Diversity in instructional methods toward meaningful learning Essay Example for Free

Diversity in instructional methods toward meaningful learning Essay Abstract There is diversity in instructional methods that teachers can use to bring about meaningful learning. This paper discusses five of them; namely integrated inquiry approach, 5-model of inquiry, the jig-sawing approach, role playing and WebQuest. These instructional methods are learner centered methods that consider prior knowledge, attitude and skills and promote development of new knowledge and relate them to a variety of contexts. All of them also deal with real-life situations that essentially develop interpersonal relationships, problem-solving skills and content-knowledge among others. The teachers’ tasks are to plan and carry out efficiently the instructional designs to have meaningful learning among diverse learners, instructional methods and learning environments. Diversity in Instructional Methods Toward Meaningful Learning Diversity is an essential ingredient of success of all ventures in life including education. There are different kinds of learners as there are teachers, instructional methods and learning environments; but there is only one goal in education and this is for an effective and meaningful learning. Teachers should set environments for students so they could think critically and independently and relate new knowledge learned with a variety of contexts for meaningful learning. It is the task of the teachers to match the learners, the learning environments, the knowledge to be learned and the instructional methods. Learning meaningfully means that learners relate new knowledge to what they already know. Meaningful learning is non-arbitrary, non-verbatim, substantive deliberate effort to link new knowledge with higher order concepts in cognitive structures. It is a learning related to experiences with events or objects and affective commitment to relate new knowledge with prior learning. The diverse instructional designs towards meaningful learning should identify outcomes, guide the development of instruction content and establish its effectiveness. Efforts to consider meaningful learning in the different stages of instructional design are essential. Gagne et al. (1992) identified the different stages of instructional designs as: defining instructional goals; conducting instructional analysis; identifying entry behaviours and learner characteristics; developing performance objectives; selecting an instructional method; assembling instructional materials and planning formative and summative evaluations. He and his colleagues further cited that current educational theory and researches support the use of instructional methods that make students active learners. Among the diverse instructional methods available to teachers to explore and use, the commonly utilized approach towards construction of new knowledge meaningfully are the problem –based learning and inquiry approach, cooperative learning, and technology strategies. Each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages, but when used effectively can maximize learning. Problem-Based and Inquiry Approach Students in the problem-based and learning inquiry approach engage in meaningful learning through being actively involved in their own learning and reconstructing these based on their experiences. They further participate in active investigation, more of integrating knowledge rather than separating them so that deep understanding develop from acquisition of new facts. In this method, students are given relevant problems by teachers which inquiry must be done. The general steps in this inquiry approach are: identifying the problems, gathering of data, organizing the data in attempt to analyse the problems and analyses of the strategies to use to solve the problems. Integrated Inquiry In the Integrated Inquiry planning process, a model of inquiry approach developed by K. Murdoch, sequences of activities and experiences are developed to build on and challenge student perceptions. These sequences begin with students’ prior knowledge and experiences and move through deliberate processes wherein that knowledge is extended, challenged and refined. Students have their own prior experiences that they bring to their classes and teachers should be aware of how to address this situation. Activities and learning experiences in this model are grouped as: tuning on, finding out, sorting out, going further, making conclusions and taking actions (Murdoch, 1999). Furthermore, planning for assessment is a very important element of planning for Integrated Inquiry. Murdoch (1999) highlights the need for the collection and analysis of information about what and the how students have learned. The assessment in the Integrated Inquiry model is to determine how to improve student learning as these new information help teachers modify their plans of work to suit the needs of the learners. Students’ involvement in planning for assessment as in selecting responses to particular learning experiences and designing demonstrations of understanding are highly encouraged. Therefore, teachers are also tasked to identify and design learning experiences that will provide information for assessment purposes. The strengths of this model are focussed on assessment of learning in context and encouraging a variety of demonstrations of understanding based on the learning experiences that students undertake. Learners that may benefit most from this Integrated Inquiry Approach are those capable of setting goals in their own learning and significantly contribute in determining how assessment could be effectively done. 5-E Model In the book â€Å"Activities for Teaching Science as Inquiry† by Carin, Bass Contant (2005) many laboratory investigations were cited as inquiry approach to learning. They focused on the 5-E Instructional Model with the five main components identified as Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration and Evaluation. Each of these components is learner-centred. This investigatory method maybe time and resource consuming but it allows the learners to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills