After watching Michael Orey’s video about constructionist learning theory (Laureate Education Inc., 2009) and reading about generating and testing hypotheses in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (Pittler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007), I was a bit apprehensive. I understand and agree with constructionist theory: we learn best by connecting new information to an external artifact or experience, so it is best practice for the instructor to allow the learners to create this experience or artifact. I also am a fan of the strategy of generating and testing hypotheses: at the middle school I work at we have shifted away from traditional test-based assessment to guiding inquiry-based instruction by posing questions where there is no one right answer and letting students develop and explore their own theories. What was troubling me was that I was not seeing an immediate connection between the tools discussed in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, spreadsheet software and data collection tools, and my Humanities classroom. Fortunately, when I looked at the website WebQuest Design Patterns I immediately saw possibilities for my classroom.
In the video Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theories (Laureate Education Inc., 2009) Michael Orey states that a key element of constructionist theory is that students are actively engaged in building or creating a product. In other words, the students are creating the external artifact or experience that will enable them to connect and understand new material. The web quests at WebQuest Design Patterns provide many opportunities to enact this strategy. The one with which I immediately saw possibilities for my own classroom was the Civil War Museum project. This project could be used to help students synthesize the new information they have learned at the end of our Civil War unit by having them design and create a museum exhibit for the Civil War. The guiding question could be as simple as, “If you had to take all the information we have learned from the Civil War and group it into five categories, decide what would those categories be?” These five categories will eventually be the five rooms or parts of their museum exhibit. The project fits perfectly with constructionist theory because students have to take the new information they have learned and build or create something with it. Without this building or creating phase of learning, the majority of the students will most likely retain the information long just long enough to answer some questions on a test, but not much longer than that. Because students will have created something though, they now have an external experience to tie the new information to, and therefore will understand the information on a deeper level as well as retain it much longer.
Until this week, I had zero experience with web quests. Obviously, I will need to research and explore their potential further before I will feel comfortable introducing them to my students. Because of the way they support constructionist theory, I am looking forward to using them in my classroom.
References:
Laureate Education Inc. (2009). Program five. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. [DVD]. Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theories. Baltimore: Author.
Pittler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenolki, K.(2007). Using technology with classroominstruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
WebQuest Design Patterns. (2010). Retrieved March 23, 2011,from http://webquest.sdsu.edu/designpatterns/all.htm.
This sounds like a project that would thoroughly engage your students. By developing this artifact, they will have something to share with others. This can lead to strong collaboration with peers and possibly others if it were published to the web. Giving students the opportunity to create something that they can call their own provides a personal connection to their learning. The production of this artifact can motivate your students to further enhance their learning in other related topics and it also allows them the chance to develop a sense of pride in their work.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea. The first thing I thought about when you mentioned the "rooms" of the museum was the Hasbro game, Clue. It might be interesting to reword your guiding question so it is more game oriented. Children love an interactive game and having them create one based on searching for clues in the museum they create might be a good alternative. A "game day" might be a good way to review information as well with a scavenger hunt using the games as the basis for the hunt.
ReplyDeleteI think the game idea is fantastic. Before we started to move away from tests, we would have a competition review game for the test. It was always the most anticipated day of the unit. I agree that having students create a game or game show that presents essential information is definitely worth looking into. Thank you for the ideas.
ReplyDeleteJust wait until this week's readings. I thought about you when reading about Second Life. I joined and downloaded it just to try it out (my laptop is too old to support it well so afterwards I had to delete it, but I had to try it out). I'm hoping Christmas comes soon and Santa brings me a new laptop so I can redownload it. I was like a kid in a candy store.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about learning something new is just being able to relate that to a prior experience. I think all learning is just being able to find something that relates to something in your prior knowledge. I believe all people are able to learn things if you find a connection with that person to what it is he or she is learning. No matter if the student has a problem understanding a topic the way to get around that issue is just relating it to something the student is interested in or prior experience.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the Webquests that incorporate the Social Learning Theory. Like you, I am a bit apprehensive about the idea also. So, I checked out the Website that you mentioned above and realized that I too can tweak these activities to fit my third grade classroom. For example, we study a unit early on in the year about our town history. Here, I think my students can create a Webquest using many of the Social Learning theory strategies. Students could participate in the jigsawing strategy as well as participate in group creations of Power Point Presentations to name a few. I have bookmarked this website and plan to tweak the lesson over the summer to best fit my future lesson.
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