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Start with the Pyramid: Real-World Issues Motivate Students |...

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Saved by 34 people (-1 private), first by anonymouse user on 2007-09-19


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Seymour Papert

Highlighted by mmislevy

Ask Seymour Papert, renowned expert on children and computing, why students are turned off by school, and he quickly offers an example:

Highlighted by kileach

renowned

Highlighted by kileach

"We teach numbers, then algebra, then calculus, then physics. Wrong!" exclaims the Massachusetts Institute of Technology mathematician, a pioneer in artificial intelligence. "Start with engineering, and from that abstract out physics, and from that abstract out ideas of calculus, and eventually separate off pure mathematics. So much better to have the first-grade kid or kindergarten kid doing engineering and leave it to the older ones to do pure mathematics than to do it the other way around."

Highlighted by kileach

We teach numbers, then algebra, then calculus, then physics. Wrong!"

Highlighted by mmislevy

In a growing number of schools, educators are echoing Papert's assertion that engaging students by starting with the concrete and solving hands-on, real-world problems is a great motivator. Ultimately, they say,

Highlighted by kileach

Ultimately, they say, such project-based learning that freely crosses disciplines provides an education superior to the traditional "algebra at age nine, Civil War at ten, Great Expectations at eleven" structure.

Highlighted by gwidianto

Start with engineering, and from that abstract out physics, and from that abstract out ideas of calculus, and eventually separate off pure mathematics. So much better to have the first-grade kid or kindergarten kid doing engineering and leave it to the older ones to do pure mathematics than to do it the other way around."

Highlighted by mmislevy

the availability of technology that can call up the knowledge of the world's best thinkers with the click of a mouse

Highlighted by gwidianto

technology that can call up t

Highlighted by kileach

starting with the concrete and solving hands-on, real-world problems is a great motivator.

Highlighted by robinb1

moving away from century-old models of instruction.

Highlighted by gwidianto

"Everybody is motivated by challenge and solving problems, and we don't make use of that in schools enough," says Bruce Alberts, distinguished cell biologist and president of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). "Project-based learning gives everybody a chance to sort of mimic what scientists do, and that's exciting. And it's fun if it's done well."

Highlighted by johnmunoz

"Project-based learning gives everybody a chance to sort of mimic what scientists do, and that's exciting. And it's fun if it's done well."

Highlighted by gwidianto

availability of technology that can call up the knowledge of the world's best thinkers with the click of a mouse, that can graph in two seconds what once took hours, and that can put scientific instrumentation in a pocket-sized computer further argues for moving away from century-old models of instruction.

Highlighted by robinb1

geometry class design a state-of-the-art high school for 2050. The students create a site plan, make simple architectural drawings of rooms and a physical model, draw up a budget, and write a narrative report. They present their work to real architects, who judge the projects and "award" the contract.

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At Newsome Park Elementary School, in Newport News, Virginia, second graders curious about the number of medicines a classmate takes and her frequent trips to the doctor investigate -- with the classmate's permission -- the causes of cystic fibrosis. They invite experts to tell them about the disease, write up their research, use graphs and PowerPoint to tell the story, sell pledges to a cystic fibrosis walk-a-thon, and participate in the event.

Highlighted by kjiblits

with the classmate's permission -- the causes of cystic fibrosis. They invite experts to tell them about the disease, write up their research, use graphs and PowerPoint to tell the story, sell pledges to a cystic fibrosis walk-a-thon, and participate in the event.

Highlighted by robinb1

In project-based learning, students try to answer a question -- one that has relevance for them -- that is greater than the immediate task at hand.

Highlighted by gwidianto

a fifth-grade project on kites involves using creative writing skills in poems and stories with kite themes. While designing their own kites on the computer and then making them by hand, students learn about electromagnetism and the principles of ratios and proportions. A casual remark by one student leads to an in-depth study of the role of kites in various cultural celebrations.

Highlighted by robinb1

In project-based learning, students try to answer a question -- one that has relevance for them -- that is greater than the immediate task at hand. In its book Connecting the Bits, the NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education gives the example of students at a Kentucky elementary school conducting surveys, doing research, building models, and taking field trips with the goal of determining the best kind of new bridge to build over the Ohio River.

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"One of the major advantages of project work is that it makes school more like real life,"

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Chard doesn't like the term project-based because she says it implies a focus on projects to the exclusion of other legitimate learning methods. "Younger children will play and explore as well as engage in projects," says the The Project Approach Web site. "Older children's project work will complement the systematic instruction in the program."

Highlighted by bhorchteach

In real life, we don't spend several hours at a time listening to authorities who know more than we do and who tell us exactly what to do and how to do it," she says. "We need to be able to ask questions of a person we're learning from. We need to be able to link what the person is telling us with what we already know. And we need to be able to bring what we already know and experiences we've had that are relevant to the topic to the front of our minds and say something about them."

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Phase 1 involves an initial discussion of a project topic, including children's firsthand experiences related to the topic. Phase 2 involves fieldwork, sessions with experts, and various aspects of gathering information, reading, writing, drawing, and computing. Phase 3 is the presentation of the project to an audience.

Highlighted by dcline

"There's a visible hunger to learn,"

Highlighted by gwidianto

When we sit down to dinner, the kids talk nonstop for twenty minutes, telling us what they did and what they saw. This is literally every day!"

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Kids who are excited about what they learn tend to dig more deeply and to expand their interest in learning to a wide array of subjects.

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They retain what they learn rather than forget it as soon as they disgorge it for a test.

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"I've seen test scores of students rise because of the engagement in project-based learning,"

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They make connections and apply their learning to other problems.

Highlighted by mmislevy

I realized I can't go back to the classroom and do things the same way I always have

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If schoolchildren are given the gift of exploration, society will be the beneficiary, both in practical and in theoretical ways, scholars say.

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