experientially. The use of this method is not limited to teaching sciences, which are considered to be not very easy subjects. This experiential learning brings more opportunities for learners to bring forth better understanding and longer retention of knowledge learned. Cooperative Learning Cooperative learning is an instructional method that takes place in a small group of learners of different levels of ability and in environments of responsibility not only for their own understanding of the subject but also for his co-learners. It brings more meaning to learning because it provides shared cognitive sets of information between students, motivating them to learn the materials, ensuring that they construct their own knowledge, providing formative feedback, developing social and group skills necessary for success outside the classroom. Cooperative leaning promotes learning and academic achievement, increases retention and satisfaction with their learning experiences among students, helps develop skills in oral communication, social skills, promotes student self-esteem and fosters mutual responsibility. Although this method helps students learn to be more patient, less critical and more compassionate, some students may find difficulty with this method. Students who work alone find difficulty in sharing answers while aggressive students will tend to take over and brighter students to act superior to the rest. Teachers who will employ cooperative should prepare their students how to work in groups for this method to be successful. Jig Sawing Approach The â€Å"Jig Sawing† Approach is a cooperative learning strategy wherein students becomes an â€Å"expert† in a particular area, then shares his or her learning knowledge with other members of the group that eventually all members of the group learn the concepts. In the Modified Jigsaw, the class is divided into equal expert groups, with each of these groups working on isolated portions of the activity. Once each expert group has completed the tasks, they report their findings as group to the class. Group report allows for greater flexibility in student presentation style and prevents the possibility of unintentionally misrepresentation of information (Beaudrie et al. 1998). This method best suits heterogenous learners across disciplines. It provides opportunities for learners to show various competencies. Moreover, students are more comfortable to exchange ideas with their co-learners because of their dynamic open relationship. Role playing Another instructional method of interest is role playing. It also deals with solving problems but through actions. In role playing, problems are identified, explored through actions and discussed. The students input in their role playing their prior knowledge, values and attitudes. A role-playing strategy seems to work best when there are multiple correct approaches to solving problems. It encourages thinking and creativity to develop and practice new behaviours in non-threatening setting. It provides opportunities for students to explore further their feelings; gain more insights about their attitudes and also enhance their problem solving skills. It also promotes effective interpersonal relations. The learning in these role playing activities are meaningful as they are retained longer and hoped to be of use to the real life of the learners. Terms which are used, often interchangeably with role playing are simulation, game, role-play, simulation-game, role-play simulation, and role-playing game. Role playing dynamically promotes effective interpersonal relationships and social transactions among learners. Technology Supported Approach Technology provides a set of tool for addressing the issues on improving student learning. These issues are of providing more of learners’ time on authentic, challenging tasks with rich contexts with emphasis on multi-disciplinarity; changing of role of teachers to facilitators of knowledge that guide students and learn along with them; students working in an environment of more cooperative relationships that encourages communication and access to real-world examples towards the development of learning communities; and with greater emphasis placed on reflective thinking and productivity with the understanding that students will preform their tasks differently and have different task-relevant skills ( Grabe and Grabe, 2004). WebQuest WebQuest, the model developed by Bernie Dodge, is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. WebQuests is most often a group activity in a library or distance education setting. It may be enhanced by wrapping motivational elements around the basic structure by giving the learners a role to play, simulated personae to interact with via e-mail, and a scenario to work within. They can be designed within a single discipline or they can be interdisciplinary (Dodge, 1997). The WebQuest challenges he learner to be creative in problem-solving. In the world of education, there are so many instructional designs that can be utilized to end up with meaningful learning. No instructional method is better than the other but each one in the hands of a committed and learned teacher can merit students across academic levels and disciplines to bring about meaningful learning. References Beaudrie, B. , Slater,T. F. , Stevenson, S. Cadit, D. (1998). Teaching astronomy by internet jigsawing. Leading and Learning with Technology Journal, 26. , Retrieved December 13, 2007 from http://www. aem. umn. edu. Carin, A. A, Bass, J. E Contant T.L. (2005). Activities for Teaching Science As Inquiry. NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Dodge, B. (1997). Some thoughts about WebQuests . Retrieved December 13, 2007 from http://webquest. sdsu. edu/about_webquests. html. Gagne, R. M. , Briggs, L. J. , Wager, W. W. (1992). Principles of Instructional Design . TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers. Grabe, M. Grabe C. (2004). Integrating Technology for Meaningful Learning. NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. Murdoch, K. (1998) Classroom Connections: Strategies for Integrated Learning. Melbourne: Eleanor Curtain Publishing.

