Energy Gallery Walk 2009

Katharine Guiles Ellis, Front Range Community College, Boulder County Campus

Overview: Each student is given a unique set of readings on different energy topics (conventional energy, alternative energy, energy and environmental issues, geopolitics of energy, consumer energy information, etc…) They will come to the gallery walk prepared to answer questions, but will only have partial answers based on their own readings. Students will be placed into groups the day of the ‘event’ and will come to class to find posters, one question per poster, on the walls. Student groups will rotate around the room and write on the posters, as they would post on a blog on the internet. When they arrive at a poster, they respond to the question by reaching consensus with all group members.

Each group will also respond to answers already posted by other groups who visited before them. At the end of the activity, we have a group discussion, and then each group completes a brief summary report with complete, comprehensive, and thoughtful answers.

All ideas and strategies for this teaching method are from:

Materials:

  • Articles assigned to students were all taken from issues of EARTH magazine from 2007-2009.
  • Poster sized paper (recyclable!) and markers. (Each group is assigned a different color, which is how you know who wrote what!)
  • A set of questions. Mine are below, but you can adapt to your own agenda.
  • Assessment tools. Mine are below. I have not made changes since doing the lesson for the first time in April, 2009.
  • Student evaluate the gallery walk experience
  • Students evaluate each other’s participation
  • Students write their group report.

Gallery Walk Questions: You will be expected to enlighten your classmates as to your point of view based on the articles you read as to the best answers to these questions. The answers are not the ‘look-it-up-in-the-book’ type answers. You will be expected to communicate at the college level, and sound intelligent and educated during the gallery walk.

  • What sources of energy (conventional and alternative-yet-to-be-brought-to-market) are appropriate powering motor vehicles? In detail, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
  • What sources of energy (conventional and alternative) are appropriate for powering homes? (Heat, hot water, cooking, cooling, light, etc) In detail, what are the advantages and disadvantages?
  • What are the most polluting energy sources, and what type of pollution do they produce? What are the least polluting energy sources, and why aren’t we using them more?
  • What are fifteen ways the average person can conserve energy?
  • Do we need to conserve energy? Do developing nations need to? Why or why not?
  • Should energy conservation be a legal mandate from the U.S. government for our citizens? Should the U.N. require international consensus on energy conservation? Would that be fair to developing nations?
  • What are the reasons we can no longer depend on fossil fuels (both domestic and imported) to power the United States of America? What are the great issues at stake?
  • Who will pay the price for energy decisions made (or not made) in the next few years? What do you anticipate that price might be?

ANONYMOUS Student Assessment of Gallery Walk to Improve Instruction

1. What did you like about Gallery Walk?

2. What did you dislike about Gallery Walk?

Read each statement and circle the number that best characterizes your own response.

General Observation

/

Disagree_ Neutral___ Agree

3.

/

The directions for Gallery Walk were clear. I knew what do to successfully complete a Gallery Walk.

/ 12345

4.

/

The topics in the Gallery Walk were interesting to me.

/ 12345

5.

/

We worked more collaboratively than with usual class discussion techniques.

/ 12345

6.

/

During the Gallery Walk, all group members participated.

/ 12345

7.

/

During the Gallery Walk, my group listened respectfully to one another.

/ 12345
8. / I felt I gained a better understanding of the topic if I learned the topic through lecture. Explain your answer / 12345
9. / The wording of Gallery Walk questions was clear. If not which questions needed improvement:
Question 1 2 3 4 5 / 12345
10. / I felt we had enough time to discuss each topic at learning stations / 12345
11. / Gallery Walk was easy to use. / 12345
12. / The evaluation criteria (how I will be graded) for Gallery Walk were clear. / 12345
13. / My overall experience with Gallery Walk was satisfactory. / 12345
14. / I would like to participate in another Gallery Walk. / 12345

YOUR NAME:

Circle the response on this rubric for yourself during the gallery walk:

