PART+4b

**__Case Study: Will The Real Student A Please Stand Up.__** On the previous page you meet Student A talking about herself in her own words from the class ice breaker. I first noticed A, when I was doing comments on the class writing assignment for week seven and mentioned her to Miss B. Her written work had several glaring errors and she seemed very confused about some of the major content areas. I checked her grades and found that she had a __93% average__ at the start of week eight. Miss B felt she would be a good choice for my case study and she wanted me to be, as she put it," an extra pair of eyes on her". Miss B. wasn't really sure Student A was always getting the big picture. My unspoken question was "so why is she getting a 93% ?. I did a survey of her work and grades over the last eight weeks and found that, although she was consistently good with her hands on activities, she had a wide range of inconsistencies in her written work. A week or two of 20 /20 on her written work was followed with an isolated 16/20, 14/20 and an occasional 12/20. The tome of her work as well as the structure, content mastery and maturity of her writing all had sporadic fluctuations. When I compared different types of writing assignments and found that she would have a much higher quality of writing on the less important assignments and then would" blow it" on the major 20 point essays. I have given an example below.

Student A has never used the technical help line but has posed a few questions on the private thread. I have include a few in the artifacts page, Artifact 4b. She has never used the student lounge, however she has never missed an assignment or been late with any work. She does frequently recheck in with the facilitator about the time of an assignment or where to post it. She repeats her tutorial tests until she has achieved 100%.

As her avatar stated, she wants to be a Physicians Assistant, plays varsity basketball and softball, does community service on the week ends and plays the flute in the school band. She has taken other honors classes. She has a cheerful attitude online and comes across as a very caring person. This is her first online class, but she denies any major problems with the technology of format. To me she does seem insecure about some of the work. She interacts when expected to but little more. When interacting with the facilitator, she is polite and respectful. Her thinking skills and information processing seem immature for a student that is doing honors classes.

A few possibilities came to mind concerning Student A's strange grade profile.: 1. Someone else is doing her work sometimes, or 2. She is writing LD and the more complex the content or the task the more this shows up or 3. The work is very challenging for her and sometimes she really dosn't understand but her work ethic and perseverance are so strong that they overcome come her lack of academic maturity, or 4. being on a school varsity team and in the band can be demanding. I did go into the class this week and check her grades for week nine and she again had lots of 20/20 but then a 12/20. This is one time, where it would be really nice to just look at her, ask questions and get a better grip on the situation. My personal opinion is that Student A is a "spread-too-thin" overachiever that needs to develop her writing skills. In a f2f class, I would put her with a peer tutor whose work more closely resembles the honors level writing and information processing that is expected in this course.

**20 point writing assignment** **below**. **__ 20 point writing assignment on the integumentary system. This is a good, not fantastic, but good. She was given a grade of 19/20 If you compare it to the two samples below you can see the differences referred to above. This assignment was done in week 4. the others were done in week 7 and week 9. The rubric for all three of these assignments is the same but the products here are very different and the last product, week 9 came after the facilitator posted an example of honors level scientific writing and encouraged the students to review the rubric.__** Week 4 Anatomy Journal Created on Monday, 02/22/2010 9:46 AM by A The integumentary system performs specific tasks in homeostasis. These include temperature regulation, protection, absorption, sensory reception, and biochemical synthesis. The integumentary system consists of the skin, hair, nails, and is associated with the endocrine glands. The skin’s surface area is normally about 18sq. feet. It covers the entire body, aiding in protection from foreign substances from entering the body. The skin is the largest organ in the body. The skin has three main layers. They are the epidermis, the dermis, and the hypodermis. The epidermis has many layers consisting of keratin, that supplies the skin with strength and flexibility.This is the outer layer. It does not have a direct blood supply, and as the skin gets older, new cells are formed, and the older ones are pushed to the surface. The layer right below the epidermis is the dermis, and this layer consists of mostly collagen, elastic fibers, and reticular fibers. The dermis consists of two layers: the papillary layer (loose connective tissue) and the reticular layer (dense connective tissue). They hypodermis is the inner layer. It contains loose connective tissue that keeps heat inside the body, blood vessels, lymph vessels, and the bases of hair follicles and sweat glands. The hair on the body extends out from the skin, Hairs traps foreign bodies. Hair exists all over the body. Nails are made of keratinized epidermal cells. They are located on the end of the fingers and toes, and extend from the nail bed. The glands in the integumentary system assist in homeostasis. They are sweat glands, which is the body’s natural cooling system. Sweat is often produced in the arm pits, and it is due to these glands that ‘body odor’ occurs. FUN FACTS: The skin produces sensors that feel pain. The color of skin comes from an orange/yellow pigment, and the reflection of blood beneath the skin. If skin is darker, it means that it has more melanin. If you are albino, the body does not produce melanin in the skin.

