I know this isn't about child development class, but it's what is on my mind. Over the past 2 weeks I have learned more about science than in the last 18 years of school. Hands-on learning combined with thoughtful group discussions are amazing! My group today had a discussion that started with the question "what makes things move?". By the end of the discussion (that we never really finished) we had discussed how airplanes fly, why salt melts ice and problems of fat people falling out of planes. Talking through these problems with peers was extremely engaging. This practice is not limited to science. We discuss in small groups in every other class and do hands-on activities. In my experience science has been the most interesting (no offense Zalika) because we are learning simple things that reflect huge ideas of how the world works.
The more I read about Vygostky the more I like his ideas. I can tell that we use scaffolding and group work to deeply understand the subject matter in all of our classes. Being in a large university for my undergraduate studies I wasn't exposed to this type of learning. It feels like I have truly and deeply understood the topics over the past two weeks. Learning to the test in my undergrad did not have this effect. It's been challenging but it's been great at the same time.
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I totally agree with you Rian! It's amazing that I actually look forward too and enjoy science! I have always been scared and turned off from thinking scientifically and basically labeled myself since childhood as scientific and mathematically challenged and it has stuck with me. I also experienced insightful and interesting conversations with group members, and it was refreshing to be able to explore so open ended without feeling the pressure of knowing the jargon or facts, but rather hash out thoughts and personal accounts.
ReplyDeleteThis idea of being able to explore my interests in a safe and constructed environment that allows me to discover based on real and tangible things is directly related to my readings on Dewey. I am somewhat familiar with all of the great people we have been discussing in class because of my undergraduate work as an early childhood development major, however, I have never had the experience of learning these amazing ideas the way we have in this class. I have studied them to be tested on, and never quite related the ideas to real life teaching settings. This class, much like science, is allowing me to expand my knowledge on topics in a way that I have never been able to do. The process is ingenious! I only wish every other educational institution would pick up on the Lewis and Clark style! needless to say I a quite happy with my experience so far... tiered but happy!