CHAPTER 1: LEARNING - FROM SPECULATION TO SCIENCE, pp. 1-27

BLOG #2

INSPIRATIONS

“The model of the child as an empty vessel to be filled with knowledge provided by the teacher must be replaced. Instead, the teacher must actively inquire into student’s thinking, creating classroom tasks and conditions under which student thinking can be revealed. Students’ initial conceptions then provide the foundation on which the more formal understanding of the subject matter is built.”(Bransford, et. al, p. 19)

“To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: (a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application”. (Bransford, et. al. p. 16)

“Superficial coverage of all topics in a subject area must be replaced with in–depth coverage of fewer topics that allow key concepts in that discipline to be understood. The goal of coverage need not be abandoned entirely, of course.” (Bransford, et. al. p.20)

THINKING OUT LOUD

Jean Piaget, a Swiss Psychologist, is an advocate of cognitivism – active learning. His theory states that children learn “EFFICIENTLY when they are able to take new knowledge and integrate it into their previous knowledge and experiences, constructing a new knowledge base each day”. (http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/earlycld/ea1lk1.htm)

This theory that was constructed through rigorous research in the early 1900’s. It describes the fundamental ideas that permeate in the opening chapter of the book, “How People Learn”. Piaget’s theory is very interesting in as much as despite its antiquity it is very relevant to in the resurgence and re-thinking of today’s “new science of learning”.

Effective learning is all about RELEVANCE. Learners will absorb more the concepts if these show connection to their life experiences. This connection will breed interest and focus from the students. Consequently, this will give students motivation and drive to learn for they know that what they are studying affects them and their environment.

I am concern over how concepts are presented in current textbooks. Most of them are not “locally-friendly”. For Guam students, snow, tornado, alps, tundra, and so many others are beyond their personal experience. Unless they travel, they could not comprehend concepts that are wrapped around realities which far from their reach. Hence, without losing the fundamental standards, it is better to adapt these textbooks first to local examples. Then later on, students can transfer their learning into other scenarios.

Transfer of learning should not just be about between facts and data. It has to have transference to the development of personal character. Social Studies lessons on World War II should teach the students courage, camaraderie, sacrifice, respect and other positive values other than memorizing war strategies, dates and personalities.

Finally, it is interesting to note that designing the curriculum is based not on quantity but on quality. It is truly hard to finish everything in a textbook without sacrificing the depth of understanding. Therefore, it is wise to organize the curriculum in a manner that the scope and sequence is distributed and covered reasonably by all levels with no repetition of topics.

In St. John’s School, the Science department organized the lesson sequence in a manner that a student passing through the elementary and middle school level will be able to cover the necessary topics based on the standards. The Grade 3 to Grade 6 teachers assigned the topics so that the students will not miss or repeat anything.