1. Read
the Introduction. What "dominant paradigm" is showing signs
of wear?
“But our schools remain caught in a
web of educational thinking and systems that originated a century ago. The
instructional model of the teacher and the textbook as the primary sources of
knowledge, conveyed through lecturing, discussion, and reading, has proven
astonishingly persistent.” The “old fashion” way of teaching is starting to
wear off, but this method is not gone. This could very well be due to older
teachers retiring, new younger teachers coming in to the schools, and middle
aged teachers having enough background with technology to learn and embrace new
methods in the classroom. There has also been a shift in teacher role in the
classroom. Teachers are not the sole being in charge of learning the students
are now finding that they too play a vital role in his or her education.
2. According to the
research, how does Project-Based Learning support student
learning better than traditional approaches? Describe three benefits and
cite the studies.
Project based learning has students
working on things that could realistically happen. This is a project to be
presented in some way. “Five key components of effective project-based
learning. It is: central to the curriculum, organized around driving questions
that lead students to encounter central concepts or principles, focused on a
constructive investigation that involves inquiry and knowledge building,
student-driven (students are responsible for designing and managing their
work), and authentic, focusing on problems that occur in the real world and
that people care about.” The students are helped along in the project and
typically gain a deeper understanding of the content. The real situation
learning students take away from project based learning can be used to solve
other problems later in life. Three benefits of Project based learning are:
Critical thinking skills can improve (Shepard, 1998.); Improvement of test
scores over traditional school children (Boaler 1997, 1998); and the ability to
clearly support reasoning ((Stepien, Gallagher, & Workman, 1993.)
3. According
to the research, how does Problem-Based Learning support
student learning better than traditional approaches? Describe three
benefits and cite the studies.
Problem based learning uses
reasoning and resources to solve real world problems. For problem based
learning students work in small groups to solve. There seems to be a little
trial and error to problem based learning because the article says that the
group keeps coming up with ways until they find the best way to solve the
problem. In the problem based learning system students take an active role in
their learning. The teacher is to act a model and pose questions and reasoning
skill to the students as they work; but the method does have some traditional
teaching components to it as well like small lectures. Three benefits of
Problem based learning are: higher test scores (Vernon & Blake, 1993;
Albanese & Mitchell, 1993); deeper thinking and decision making skills (Lundeberg,
Levin, & Harrington, 1999; Savery & Duffy, 1996; Williams, 1992.); and reflection
(Darling-Hammond & Hammerness, 2002).
4. According
to the research, how does Learning by Design support student
learning better than traditional approaches? Describe three benefits and
cite the studies.
Learning by design is based on the
premise that students learn more deeply if they design or create things to show
their understanding and apply their knowledge. There are several opportunities in
the learning by design process to go back and revise things as knowledge
changes. There is collaboration of the students for the project but each
student also has his or her own role to play as part of the group. Students are
utilizing 21st century skills in the learning by design process and
this could be the most important part of the entire process. Three benefits of
Learning by design: 21st century skills, Understanding of complex systems
(Perkins, 1986)., and providing feedback (Hmelo and colleagues 2000.)
5. What are the
differences between the three approaches?
The tree approaches differ in
grouping styles, focus of outcome, and the way in which the students are
performing the action that go with the project.
6. In your opinion, what is the most important benefit to
learning that is common across the three types of inquiry-based learning
approaches?
I think it
is very important that students are using real life situations to think and
solve problems. I cannot count the number of times I sat in the classroom
thinking, “why do I need to know this; I do not know a boy named Juan and a
girl named Sally who were cleaning out a well and I don’t care who did it
fastest and by how much time.” Those problems killed me as a student. If I were
given an issue that I cared about and time to try and figure it out myself or
with a group I think I would remember how I came to a solution much easier and
more quickly and with a reason for wanting the problem to be solved.
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