I am researching the best ways to get students motivated in the classroom and to have fun with science. I am looking at ways teachers can show students that science can be really fun! The first thing we have to look at as teachers is if the content we are teaching is age appropriate for our students. It is unfair to our students if we are expecting them to learn something that is too challenging for them because they aren't cognitively ready for that content yet.
As teachers, we need to figure out our student's schema before we can ask them to do anything. If we know their schema we can figure out what to teach them. We can figure out their schema by asking questions to get our students thinking. The Constructivist Learning Theory involves active mental engagement, we can do this by asking questions. The best way to get students motivated is to let them explore first. The Developmental Learning Theory says we should start concrete then move to abstract then back to concrete. The best way to get students to think concretely is to explore the "real thing" this also helps students to get motivated and to have fun in science. When they get to explore the real thing or close to it, they feel like scientists themselves.
The article I found talks about the best ways to motivate students in the science classroom. One big idea i took from the article was to integrate science to your student's lives so they become interested in the topic. If the topic is somehow related to their lives they will be more motivated to learn the topic. The article also talks about letting students do experiments and explore things on their own so they act like real scientists. Here is the article that I found interesting.. Link
This post is a great example of how great teaching fits together! You are noting how learning theory can help us increase student motivation and interest in science. By seeing how all the different parts of good teaching fit together, we can more easily make quick decisions and have more confidence that what we are doing is actually getting us where we want to go in our teaching.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right on when you said that we as teachers need to make sure that our content is age appropriate for students. If we are teaching our students things that are too easy or too hard for them then we are not setting our students up for success and to be the best they can be. Also I personally believe that the more you can get the students involved hands on or exploring the more they will take out of an activity, and the more likely they will retain the information.
ReplyDeleteIt is very important for teachers to make a connection with the students as you pointed out. Too often are we seeing unmotivated students that turn their heads on the preconceived notion that science is meaningless. This is when, the teacher needs to engage the students so they become interested and the desire to learn develops. I think it is true that "When they get to explore the real thing or close to it, they feel like scientists themselves." This is exactly where we as teachers want to end up!
ReplyDeleteAlisa,
ReplyDeleteI agree that engaging students by encouraging them to question is the key to learning and retaining scientific concepts. Students will care more about finding answers to their own questions.