Unit Reflection

Applications of Exponential and Logarithmic Functions

Post-Instructional Phase

Developed by Jacqueline K. Cotter, Department of Teacher Education

Samford University, 2015

Unit Reflection
IV.

Summative Assessments

At the end of the ten-day unit, the students will be evaluated in two ways. On day 10, students
will submit their financial projects, and on day 11, students will complete a traditional teacher-developed
summative assessment. The test is constructed to test student mastery of the unit objectives. A link to the
answer key is included in the appendix following day 11, and the project rubric is included in the
appendix following day 9.
V.

Reflections upon Unit Design, Instruction, and Student Outcomes

The expectation for Algebra II with Trigonometry students upon completion of the unit was that
they demonstrate mastery of the unit objectives through the financial project and the teacher-developed
summative assessment. Exponential and logarithmic functions are present in many places in the world.
Many students have trouble relating to mathematical concepts, especially functions; however, this unit
was designed so that students can explore exponential and logarithmic equations and find examples to
which they can relate.
1. Reflection on Unit Design
Expected Difficulties for Implementation
When beginning this unit, there were a few expected difficulties for its implementation.
First, more than half the students in the classes had significant gaps in foundational
knowledge from Algebra I, and the pacing of the unit was expected to be too rigorous for
many students and too slow for other students; thus multiple opportunities for differentiation
were included in the unit. In previous units, the majority of students usually asked for the
instructors assistance immediately when they encountered a difficulty and were hesitant to
continue without receiving help for fear of failing. Group thumbs-up, thumbs down signs
were introduced to encourage students to problem solve as a team prior to asking for
assistance from the instructor. The signs were also intended to help the instructor monitor
discovery activities and team progress. Student Internet and printing access was another
possible difficulty, but the instructor provided opportunities in class and after school for
students to use school Internet, computers, and printers. Finally, the school administration of
AP mock exams and 9 weeks exams was anticipated to disrupt the scheduled flow of the unit.
In addition to the expected difficulties of implementation, several inclement weather days
also disrupted the implementation of the unit. As a result of the inclement weather days and
the large number of students who missed instruction time, several lessons and activities were
omitted from the implementation of the unit: the lesson on transformations, the slide rulers
activity, several application problems from the Laying the Foundation motion problems
worksheet, and the project work day.
Unit Design Strengths
The unit included several key features that were essential to its successful
implementation: diverse assessments, both formative and summative; differentiation and
scaffolding; and opportunity for application in various fields. First, the formative assessments
that were incorporated throughout the unit gave the instructor ample opportunities to provide
students written and verbal feedback. The formative assessments helped the students assess

Unit Reflection
their own mastery of each objective while also helping the instructor tailor instructional
activities to meet the needs of individual students and classes. When several days of class
were missed due to inclement weather, the instructor made use of the data from formative
assessment to determine which concepts required more time and attention and which students
had already mastered. The summative assessments provided two distinct methods for
assessing student achievement and mastery. Many students who do not typically perform well
on summative assessments created excellent financial projects; other students appreciated the
traditional multiple choice and short-answer format exam. The unit also included multiple
opportunities for differentiated instruction and tasks, such as open-ended questions and
create your own mathematics problems. The inclusion of differentiated activities allowed
students to better relate to the material through their own interests and offered them
opportunities to share their observations and knowledge and make meaningful contributions
to the classroom learning community. Additionally, several instructional activities accounted
for differences in learning styles; for example, the Exponential Functions Exploration
allowed kinesthetic learners to cut paper in order to model exponential decay. The activities
were also scaffolded so that students build and mastered foundational knowledge objectives
before attempting to master objectives on the highest levels of Blooms taxonomy;
furthermore, the unit was designed carefully so that students could connect exponential and
logarithmic functions concepts to previous mathematics content, such as linear function, as
well as future mathematics instruction, such as Position, Velocity, and Acceleration problems
in Calculus. Finally the unit was designed so that students encountered exponential and
logarithmic equations in a variety of formats and disciplines. From science to finance,
students considered scenarios and data that could be modeled by exponential and logarithmic
functions.
Unit Design Weaknesses
The unit has many high quality design components, but after reviewing the
implementation of the unit, several shortcomings were discovered. Although implicit
references are made to different types of functions and to the rules of exponents during the
pre-instructional phase and in first mini-unit, the majority of students would have greatly
benefited from an explicit review of the types of functions and the rules of exponents. The
unit design would be improved with the inclusion of a short pre-instructional activity that
focused on these concepts. Additionally, the pre-assessment and the post-assessment were not
directly related. The pre-assessment was much shorter and did not align with all the
objectives of the unit. Most students had not encountered exponential or logarithmic
functions in previous curriculum, and therefore, due to a shortage of time remaining in the
school year, the decision was made to assume that students had not seen or mastered these
concepts and objectives previously. Finally, the unit would benefited from additional
opportunities for personalization since the students were observed to be most engaged in
lessons that included create your own problem opportunities and open-ended exit slips. For
example, students created unique examples of scenarios that could be modeled using
exponential growth or decay, such as a zombie apocalypse. Rather than using standardized
problems from the Laying the Foundation Exponential Growth and Decay application
worksheet on day 7, the instructor could have created an example that would be of more
interest to the students. For example, a problem could require that students research popular

Unit Reflection
social media sites and determine if the number of users over time followed exponential
growth patterns.
2. Reflection on Instruction
The methods of direct instruction and teacher demonstration followed by the gradual
release of responsibilities to groups of students and individual students reflected the typical
model expected in mathematics classes at the school. The exploration activities and openended questions kept students engaged in the material and even prompted them to consider
further connections to their lives. When implementing this unit in the future, I would
incorporate more opportunities for student discovery and for personalization of the
curriculum. I would also provide more opportunities for the students to practice solving
problems in class. Finally, I would incorporate many more ACT-style questions throughout
the unit as bell ringers, formative assessments, notes examples, and summative assessment
questions. By connecting the classroom unit objectives to standardized test objectives and
exposing students to the rigorous question format of standardized tests, students will master
the objectives in the classroom and be able to demonstrate their mastery of these objectives in
the classroom and outside it.
3. Reflection on Student Outcomes
Student outcomes were measured through a variety of formative and summative
assessments as well as through observation and class demonstration. In future implementation
of this unit, I would include even more formative assessments and provide more opportunities
for independent practice. Students did not complete as many problems as I intended due to
the significant number of instructional days missed. I would like to utilize white boards more
often to quickly assess student mastery of objectives rather than walking around to each
group to see their progress. I would also like to utilize clickers at some point in the future,
if the school has that option available. Finally, I would incorporate more small quizzes that
focus on single objectives so that I can provide even more feedback.
VI.

Completion of Unit
Sources for Unit: Applications of Exponential and Logarithmic Functions
Textbook:

Teachers Edition of Holt McDougals Algebra 2, Common Core Edition (2012)

Websites:

http://illuminations.nctm.org/lesson.aspx?id=3024
http://illuminations.nctm.org/Lesson.aspx?id=2765
http://training.nms.org/instructionalresources/Math.aspx