**__The 20 point writing assignment on the circulatory system has two glaring errors and is basic well below honors writing in both style and content__**. __**I gave the student a 14/20 on this assignment.**__ Updated on Wednesday, 03/10/2010 10:02 AM by Student A The Respiratory System: The main function of the respiratory system is to supply the blood cells with oxygen, which allows oxygen to get everywhere in the body. This is done through our respiration, or breathing. The parts of the body that make up this system are the nose, the pharynx, the larynx, the trachea, the bronchi, and the pleurae. The nose takes in the oxygen, and is then moved into the pharynx, which is the throat. The pharynx is also responsible for food and drink. The oxygen then enters the larynx, and passes through it; this is the voice box. The trachea is a windpipe that connects the larynx to the bronchi. The air passes through this and then enters the bronchi, which branch out in different ways to access the lungs. The pleura are in the heart, and it sucks in air from the atmosphere. In the heart, the red blood cells are supplied with oxygen, and then transported throughout the body through the circulatory system. When an oxygen contained cell meets a carbon dioxide cell, diffusion occurs, and the carbon dioxide is transferred back to the lungs. Hemoglobin is an oxygen transport protein, which is located in the red blood cells. This is what holds the oxygen during transport. The blood vessels are what transports blood throughout the body. There are three main types; capillaries, arteries, and veins. Blood cells travel through these. Fun Facts: Smoking is the leading cause of problems in the respiratory system. Sneezing, coughing, and hiccupping are all due to this system. Pilots and flight attendants often have respiratory problems due to their jobs.

__20 point writing assigment on the digestive system.__ __**The facilitator gave the student a 12/20 on this assignment. I agree.**__ //**See Comment**// The Digestive System 9.1 20 point writing assignment Updated on Thursday, 03/25/2010 11:57 AM by Student A The Digestive System The general functions of the digestive system are · to break down the food we eat into smaller molecules that the body can utilize · absorb nutrients · remove wastes The digestive system is made up of many organs that form a long tube from the mouth to the rectum. The organs that make up the digestive system are: · the stomach · the anus · the appendix · epiglottis · esophagus · the gall bladder · the liver · the small and large intestine · the pancreas · the rectum Food first enters the mouth and goes down the esophagus into the stomach, with the help of the epiglottis. In the stomach, acids help to break the food down into different molecules to be used by the body. From here, wastes travel into the small intestine, where enzymes continue to break it down. Then it moves on to the large intestine, where water and electrolytes are removed. It then moves into the rectum where the waste is excreted through the anus. The digestive system gives the body and all the other systems the energy and electrolytes that they need to perform their duties. Enzymes are extracted from the materials ingested in the gastrointestinal track and moved into the circulatory system, where they are transported throughout the rest of the body. FUN FACTS Comments (1) You don't have much detail here A.. What about the structure of the organs of the system? How does each organ do it's job? How does the muscular system relate to the digestive system? Miss B.
 * a thick layer of mucus lines the stomach
 * saliva contains an enzyme that immediately starts breaking down food
 * sugars are digested in one step

This sample shows that Student A "sticks to it" and tries to do her best. Created on Wednesday, 03/10/2010 10:14 AM by Student A I did pretty well in these quizzes after I had reviewed all the material. I didn't get one hundred on all of them the first time, but I kept re doing them until I had them all correct. I have a pretty good grasp of the concepts.

** 20 Point Writing Assignment Rubric **

Concept is clear and concise Details are clearly linked || Concept is clear Details are clearly linked ||
 * > 20 || **Outstanding **: Contains //many// details to support main concept //without// error
 * 18 || **Very Good **: Contains //many/some// details to support main concept //without// error
 * 16 || **Good **: Main concept is correct and clear.

Supporting details are limited, not clearly linked and/or contain minor error(s). || Supporting details may not be provided or contain major errors. ||
 * 14 || **Satisfactory **: Main concept is correct but may be unclear.
 * 12 || **Unsatisfactory**: Main concept is only partially identified or contains minor error ||
 * 10 || **Unsatisfactory**: Main concept is only partially identified or contains major error ||
 * 8 || **Unsatisfactory**: Main concept is not identified but valid attempt is made. ||
 * 4 || **Unsatisfactory **: Main concept is not identified and little attempt is made. ||
 * 0 || **No attempt** ||