World War I 1914-18 was a conflict fought mainly in Europe among most of the great Western powers. Is this the type of knowledge students need to have to be a successful member of the workforce? Sometime schooling can have a focus on the content and not the process of using that information. There have been several studies as to how best to prepare students for their future. Is traditional pedagogy the best way to prepare our students or are skills found in inquiry based learning called process skills needed to combine with traditional pedagogy to better prepare our students? I propose that a combination is essential.
In 1991, the US Dept of Labor conducted a study named, What Work Requires of Schools: A Scans Report For America 2000 This Scans Report identified five competencies combined with a three part foundation of intellectual skills and personal qualities. The foundation included: basic skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities. These competencies included: resources, interpersonal, informational, systems, and technology. They proposed that, “by learning the competencies as they learn the foundations, each intertwined with the other our young people will be ready to enter and thrive in the workplace of tomorrow” (http://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/whatwork/whatwork.pdf).
Another study done in 1993 by the Association of American Universities, focused on what students needed to survive in an entry-level university course. They suggested that, “students who are prepared to study science at the college level are capable of integrating scientific methods and contextual understanding, critical thinking and hands on skills” (http://www.epiconline.org/files/pdf/UUS_Complete.pdf). They looked at each subject area and re...
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...d due to digital technologies, so must the way we educate our students. Inquiry based learning allows for higher level thinking and application of the knowledge learned. Students need to be able to communicate, problem solve, and build interpersonal relationships. In inquiry based learning students have the opportunity to work on these skills as well as others.
References
Framework for 21st century learning. (2009, December). Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/documents/P21_Framework.pdf
Indicators of development of process skills. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://moodle1.wilkes.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=55296
What Work requires of schools: a scans report for america 2000. (1991). Retrieved from http://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/whatwork/whatwork.pdf
Understanding university success. (2003). Retrieved from http://www.epiconline.org/files/pdf/UUS_Complete.pdf
High Schools That Work (HSTW), a school improvement initiative of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), has documented achievement gains by career and technical education (CTE) students at participating sites (Bottoms and Presson 2000). At HSTW sites participating in 1996 and 1998 assessments (Frome 2001), CTE students showed math and science achievement equal to the national average of all high school students—and exceeded the national average of CTE students in math, science, and reading.
United States Department of Education. The Educational System in the United States: A Case Study. By the U.S.D.E. in 1998. 28 November. 2002 http://www.ed.gov/pubs/USCaseStudy/
...tion or student learning through the inquiry method which allows students to develop their own truths.
Michael, S.et al. (2008). Prospects for improving K-12 science education from the federal level. Journal of Education 69(9): 677-683.
One of the reasons why all the new students at universities in the U.S. have to take serial writing classes first is that they have to learn not only writing techniques, but also the way of thinking which enable them to go through studying ahead of them. In his essay The Politics of Remediation, Mike Rose mainly suggests three academic skills that are essential for college students. The importance of these skills can be more clear and profound by comparison with other three essays; Critical Thinking by bell hooks, What Happens When Basic Writers Come to College? by Patricia Bizzell, and The “Banking” Concept of Education by Paulo Freire. Rose discusses essential academic skills such as acquiring an academic language, critical literacy, and a problem-solving skill, all of which are required for college students for a variety of reasons and each of these skills is strongly connected to the points shown in hook, Bizzell, and Freire’s essays.
"What We Do." U.S. Department of Education, 2 Feb. 2010. Web. 23 May 2014. .
Usdan, Michael D., (n.d.), States and education - state boards Of education. StateUniversity.com. Retrieved from: http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2450/States-Education-STATE-BOARDS-EDUCATION.html
Spurring from a growing concern over the literacy requirements of students in a Middle school science class, Holli Eddins Forrest in “Using Literacy to Engage Adolescents in Science,” asserts that it is not literacy that causes students to “hate science,” but the way in which information is presented. In the article, Forrest aims to analyze motivation and engagement of Middle school children in a Science class, to determine the root of the problem and highlights ways in which educators can cultivate the necessary literacy skills required to keeps students motivated and engaged.
Over the past 25 years, multiple attempts and efforts have been made to reform and improve education, particularly in science, in the United States. (Singh et al....
Nowadays there are many people who are going back to study, whether it be improving career possibilities or to change career paths. Therefore, people need to develop different types of study skills to help throughout their learning. In this essay I will be describing a few study skills that could be useful in the path to success during my own studies. I will also be explaining how I will be implementing them into my studies. Also, I will be identify two challenges that I may face during my studies and explaining a few steps that I will use to address them.
Inquiry Learning is a way to make the student find their own answers for their questions (Lakes Matyas, Ph.D). Posing a question for the students is a way to get them started. Then, by guiding the students on their own different searches, they all come together in the end to share their findings to answer the question.
When integrating Nature of Science into curriculum, assumptions are made about students and instructors. These assumptions include that students are all at the same level in terms of science understanding and concepts as the rest of their classmates, and also assumes that the students learn at the same rates (NGSS: Appendix A). These assumptions are detrimental to science education when focus needs to be on the content being taught rather than teaching background of science as a standalone. Teaching NOS explicitly becomes increasingly difficult when students aren’t given access to proper science learning environments. As mentioned in the High Hopes – Few Opportunities reading, it is stated that, “California students do no typically experience high-quality science learning opportunities[.]” (Dorph et al., 2011). When students don’t have a basis for scientific concepts, it becomes increasingly difficult to teach NOS. America’s Lab Report further expands on the idea that this style of learning is not likely achievable, as “[N]o single […] experience is likely to achieve all of these learning goals.” (Schweingruber et al., 2005) where learning goals is referencing the goals of laboratory experiences that include understanding Nature of Science. Again, when a lack of understanding for general science exists, its arguably much more difficult to teach
Education is a vital tool for lifelong success but there are many areas of concern in the current system of public education. Education reform has been a constant occurrence since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Every year, specialists develop
... Using hands on activities and not using straight lecture help children learn better. Inquiry gives them experiences that can help them retain the knowledge that their teacher is trying to give them.
UniServe Science. (2004). Alternative strategies for science teaching and assessment. Retrieved March 7, 2004 from http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/support/strategy.html