I can't help thinking I'm in a time warp! Having spent most of my career teaching mature learners (post secondary), We always must take into account what the learner already knows and help them map on the new information. With kids we assume they don't have alot of life experiences. Young learners do indeed have life experiences just not as many as an adult. The small number does not stop them from using those experiences to make sense of the world. So when I think of the Guide on the Side or the Sage on the stage, I can't help thinking that engagement will always help retension regardless of the age of the learner.
I had the opportunity to attend designer David Jakes' presentation at the Chicago Education Festival last weekend. As an engineer I can appreciate the concept of form following function. Constructivism in the classroom is a real life example of form following function. In a traditional classroom setting with a teacher up front imparting knowledge to students (Sage on the stage), rows of seats facing forward works. All eyes up front, it is difficult to interact or collaborate with other learners. The constructivist classroom is centered around the learner. The seats and work surfaces would be on wheels for easy reconfiguration. Sometimes the learning stations would be arranged for small group discussion, sometimes for whole group sharing (circle or U shaped). When individual or paired work was required for a project or experiment, the seating could be quickly altered. I witnessed an invention called the Node Chair during theChicago Education Festival. A case study from the University of Michigan showed that this chair on wheels increased the very skills contructivism promotes, collaboration, learners co-creating, teacher moving freely around the room to ask questions that guide students in the experiment or exercise. As I investigate constructivism it occurred to me that I was naturally participating. I took concepts I already knew, engineering, and mapped the new information (constructivism in the classroom) onto what I already knew. I looked for more info to confirm or dispel my conclusions and then shared with peers to get their input and feedback. I love when a plan comes together!
I had the opportunity to attend designer David Jakes' presentation at the Chicago Education Festival last weekend. As an engineer I can appreciate the concept of form following function. Constructivism in the classroom is a real life example of form following function. In a traditional classroom setting with a teacher up front imparting knowledge to students (Sage on the stage), rows of seats facing forward works. All eyes up front, it is difficult to interact or collaborate with other learners. The constructivist classroom is centered around the learner. The seats and work surfaces would be on wheels for easy reconfiguration. Sometimes the learning stations would be arranged for small group discussion, sometimes for whole group sharing (circle or U shaped). When individual or paired work was required for a project or experiment, the seating could be quickly altered. I witnessed an invention called the Node Chair during theChicago Education Festival. A case study from the University of Michigan showed that this chair on wheels increased the very skills contructivism promotes, collaboration, learners co-creating, teacher moving freely around the room to ask questions that guide students in the experiment or exercise. As I investigate constructivism it occurred to me that I was naturally participating. I took concepts I already knew, engineering, and mapped the new information (constructivism in the classroom) onto what I already knew. I looked for more info to confirm or dispel my conclusions and then shared with peers to get their input and feedback. I love when a plan comes together!