One example of a
preconception students may have the authors provide is that “properties are
generally believed to belong to objects rather than to emerge from
interactions” (Donovan & Bransford, 2005, pg. 399), another example of a
preconception that students bring to the classroom is the idea that math is
ridiculously difficult and that it has very few practical uses. This in turn
causes some students to believe that math just happens in math class and never
anywhere else. So much that when they are introduced to mathematical situations
in “real life” they often result to either asking someone else, using a calculator/computer
or just giving up on the issue entirely.
I was one of those students
who held quite a few preconceptions about “doing” math and applying math
knowledge to “real life” mathematical situations. I always enjoyed school and
learning! It never really mattered much to me what I was learning, I just had a
good time because it always seemed so fun. It was fun, and it was easy. My mom
has been teaching for years and I was one of her first students. I knew many
things that my peers did not simply because she’d taught them to me years
before I was required to “know” them in school. In kindergarten I was so
advanced mathematically that when everyone else in my class was pulling out
their counting chips, I was on my way over to the “big school” to take math with
the second graders. That was a big thing for me and I loved it!! By the time I
got to middle school I really thought I was quite the math and science wiz
because I (and a couple hundred other kids) were interviewed and selected to go
to this brand new magnet school, and my magnet was Math, Science and Computer
Applications. The way we were taught math and science made me even more
interested in it, it also allowed me to see how practical and relevant math and
science really were. There were tons of inquiry opportunities and chances to
show our creative designs and processes. We used our hands and our imaginations
to learn just about everything and it stuck!! Of course I can’t remember
everything we did, or what all we learned for that matter, but what I do know
is that by the time I got to high school I felt totally different about the
maths and sciences. In high school, math and science consisted of books, books
and more books. It became nothing more than definitions and expected outcomes.
I quickly lost interest. Donovan & Bransford even say that “If students are
not helped to experience this (inquiry) for themselves, science can seem dry and
highly mechanical. Indeed, research on students' perceptions of science indicates
that they see scientific work as dull and rarely rewarding, and scientists as
bearded, balding, working alone in the laboratory, isolated and lonely” (pg.406).
My grades didn’t reflect it though. I guess because I had good study skills and
work habits, I was able to “figure it on out” but my cognition did. I
absolutely began to loathe math. I still loved science because at least we got
to dissect some things, but math meant absolutely nothing to me whatsoever. It was
taught in isolation and conceptually, that’s the way I began to look at it. I
took all the maths there were to take by the time I finished 11th
grade and I thought, finally the torture of this that is math is over, but my
mom had other ideas…as usual, so she insisted I continue to take maths I didn’t
even need, so I took Calculus and College Algebra. Big blah. I grew so tired of
formulas and algorithms and “cookie cutter” ways to “solve” problems I didn’t
know what to do with myself. There was no creativity allowed at all.
There
wasn’t much allowed in science either, but at least, if we were dissecting
something I could possibly remove or puncture another organ to see what might
happen, without my teacher noticing, but that was pretty much the extent of it.
My understanding of math was limited and incorrect, I absolutely hated it, and
what’s more, I could find absolutely no use for what I was being taught outside
of the class. Although I still earned A’s and B’s in advanced math classes, I
somehow knew I still didn’t understand it. I knew that because if I was
challenged with say for instance the simplest of mathematical understanding
like multiplying or dividing some numbers mentally I’d have to grab a sheet of
paper…disgraceful. The truth is math is practical and can be quite fun to
learn.
Although the piece I'm
referencing deals primarily with science instruction, I think subject pedagogy can
be interchangeable, meaning that we can apply best practices in one subject to
another. My preconceptions about math gained in high school changed my whole
outlook on math. I thought math and eventually science had to be rigid and
complex because that’s what I’d been taught through implications. When
educators teach subjects like math and science in isolation and without
imaginative flexibility students who used to be fascinated with doing that
subject can lose interest.
Donvan & Bransford
suggest teachers teach in ways that allow and even perpetuate their students to
undergo changes in their thinking and noticing in order to ensure understanding
(pg. 401). This is a more productive approach to
teaching subject matters. Similarly, a more productive way of thinking about
the preconceptions students bring is to accept that they have them and know how
to encourage them to dispel them through self-exploration. According to this
section of the reading, teachers should engage students preconceptions about a
subject or subject matter, in order for to learn more about that subject or
subject matter (Donovan & Bransford, 2005, pg. 399). Teaching students maths and sciences, and
other subjects for that matter, in a way that is relevant to them is most effective.
This way of teaching students who come with preconceptions about certain
subjects and subject matters allows them to shed those ideas in return for
deeper understanding. How Students Learn
promotes an overarching theme of inquiry based teaching, which I think is of
utmost importance. This pedagogical approach encourages students to take
control of their own learning, which in turn makes them own what they’ve
learned. This is different from just learning something because your teacher
says you have to.
The text suggests the way we were taught science was
insufficient. It plainly says “simply telling students what scientists have
discovered is not sufficient to support change in their existing preconceptions
about important scientific phenomena” (Donovan & Bransford, 2005, pg. 398).
I decided I wouldn’t teach math or
science the way I was taught a long time ago. I wanted to make sure math and
science meant something to my students and that it wasn’t just taught in solidarity;
I also wanted to make sure I taught my students in a way that their preconceptions
about subject matters were supported or dispelled, but at least addressed. In
short, I teach concepts so that they’re relevant and fun. I build my lessons
around my student’s inquiry about subject matters. Of course I have indicators
I am supposed to teach, and I teach them, but I teach them in ways that my
students can understand and own them.
For example, starting lessons with an
objective reading can be beneficial for students because it lets them know what
the goal is for that particular subject for that day. It can be counter
effective though if you’re using an inquiry based approach that would require
students to come to a conclusion on what they’ve learned. I combine the two
concepts by posting the objectives, but only addressing them after they’ve been
done. Similarly, I never present my students with vocabulary words and their definitions
when beginning a lesson. I will however ask them what they already know about a
relevant vocabulary word and then have them share that knowledge with the
person beside them. We “find answers” together and I encourage them to find
multiple ways in which to do answer questions and complete challenges. I never
give them the answer to anything, whether it’s “What’s today’s date?” or “Can
you spell a word for me?” I make it the expectation in my classroom that they
use their resources and brains to find answers to questions they have. I
believe this approach to teaching inspires my students to think critically and
problem solve, not just when doing classwork but all the time. It also makes
them find answers on their own, which helps them internalize what they’ve
learned and hopefully with that knowledge, they will see other ways in which to
apply what they’ve learned. These examples I believe reflect what Donvan &
Bransford and the other authors of this piece had in mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment