Wellness 10 A Curriculum Guide for the Secondary Level

Independent Study

Learning contracts and research projects are two instructional activities related to the independent study strategy that are used in the Wellness 10 curriculum design. Technology enhanced learning is also an option in many Wellness 10 classrooms.

Learning Contracts

Learning contracts are used in Unit 2 and can be used in other units of Wellness 10. In designing their personal wellness, students state their personal goal(s) and design accompanying action plans to meet that goal(s). Learning contracts in Wellness 10 include support structures and dates for evaluation and revisions.

Assessment Techniques

Learning contracts appear in Wellness 10 as action plans. Rubrics are included in the Assessment and Evaluation section of this curriculum guide, and in the appendices of Units 2-5, to assess action plans in the design phase and to assess them in the implementation phase as well.

Technology Enhanced Learning

A CD or DVD containing Wellness 10 information in print, graphic, image, audio, and video forms may be given to each student at the beginning of the semester. The content of this CD or DVD could include:

the course outline and schedule, assignment descriptions, teacher's notes, student assignments, and assessment and evaluation forms
information downloaded from the Internet that students will need to complete their assignments (e.g., audio and video clips).

New content that students find and produce could be added at the end of the semester and content that is no longer needed could be deleted at the same time. A copy of this updated CD or DVD could then be given to each student. Student-created “products” that could be added to the CD or DVD (with student permission) include:

video clips or projects
- students participating in various active living activities outside of school
- dance creation using scarves in Physical Activity and Fitness strand of Unit 2
- oral presentation to engage class in a leisure activity (Unit 2)
- role play that demonstrates supportive quality of relationships (Unit 2)
- interviews with students wherein they talk about their action plans, or describe and reflect on their volunteering experiences
- emergency response simulations that were demonstrated in Unit 4
- demonstrations of activity-related injury prevention and management techniques prepared in Unit 4
- students engaged in volunteering activities during Unit 5
photos
- students during the Wellness 10 course
- volunteering activities during Unit 5
written work
- wellness inventory and wellness wheel
- student log entries (e.g., feelings and thoughts during adventure education experience)
- rating scales (e.g., Time Management for Leisure)
- rubrics (e.g., sample rubric for assessing design elements of an action plan of healthy eating and other strands of wellness)
- brochure of how to arrange for an HIV/AIDS test (Unit 3)
- action plans
- reports.

Research Projects

Students may be involved in research projects individually, as partners, and as members of small groups. This instructional activity can be used when students are extending their knowledge about a particular wellness-related topic.

Assessment Techniques

Various checklists, rubrics, or rating scales can be developed to assess projects. Consult the Assessment and Evaluation section of this guide to locate the sample checklist entitled Assessing a Project or Written Assignment.

Experiential Learning

The experiential learning strategy can be described in the following ways. It:

is student centred
emphasizes process as well as product
increases understanding and retention
motivates students to participate actively and to teach one another as they describe what they are doing
requires students to reflect upon an experience and apply what they have learned to other contexts
experiencing (e.g., a student volunteers within a different community agency)
describing (e.g., reactions and observations are described in the student’s journal or log and referred to during subsequent experiences)
analyzing (e.g., patterns are determined throughout the experience and applied to new situations)
inferring (e.g., concepts are developed through activity or experience and applied to new learning)
applying (e.g., plans are made to use learnings in new situations beyond Wellness 10 and high school).

Some examples of instructional activities related to the experiential learning strategy are briefly described below.

Interviewing

Conducting interviews involves the collection of information from one or more experts on a particular topic. Students use interviewing as a way of extending their knowledge about a wellness-related topic. In addition to traditional face-to-face interviews, students can interview experts within their school division, health region, or beyond without leaving their home or school. A computer equipped with a web cam allows the interviewer and interviewee to see one another while posing questions, responding to questions, reframing ideas, or probing for clarification.

In the volunteering unit of Wellness 10, students maximize the benefits of interviewing by doing some preparation in terms of developing the questions, arranging for the date and time of the interview, and finding out some background information about the person being interviewed, and if appropriate, the community agency or organization.

Assessment Techniques

To assess students’ abilities to prepare for and conduct an interview, consult the checklist for Preparing and Conducting an Interview located in the Assessment and Evaluation section of this curriculum guide.

Surveys

Students learn much through the survey process. They plan the survey, collect the data, analyze the findings, and present the results. Survey research can be time consuming. However, these experiences provide relevant learning for students.

Assessment Techniques

Students deserve to know, in advance, the criteria that will be used to assess each of the phases of the survey process. Placing the criteria on a checklist or rating scale is one way to accommodate teacher and self-assessment, as well as assessment by the interviewee.

Field Trips

Field trips refer to student activity that is conducted for an educational purpose outside of the classroom. To maximize student learning, it is important to provide background information related to the field trip site. In Wellness 10, students might take a field trip to a natural/wilderness environment in order to assess its potential for maintaining or enhancing personal wellness.

Assessment Techniques

There are many ways to assess field trips. The choice of assessment will be determined by the purpose of the field trip and the expected student outcomes. Basically, teachers need to ensure that assessment techniques match the planned learning objectives.

Questions teachers might ask themselves while planning for assessment include:

What learning objectives does the field trip address?
What student groupings will be used?
Are students working alone or in groups?
What prior knowledge will students require?
What activities will students engage in before, during and after the field trip?