Observation - Book Assignment

Tuesday's assignment: Exercise 17 - Creating Charts in Excel pg. 401 1-8 & pg. 406 4-8

Observation: After giving direct instruction on Monday about how to use the chart wizard I wanted to observe students completing an assignment from the textbook.

1. Some students do a good job on book instructions - they like following the "recipe" of what to do next.
   
2. It feels like their goal is to finish the assignment - not on learning.
3. Several students who did not understand how to complete the tasks automatically asked me for help instead of referring to the procedures page.
4. Other students asked clarification from their classmates on the directions.
5. Most students did not have trouble with the formatting of the charts once they understood some of the vocabulary: Series 1, chart area, value axis, major gridlines.
6. I observed some students taking over the controls of their classmate's computer and doing a procedure for them instead of instructing them how to do it.
7. When two students finished early, the began browsing the Internet.
8. Several students did not complete the assignment during the class period.