PBL Activity 4: Curriculum Framing Questions
As a teacher, how do you determine what knowledge is worth understanding?
April 14, 2008
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Facilitating the use of technology in instruction at Auburn High School.
As a teacher, how do you determine what knowledge is worth understanding?
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To truly understand something, I think the student must own their knowledge. By this I mean the students must walk out of my room applying the knowledge they learned in my classroom to their world. For example, if I am teaching about the Abolitionist Movement, the students would learn about the reason for it and the major people involved in it because the state of Alabama says they have to know certain people for the graduation exam. For now, all they have done is memorized this information for the exam.
To make them fully understand this information, I have to find some kind of example from their world so they can actually relate to this movement. After discussing the example from their world, it is my hope they walk out of the classroom and apply that learning to our society. For example, they find something in which they truly believe, and they spend time trying to help with that movement or with that research. It could be something as simple as changing a school rule. The student actually researches the rule, goes through the steps to try to change the rule, and lives with the results.
I think most of what I teach is just facts from history. I look at the specific objectives to make sure students memorize the facts for the test, but I also take them one step further. To determine the knowledge worth understanding, I relate those facts to some type of real world issue. When we apply this knowledge to some real world issue and my students are applying the knowledge to their life is when I say, now, this is knowledge worth understanding!
In terms of my courses, I try to ask myself what knowledge is usable or relevant. I understand that the majority of my students are not going to grow up to be politicians, lawyers, or hold other careers emerged in government. With this is mind, I focus on the skills and knowledge that will produce more critical-thinking citizens. I try to intertwine my curriculum with the skills to make the most of the nine weeks. When I am selecting material, I examine what information is issue-based and then select “facts” that will help students hold an intelligent discussion on the issue. THis ensures that the students maintain interest as well as receive the standards-based material.
In science classes, things that students can do and see first-hand are always the things that I feel are most intriguing to the student. These are the things that they can understand because they see the cause-and-effect relationships between different concepts. If the students realize that there are cause-and-effect relationships in science, they can also apply these c&e relationships in other subjects, such as history, as Amanda stated. I feel that the most important things for them to learn are not only concepts learned that are governed by our COS but also interpersonal skills that will make our students productive citizens.
I have to admit that I cringed a little when I read the story about the student having the ridiculous extra credit assignment. I’m ashamed to say that I’ve given far too many assignments similar to “How many gargoyles are there…” Part of this comes from my own experience as a student. I had truly excellent teachers, but many of the assignments seem to have been given just to keep us busy (or quiet!). I guess that’s one problem with my Catholic education, to say nothing of my recurring fantasies of being whipped by penguins or the indelible scars on my knuckles from countless thrashings with rulers and yardsticks.
The internet added to my confusion of what was worthwhile knowledge. As a teacher, I was shocked (and a little jealous) that these kids suddenly had the world at their fingertips. Knowledge that should have meant a drive to the library and a conference with a reference librarian now meant a 5-second search on that new-fangled Google. So, yes, I fell into some downright silly ideas of what important knowledge really was. “What’s the weather in England near the Globe Theater this time of year?” was one. Another was “How many times was Julius Caesar stabbed?” Silly stuff. Of course, the answer to the latter question led to an interesting discovery that Shakespeare himself discussed Caesar’s thirty-three wounds, an inaccurate number that certainly indicates he was going for “Christ figure” status for Julius Caesar. But that was just dumb luck!
So what knowledge is worth understanding? I’m afraid that a lot of the “knowledge” on the state objectives isn’t really worth much. I also have similar problems with the “knowledge” the kids are supposed to get for the graduation exam. Yes, comma usage is important, and I certainly can’t argue with that, but the ability to communicate effectively is MUCH more important to me. I’d rather my students write a paragraph that is understandable and articulate than that they find a sentence with a comma error and correct it. Additionally, I think my content area (English) is still confused about what literature needs to be taught. The literary canon still exists, and some of it is downright ugly. (Don’t tell anyone, but I despise Dickens.) I find ways to keep Mythology relevant; the same is true of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. But what’s the real relevance to today’s kid of reading Great Expectations? I can do SO much more with a book like Of Mice and Men, a book that uncovers some issues that are still relevant. And I really like what I can teach the kids about the interconnectivity of the universe with a book like Holes. I’d like to teach Monument just because the theme is so important…and current.
I like what Amanda said before about things being issue-relevant. I agree. With the right approach by the right teacher, even those horrible objectives that are forced upon us can become knowledge that’s worth understanding.
As a teacher, how do you determine what knowledge is worth understanding?
I would echo alot of what Blake said in that the goal of my teaching is to equip students to become the kinds of citizens who can think critically, analyze issues, make wise decisions, and defend those decisions with acceptable logic and reason. The content knowledge that I choose to include is somewhat dictated by the AHSGE standards and the Course of Study standards. However, that content must be placed into a curriculum of units and lessons where the focus is on the final product of higher-order thinking versus rote memorization. Determining what content gets covered and what content is left off is more a question of what abilities and situations do I want my students to excel in?
As a teacher, how do you determine what knowledge is worth understanding?
I think it is interesting that this question is about what is worth understanding, versus what is worth knowing. My physics students know the three laws of motion before they take my class, but most of them really don’t understand them. It is my hope that developing the concepts into an understanding will lead them to make the decision to buckle their seatbelt and use a child seat for their kid one day. That decision, based on understanding the laws of motion, and not just knowing them, could change their life! Hands on lab experiences involving direct measurement of forces are a good way to grow the concept from knowledge to understanding.
I agree with what other teachers said about critical thinking skills. I set up classroom experiences to give students opportunities to develop those skills. For example, knowledge about series and parallel circuits is required by the COS. My students develop their understanding of circuits using a guided inquiry method. They “discover” the types of circuits by following a set of guiding questions and building the circuits on a simulator. Then we have a class discussion about the types of circuits. I assess their understanding by making them build real series and parallel circuits. After they build and test the circuits, we have a classroom discussion about real home wiring and the dangers of overloading a circuit. This discussion would be less meaningful if they had not measured the difference in current between series and parallel circuits.