lord of the flies :: essays research papers

The Lord of the Flies Essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Lord of the Flies, the three main character all have different characteristics and temperaments. Ralph shows the Guardian temperament, Jack has the characteristics of the Artisan temperament, and Piggy has the Realist temperament. This is important to the novel because it plays reason why everything ended up breaking apart on the island.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ralph is the nearest to being the Guardian in the story. Throughout the book, Ralph wants to be the one is charge and the one that Jack also respects. Most Guardians want to have membership and belonging as well. Guardians are also negative about the future, Ralph has is moments of when he does not think he is going to be rescued and gets depressed. A major difference about Ralph and his Guardian temperament is that he has many times when he feels he is not respected by the other boys. Guardians are supposed to have a lot of confidence with themselves because they are respected. The Artisan in this story is most likely Jack. Artisans are proud of themselves because they are graceful in action, and Jack has a huge ego because he is a skilled hunter or at least thinks so. Jack is a live in the moment now, or fly by the seat of your pants character he is just worried about now and not the past or future. The major difference is that Jack’s objectives on the islands are not normally the smartest things to do, he just does what he thinks he sound do now or wants to do.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Piggy is the Realist in The Lord of the Flies. Piggy is confident in himself because he knows he is smart and has a lot of wit and back at home Piggy always got his way. Realists seem to always have a quest to search in further truth and knowledge. A major difference between Piggy and a Realist is when it comes to the future. Piggy is, most of the time, hopeful about being rescued someday. Most Realists are negative when dealing with the future.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When you put these very different temperaments on one island you can see how disaster is going to happen. lord of the flies :: essays research papers The Lord of the Flies Essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Lord of the Flies, the three main character all have different characteristics and temperaments. Ralph shows the Guardian temperament, Jack has the characteristics of the Artisan temperament, and Piggy has the Realist temperament. This is important to the novel because it plays reason why everything ended up breaking apart on the island.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ralph is the nearest to being the Guardian in the story. Throughout the book, Ralph wants to be the one is charge and the one that Jack also respects. Most Guardians want to have membership and belonging as well. Guardians are also negative about the future, Ralph has is moments of when he does not think he is going to be rescued and gets depressed. A major difference about Ralph and his Guardian temperament is that he has many times when he feels he is not respected by the other boys. Guardians are supposed to have a lot of confidence with themselves because they are respected. The Artisan in this story is most likely Jack. Artisans are proud of themselves because they are graceful in action, and Jack has a huge ego because he is a skilled hunter or at least thinks so. Jack is a live in the moment now, or fly by the seat of your pants character he is just worried about now and not the past or future. The major difference is that Jack’s objectives on the islands are not normally the smartest things to do, he just does what he thinks he sound do now or wants to do.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Piggy is the Realist in The Lord of the Flies. Piggy is confident in himself because he knows he is smart and has a lot of wit and back at home Piggy always got his way. Realists seem to always have a quest to search in further truth and knowledge. A major difference between Piggy and a Realist is when it comes to the future. Piggy is, most of the time, hopeful about being rescued someday. Most Realists are negative when dealing with the future.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When you put these very different temperaments on one island you can see how disaster is going to happen.

