Journal
Entry #2: Reflection on Chapters 3 and 4
Chapter 3 in Moursund’s text discussed topic ideas for
PBL lessons. The chapter gave
interesting insight into different projects for a variety of subjects and
topics. I agreed with its discussion of examining
curriculum goals and standards and deciding which goals fit well with PBL. Thinking of all of the different math goals
for middle school aged children, I believe that goals involving volume and
surface areas of 3d figures are perfects goals to develop a PBL lesson
around. Three dimensional figures are
part of every student’s world in some way or another. A PBL lesson can definitely be built around
these goals. This is what I am going to
accomplish by the end of this course. In
this way, I am building my PBL lesson around appropriate goals of the typical curriculum.
The different topic ideas discussed in Chapter 3 opened
my eyes to the many uses of PBL in the classroom. These ideas also showed me how PBL impacts so
many different educational fields. For
example, I realized how something as basic as creating a holiday mailing list
has so many educational components.
Also, the discussion of the math uses of PBL related to me. I have definitely heard students ask “When
will I ever use this?” in math class. I
want to give the students a project that they will find fun and useful in the
real world. It is important to stress to
students that the things that we learn in mathematics today (different
formulas, etc.) were developed in response to some sort of problem or obstacle
that people faced in the past. It is
important for students to learn problem solving techniques through practice so
that they can be able to approach new problems in a variety of successful ways.
I agreed with the viewpoint of technology displayed in
Chapter 3. Students love
technology! They rarely care if the
teacher is an expert in using the technology, because they love to learn by
trial and error. Students also love to
show the teacher something new that he or she did not know before. The teacher’s lack of knowledge of technology
will not bother the students. The
teacher should feel comfortable learning from the students, because they
probably have a lot to share. Moursund
(2003) states that “Student may discover that part of what you are teaching is
now out of date and may be irrelevant because of a progress of IT” (p. 32). This is okay!
Teachers need to embrace the knowledge of their students, and learn from
them. Adaptation is necessary and vital
when dealing with technology, because new technology is so rapidly developed.
Chapter 4 in Moursund’s text discusses the arguments in
favor of PBL. Unfortunately, not much
research is done on PBL because it is not easily experimented on. We learn about the successes of PBL through
personal experiences and stories.
However, we do know the things that PBL encompasses, and the research in
favor of those components. PBL increases
higher order thinking skills, problem solving skills, collaboration, cooperative
learning, and much more.
One
of my favorite types of lesson plans that I created as an undergraduate were “inquiry-based
lessons”. In this type of lesson,
students “discover” a new formula or concept.
Usually I would guide the student through examination of different
patterns and allow the students to derive certain formulas. When the students are discovering the formula
themselves, they will better understand the logic behind the formulas and will
most likely remember the formulas more easily.
PBL is similar to inquiry based lessons, because the students are
usually discovering something. This was
reiterated by a quote by Moursund (2003) that I fully agreed with: “Students
who learn their lower-order knowledge and skills in a higher-order skills
environment will retain them better” (p. 39).
If PBL has been observed to increase motivation, attendance, problem
solving techniques, and resource management, then I don’t see a reason not to
employ this technique in my own teaching practices!
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