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Lesson Plans


RE: A curious question

From: D. Sterner (dsterner)
Date: Wed Mar 01 2000 - 17:52:32 PST

  • Next message: PurpleArt: "Gyotaku"

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    Always with the questions Larry asked:
    what does she mean? In what way(s) do we need to teach
    differently to get students to think differently and, presumably, better?
    And how do we define 'better' thinking? What's wrong with the way(s) kids
    think now?
    **************************************
    Given the status of high school graduates' thinking level (just read the
    papers), it appears (as well as documented in educational literature) that
    students are not able to think on a higher order level. This is cause for
    change in teaching techniques: If we teach differently (utilizing more of
    the taxonomy of learning), students might have an opportunity to think
    differently (using more of their brain power) to come up with more creative,
    relevant solutions to questions in the class room.

    Consider the way many 13 year old American students dealt with a problem
    that appeared in the National Assessment of Education Progress. The
    question was: "An army bus holds 36 soldiers. If 1,128 soldiers are being
    bused to their training site, how many busses are needed? Divide 1,128 by
    36, you get 31 with a remainder of 12, meaning it would take 32 buses. Most
    students did the division correctly, but fewer than one out of four got the
    question right. The most common answer was "31 remainder 12.

    If students were given more opportunities to think this way, they might not
    be ambushed by this questioning strategy. If they are to be able to call to
    mind this skill, they ought to have some practice with it so they recognize
    it when they see it.

    Of course as art teachers, we use higher order, interpretive skills all the
    time
    ~~~giggle~~~
        -=deb=- 

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