[IAEP] [support-gang] When teaching restrains discovery

[Caryl Bigenho]

Hi Folks... The retired teacher talking here.....
"Discovery learning" in a properly prepared, semi-structured environment works. Look at the success of the Montessori method.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_method


Intervention is helpful at times, but only as a last resort.  If a child is stumped and ready to give up and go on to other things, a little "nudge" in the right direction can open up new discoveries.


Actually, I discovered "discovery learning" myself as a young teacher.  Trying to apply it to math wasn't always easy.  That is probably why science seemed so much more fun to teach.


Another thing I discovered was Project Based Learning (BPL).  It started when I was teaching beginning Algebra classes of over 40 students.  "Why not try letting them work on things in teams like we do in science?, I thought.  When I had teams of 2, that cut my effective class size in half to 20+.  Groups of 4 gave me just 10+. 


The kids loved it and I was able to gently "nudge" groups in the right direction when they were really stuck, praise successes, and suggest enrichment activities. Occasionally a student or parent would complain that my class was "noisy." But, it was good, productive noise.  They were learning! 


BTW, does anyone remember the good old "new math" program called SSMCIS? (AKA the "Columbia Program", named after the university where it originated)  I Beta-tested it when it was still in the pre-publication stage.  Lots of discovery and PBL there.  It was a lot of fun, but they did have to  train us teachers first!


http://mathforum.org/kb/thread.jspa?forumID=304&threadID=714464&messageID=7143356


More thoughts coming re the "Tiger Mom,"  kids outdoors, and the world we live in today.!  The "mom" will reply!


Caryl
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:32:59 -0500
From: holt at laptop.org
To: support-gang at laptop.org; iaep at lists.sugarlabs.org
Subject: Re: [support-gang] When teaching restrains discovery



  


    
  
  
    On 1/19/2011 1:29 PM, Christoph Derndorfer wrote:
    
      Hi all,

I just stumbled across this fascinating article called "When teaching
restrains discovery"
(http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/01/18/when-teaching-restrains-discovery/)
    
    

    Indeed such unstructured & unsupervised play (nevermind the
    outdoors!) may be "obsolete" in rich, overparented societies per
    "Last Child in the Woods" (Richard Louv, 336p, 2005), "Free-Range
    Kids" (Lenore Skenazy, 256p, 2009), "Play Again" (2010 film) etc.

    

    But the patient (exploratory learning) won't die without a fight --
    witness the ongoing backlash against last week's "Why Chinese
    Mothers Are Superior" (WSJ, Jan 8 2011), "Battle Hymn of the Tiger
    Mother" (Amy Chua, 256p, 2011) etc:

    

        The Unused Playground: Kids Need to be Out in Nature, Yet We
    Keep Them Caged. By Phil Primack

        ...studies, hearings, and slogans (“Leave No Child Inside”)
    won’t significantly reduce the great disconnect between kids and
    nature unless parents – many raised amid “Stranger Danger” and other
    media-stoked fears themselves – are willing to grant kids more
    freedom...

       
http://boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/09/12/the_unused_playground/

    

        Nature Deficit Disorder: Kids Who Don’t Get Outside Can Pay To
    Play

        http://radioboston.wbur.org/2011/01/18/nature-deficit

       
http://feeds.wbur.org/~r/WBURRadioBoston/~5/6EoG_ogxORs/radioboston_0118.mp3

        (Listen from 15m40s to 35m06s)

    

        Amy Chua Is a Wimp: “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” may
    denounce soft American-style parenting, but its author shelters her
    children from the truly arduous experiences necessary to achieve.

        http://nytimes.com/2011/01/18/opinion/18brooks.html

    

    --

    Help kids everywhere map their world, at http://olpcMAP.net
    !

    

    
      which is based on a very recently published paper whose title really
says it all "The double-edged sword of pedagogy: Instruction limits
spontaneous exploration and discovery"
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T24-51WV6VK-1&_user=10&_coverDate=01/08/2011&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=b3319a977badfb35348871b64a9e1d4c&searchtype=a).

Definitely well worth a read in my opinion. :-)

Cheers,
Christoph


    
  


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