Week 4 Homework: read and reflect

Shifting from Activitymania  

I thought this article summed up my education here at Iowa wants for me.  My whole academic life, I have participated in activitymania.  Most of my science class were structured in a way where the teacher let us go in small groups to complete a worksheet.  I can say that I have retained very little science material from high school.  Going forward in my own classroom, I want to follow inquiry based learning.  This article highlights the key benefits of inquiry learning compared to activities.  In the long run, inquiry based learning better prepares students with skill they can use in college and careers. 

Coupled Inquiry Cycle

This article does a good job at detailing 'what is inquiry learning". Activitymania does a good job and introducing inquiry learning, but this does a good job at explaining inquiry learning.  It highlights the different stages of inquiry learning which was, for me, clarifying.  I really like the idea of student centered learning with open inquiry.  I do, however, understand that guided inquiry is a good alternative to actives like the ones discussed in Activitymania.  To me inquiry seems like a great way to teach students, but I understand that veteran teachers would be hesitant to implement this style.  Giving up control in the classroom can be scary, but I think letting the students guide the teaching, it can become more engaging for them! 

Misconceptions Die Hard 

Students will alway come into the classroom with misconceptions.  Whether they learned in in previous classes, or formed the idea in their own way or heard it from their parents, student will always have misconceptions.  As teachers, it is important to correct these misconceptions as best as we can.  Not every misconception will be corrected, but the ones that are is important.  I like how this article suggests to tackle misconceptions head on.  Try to prevent them before they start and correct them if you can.

Sweater Article

Similar to misconceptions, all student will come into the classroom with different experiences.  In this article we can see how each student has a different understanding of temperature because of their experiences.  The teacher utilizes inquiry learning so that the students can investigate how temperature works.  We see the students struggle to  let go of their misconceptions and past experiences.  This can make it hard for students to understand material.   By using the inquiry learning, they student is free to investigate what part of temperature is difficult for them.