Long Report Essay

INTRODUCTION Background This report was created to present the findings of a study aimed to curve the impact of the large number of workers we employ on local traffic. Many city and county transportation officials are interested in exploring ways to solve the traffic issues. The research in this report analyzes the commuting patterns of our 43,500 employees. Traffic is a daily battle for many commuters and has become a problem in our area. Problem For many people, the commute to work is disastrous. It is not uncommon to hear of people leaving hours early for work simply because of traffic. Although traffic can be found mostly everywhere, the area surrounding our company is unbearable. We are known as the largest private employer in this area, employing over 43,000 people. This fact, combined with normal traffic patterns, creates much more traffic in other areas and problems with commuting. Purpose The purpose of this report is to alleviate the problems with traffic due to the high number of people we employ. The first step in this process is analyzing the workforce’s transportation habits and attitudes. Scope This report will focus mainly on the transportation habits of the workforce, as well as their opinion on possible changes. DISCUSSION Employee Carpool Habits One simple way to help reduce traffic problems is the use of carpooling. The idea of employee carpooling is simple-employees who live in close relation to each other commute to work together, using only one car. Four people carpooling together takes three cars off the road that would have been there had they not carpooled. Carpooling is also mutually beneficial to the employees. Many save a large sum of money and they are  no longer required to physically drive to and from work every day. An added benefit is the 85 million gallons of gas saved every year by carpoolers. The results of the research are displayed in Figure 1. Based on the research done at our company, 23% of employee’s carpool to work every day and 10% report that they are carpooling on certain days of the week. A small percentage (2%) showed that these workers randomly carpool. The majority of the employees reported that they never carpool. Currently, 64% of our employees are not carpooling at all. Increasing the amount of carpooling being done from just one-third of the employee population to half or more will result in great change. As stated before, carpooling is a very easy and convenient way to get many cars off the roads with little change and has much benefit for both the individuals’ carpooling and the function of these populated areas. Employee Use of Public Transportation Public transportation provides a convenient and inexpensive alternative to regular commuting. There are many types of public transportation including buses, trains, subways and ferries. These provide commuters with a range of options to decide what one works best for their commute. Results for a survey on the frequency of public  transportation used by the employees at this company are displayed in figure 2. Currently just over half (54%) of the workforce uses public transportation every day of the week and just 28% of employees never use it. This shows that public transportation is possible for the workers. Because of the high number of employees that use public transportation, it can be concluded that the increase in use of public transportation is a possible solution. To generate ideas on how to increase the use of public transportation, a survey was completed that asked the employees to select as many of the seven ways provided to increase frequency that they saw relevant. The results are depicted in a column graph in figure 3. The graph shows that the results of the study found that the majority of people selected that nothing could encourage them to take public transportation. Although lower fares and improved safety were selected as the most desired option, over 8,000 employees would not use public transportation no matter  the change. It appears that people’s use and opinions of public transportation are difficult to change and there is no one solution that would increase the amount of people using it significantly enough for it to be worthy of doing. Transportation Distance Traveled to/from Work A potential solution to the issue of traffic patterns is the increase in employees walking or riding their bikes, scooters etc. This is a low-cost solution that like carpooling, has mutual benefits for the employee. Because we can not ask people to move closer to work so they can walk or bike, there are no ways to change the option to make it more appealing as done with public transportation. To determine if this is a possible solution to the problem a survey was completed that asked the participant to report the distance traveled one way to work. If the majority of the employees live in close proximity to the company, using other modes of transportation could be viable. The results of this study are shown in figure 4. The majority (53%) of the workforce lives within 4-10 miles and the second largest percentage chosen was 11-20 miles. Unfortunately, that is too far of a distance and it would be difficult to get employees to do. If the majority had fallen in the 1-3 mile  range, thi s solution could have been a potential solution but only 16% of the employees chose this option. Therefore, the idea of commuting on foot or bike as a solution to this problem would not be effective. Telecommuting An option that could impact the traffic patterns of this area is an increase in telecommuting. Telecommuting is when you are able to conduct your business from your home, thus cancelling out the issue of a commute altogether. A survey was done to inquire about the amount of workers whose jobs allow them to work from home. With this information, we can better predict if telecommuting is a realistic option. The results are displayed in figure 5. Based on these results, only 28% of employee’s jobs would allow them to work from home and the majority (43%) of the workers reported that their jobs do not allow them to work from home. Telecommuting is an intriguing option because it is the only one that removes the commute entirely. The problem with telecommuting is that many jobs are not suited  for a home office, and require many other things besides a computer. The way that the company is established now, telecommuting does not seem like a viable option. However, if the company w ere willing to change  some things and make the company more flexible, telecommuting could be a great way to solve this issue. CONCLUSION Through the use of surveying and analysis, it is apparent that changing the commuting patterns and improving traffic around the company will be difficult. There are a large number of employees and with a large group, comes wide variety. The ideas to increase carpooling and telecommuting appear to be the most realistic options and the ones that would produce the most results. Public Transportation appears to not work for many, no matter  the circumstance changes making this not an option. Lastly, the potential to increase the frequency of employees walking and biking to class is not a solution because the majority of employees live outside walking distance. RECCOMENDATION Based on the results found in the surveys, I am recommending that the best option for changing traffic patterns is an increase in carpooling. An incentive for employees to carpool would be a good start to moving towards this. By running an incentive type  program for employees who have never carpooled before would allow those employees to see the benefits of carpooling. Ideally, the employees would see that carpooling is a great solution to this problem.

Analysis Of The Movie The Gift - 1225 Words

While film is a visual medium, some of the understated elements of cinematic choices are often overlooked. General audiences are attracted to films due to the choice of actors and a general interest in the story, but the most complex mechanisms of successful films are rarely spoken of or noticed. The choice of color scheme, set design, and props, are all various ways in which the director adds their stamp of creative concept. When all of these components are blended, they create the mood, tone, and style of the of movie. In this essay, three short films all featuring different locations, characters, and themes are examined to try and understand why directors pick certain visual undertones and to decide if they worked in favor or against the overall story. In doing so, this essay hopes to explore the many ways in which aspiring creatives can add appealing visuals to their work to underline the main theme and create a better understanding for their audience. The first film, The Gift, is a quirky if not surreal look at love. Ms. Anderson, A woman in charge of wrapping gifts in a store, is tasked with wrapping the gift of a local magician and customer, Mr. Grimm. It is obvious she has feelings for him, and she believes the gift, a family heirloom necklace, is for another woman. This leads to her spiral, coming to the realization that he does not share the same feelings. In the end, however, as he leaves, she discovers that he has somehow magically placed the necklace on her,Show MoreRelatedPeter Quill And His Walkman Essay1219 Words   |  5 Pageswas a hybrid until later on]. Just a young boy at the time, he was fond of the simple joys in life such as family, friends, playing around and music just as any other young boy. Life went on. A grave tragedy occurred during the beginning of the movie. His mother, terminally ill, was living in her final moments while young peter quill was just outside in the hospital hallway, in despair and denial. 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