Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Constructionist
The strategies described in this weeks resources are directly related to the constructionist theory. All of the instructional strategies are alligned with the idea of children creating something. Through the use of projects and investigations students are provided with oppurtunities to explore what they are learing in a way that makes sense to them and builds background knowledge along with ideas that are not always connected from teacher to student. The projects that students engage in also allow for children to make connections with different information. The resources that did not directly have something that students could create did have a library of useable resources that could be used by students in learning about thier topic.
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Amber--
ReplyDeleteIt has been my hope throughout the last few years, that by introducing project-based assessment into my classroom, students would take more of an interest in the content and learn the material at a deeper level. In some cases my students have taken away a lot from projects that they have completed. Of course, there are times when no matter how much an instructor tries to “hook,” or get a student to buy-in and take an interest in a project, said teacher is still met with a wall of apathy. When an instructor uses problem -based lessons and assessments, how would an instructor teach the students who are unwilling to participate in the project?
To add another issue into the mix, what if this specific project was to be used to introduce new skills to students, as well as, content material? “In problem-based inquiry situation, students are presented with an application and perform analysis, perhaps even before they know or understand the concepts involved in the situation...all knowledge and skills in situated environments are directly relevant to the context...”(Orey, 2001). The first hurdle is getting the student to participate in the project-based learning experience. The second hurdle is trying to teach the student the content and applicable skills that were to be learned during the activity, to the non-participatory student in another format or lesson.
Does an instructor allow the student to fail the project and thus, not learn the content/skills needed to be successful in this lesson and other possible lessons? In your opinion, do you think the teacher has the responsibility to the student to find an alternative method for the student to learn the needed content/skills?
Thank you,
Courtney
Reference:
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Amber, I had someone email me saying they had trouble posting a comment to your blog. I am just testing it out. Kathryn Arnold
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