Where is Education Going in 2023?

The education system has been modified by teachers yet again for a new generation of students.

Calling on the mental health aspects of learning and teaching, the system has taken on new ways to get lessons across to students. In 2023, new trends in curriculums and teaching styles have been put to the test. Some of these trends incorporate technology to create a new boosted curriculum focused on motivating students. Others center around the mental health of students and teachers and how to make sure that all students and the way they learn best are considered.

The Triton Voice has decided to highlight some of the biggest educational changes seen in recent years.

Gamification: 

After recovering from the pandemic and all that came after it, students needed extra support and motivation to get back on track. One way teachers found most effective was gamification. Gamification is the idea of bringing the competitive and fun aspects of game play, including the rules, into the classroom. Teachers have found that this nontraditional approach really channels students’ motivation to want to learn. Grace Alcaraz, freshman, mentioned how effective this method is when used for learning vocabulary. 

“I think it’s better because we have to study it but it’s a fun way to study,” said Alcaraz. 

Essentially, teachers create their own games out of their lessons. An example could be a vocabulary game where students practice their vocabulary and get a little fun out of it too. Incorporating fun into the classroom essentially gets rid of the serious aspect of learning and replaces it with something more care-free. Jessica Casassa, a Spanish teacher at Triton High School, uses gamification in her classroom daily. 

“I think it’s very effective because it promotes overall engagement and you have to pay attention to getting the answers right,” Casassa said. 

Gamification can have risks in the classroom too. There are plenty of students who take their education very seriously. Games may not be something that they want to mix with something they find important. The thought of over-focusing on fun is also a risk that gamification possesses as well. Teachers should want students to know that the game itself isn’t the goal but rather it is the lesson embodied into the game. 

Mastery-Based Grading: 

As a way to motivate students, some schools are putting in place a mastery-based grading system. This system is very different from the A-F scale that most students are familiar with. The mastery-based grading system marks students on whether or not they have mastered a topic. Instead of the letter grading method along with the percentiles, this method leans away from discouraging students with bad grades. 

This system of grading has also gotten a lot of backlash. While looking to focus more on students’ wellbeing and mental health, some are worried that this isn’t a good way to show a student’s progress. With a mastery-based grading system, terms like fully mastered, partially mastered, and not mastered are used. With an A-F grading system, numbers and percentiles are used to represent where a student is currently at in a class. Sydney Champagne, a freshman at Triton, disagrees with mastery-based grading and sides with the A-F scale. 

“With the A-F scale you can see the process of where you went wrong or right whereas with the mastery-based scale, you don’t get that,” Champagne said. 

This type of grading is more common in elementary schools than in high schools considering the different age groups. As students go throughout school, topics get harder and go more into depth. The argument speculates that mastery-based grading should only be used in elementary schools where college isn’t in question and classes are less difficult. 

Personalized Learning: 

Instead of learning in classes with the same lesson plan presented to everyone, personalized learning promotes individual lesson plans. For a more effective outcome, personalized learning focuses on creating a specialized learning environment for students to help them learn more efficiently. These plans are based on skills that the student already possesses, is interested in , and what the student already knows. This way of learning helps students to feel comfortable enough in their learning environments to want to learn and to learn better. 

In Bob Lathrop’s video production classes at Triton, students are given time to create their videos using their own skills and knowledge. Lathrop doesn’t give his students a lot of structure when it comes to letting them do their projects on their own. 

“I find that students benefit from the lack of structure to be creative,” Lathrop said. “There are kids who do need constant guidelines from me, but the kids who don’t are able to be successful on their own.” 

Students in Lathrop’s classes benefit from being able to go out and film their projects. Some students learn best in more open environments where they are able to go through a process at their own paces. But on the flip side, teachers may not see personalized learning as their preferred teaching style. Personalized learning requires a lot of preparation and dedication by teachers to make each students’ learning experience special to them. There is never the promise that all of this effort will be worth it in the long run if the plan itself isn’t carried out accurately. 

Project Based Learning: 

In Lathrop’s video production class, students are acclimated to project based learning as well. In some classes, like Lathrop’s, students are given projects instead of lessons. With the video production classes, students are given the time and resources to film to gain credit in class. Lathrop says that the curriculum in his classes aren’t based on tests but on how well the students carry out their video productions. 

Using their gained knowledge from project based learning, students can apply what they learned to the real world. This learning style involves a lot of communication and collaboration from students making these learning experiences more independent. They are given more control over their education than in regular classes with set instructions and tests. There is also the fun factor to project based learning that gives students the motivation to complete each project and earn credit for their work. The more fun involved, the more that students want to participate. 

There is the worry from some that students could gain too much control with this type of learning style. When given this much freedom, some students could easily take advantage of that. It is important that students use their time wisely in order for this method to be successful and effective.