and a three column table which addresses goals, activities and assessments. As I am more of an organizer and not an instructor of the camp, the activities proposed are merely suggestions. After students’ interests are surveyed and librarians have had an opportunity to organize specific tasks, those will be added to this table. Also, the three day camp is a much more informal learning environment than a typical classroom or course. The goals are more focused on exploration and gaining interests than mastering specific standards.

Significant Learning Outcomes Google Document

 

A TAXONOMY OF SIGNIFICANT LEARNING

Fink’s taxonomy consists of six major types of significant learning, with a number of sub-categories.

 

INTERACTIVE NATURE OF SIGNIFICANT LEARNING

Fink proposes that each kind of learning can stimulate other kinds of learning.

• References
• BHAG. Jim Collins – Concepts – BHAG. (2021). https://www.jimcollins.com/concepts/bhag.html.
• Einstein, A. (0AD). “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.” Quotenova.net. https://images.app.goo.gl/U7MP4ovXKrSvp1sm8.
• Fink, L. D. (2003). Self-directed guide to designing courses for significant learning. Jossey-Bass.
• Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences, revised and updated: an integrated approach to designing college courses (Kindle). Jossey-Bass.
• Harapnuik, D. (2016, June 13). Why you need a BHAG to design learning environments. harapnuik.org. http://www.harapnuik.org/?p=6414.