Teacher or Student Evaluation for Group Work, Source: Lesson Plan Page.Com 2005. accessed 19 May 2005.
Criteria for MYSELF / Distinguished / Proficient / Basic / Unacceptable / Total
Assisting:
helping one another. / All of the Time / Most of the Time / Some of the Time / None of the Time
Listening:
listen respectfully to others’ ideas. / All of the Time / Most of the Time / Some of the Time / None of the Time
Participating:
exchanging, defending, questioning and rethinking discussion ideas. / All of the Time / Most of the Time / Some of the Time / None of the Time

------

PARTNER’S NAME:
Circle the response on this rubric for your PARTNER during the gallery walk:

Teacher or Student Evaluation for Group Work, Source: Lesson Plan Page.Com 2005. accessed 19 May 2005.
Criteria for YOUR PARTNER / Distinguished / Proficient / Basic / Unacceptable / Total
Assisting:
helping one another. / All of the Time / Most of the Time / Some of the Time / None of the Time
Listening:
listen respectfully to others’ ideas. / All of the Time / Most of the Time / Some of the Time / None of the Time
Participating:
exchanging, defending, questioning and rethinking discussion ideas. / All of the Time / Most of the Time / Some of the Time / None of the Time

NAMES OF GROUP MEMBERS:

GALLERY WALK REPORT AND RUBRIC

  1. What sources of energy (conventional and alternative-yet-to-be-brought-to-market) are appropriate powering motor vehicles? In detail, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
  1. What sources of energy (conventional and alternative) are appropriate for powering homes? (Heat, hot water, cooking, cooling, light, etc) In detail, what are the advantages and disadvantages?
  1. What sources of energy (conventional and alternative) are appropriate for powering industry? (They need electricity, heat, hot water, cooling systems, etc) Why do you think so?
  1. What are the most polluting energy sources, and what type of pollution do they produce? What are the least polluting energy sources, and why aren’t we using them more?
  1. What are fifteen ways the average person can conserve energy?
  1. Do we need to conserve energy? Do developing nations need to? Why or why not?
  1. Should energy conservation be a legal mandate from the U.S. government for our citizens? Should the U.N. require international consensus on energy conservation? Would that be fair to developing nations?
  1. What are the reasons we can no longer depend on fossil fuels (both domestic and imported) to power the United States of America? What are the great issues at stake?
  1. Who will pay the price for energy decisions made (or not made) in the next few years? What do you anticipate that price might be?

Adapted and modified from: Written Report Assessment Template, Compiled from the following sources: Project Literary among Youth, 2002, accessed 19 May 2005.
Kansas State University, 2005. Rubric for Research Paper,
Criteria / Distinguished / Proficient / Basic / Unacceptable
Content / Clear examples to support answers to specific questions and to support the overall purpose; reader gains important insight; analysis poses thorough ways to think of the material; quoted material well integrated; depth of coverage without being redundant. / Examples support most answers to questions and support general purpose; reader gains some insight; occasional evidence of ways to think about the material Quotes well integrated into sentences. Topics adequately addressed but not in the detail or depth expected. / Examples support some topic sentences; reader gains little insight; Examples support some topic sentences; no evidence of novel thinking and intermittent support of thesis through with evidence. / The answers rely on stringing together quotes or close paraphrasing; Failure to support statements with major content omitted; Quotes not integrated, improperly.
Organization / The ideas are arranged logically to support the purpose. It’s easy to follow the line reasoning. / The ideas are arranged logically to support the central purpose
For the most part, the reader can
follow the line of reasoning. / In general, ideas are arranged logically, but sometimes ideas fail to make
sense together. The reader is
fairly clear about what writer
intends. / Ideas are not logically
organized. Frequently, ideas fail to make sense together.
The reader cannot identify a line of reasoning.
Conclusion / The writer makes succinct and precise conclusions based on the review of literature and class comments. Suggestions for future research offered. / Some of the conclusions, however, are not supported. Suggestions for future research offered. / Some of the conclusions, however, are not supported; weak or trite suggestions for future research. / There is little or no indication that the writer tried to synthesize the information or draw conclusions based on the literature; no suggestions for future research.