Let me try to comment on the different group projects.
Collaborative Learning
As the name implies, collaborative learning involves two or
more people to learn something together, which should in turn help each member
in the Understanding cognitive level as he or she interacts with others. Differences among the individuals could also
broaden possibilities for the Analyzing, Evaluating and Creating levels.
Learning should correlate with the level of collaboration,
so individual students have their own responsibility for the learning
process. As there is a group to work
with, feedback comes not only from the instructor but from other students as
well.
Project-Based Learning
PBL involves long-term learning activities, so it is basically
self-directed learning which should hopefully develop the student towards being
an independent thinker, problem solver and decision maker depending on his/her
motivation level. This teaching strategy
would fall in the Evaluating cognitive level and Organizing affective level as the
students decide which subject matter they want to do in-depth investigation in. In other words, PBL should help students
develop critical, analytic and creative thinking skills…and there is a greater possibility
of far, high road and vertical transfers.
PBL also lends itself to collaborative learning as a student
may wish to pursue a subject matter together with others with similar interests. In addition, self-evaluation should be
inherent in PBL as the student measures his/her progress.
Direct Instruction
Direct instruction appears to be the traditional way of
doing things with the usual lectures and demonstrations. Clearly, this teaching strategy should be in
the Remembering and Understanding cognitive levels, and in the Receiving and
Responding affective levels. It would be
perfect for sciences, mathematics, engineering, IT, and vocational trades where
near, low road, and lateral transfers are clear training objectives; cases and
creative problems could attempt to induce far and high road transfers. Also, labs and exercises should increase the
extent of transfer as students practice and do thing repetitively.
Learning in the higher levels should not be possible without
learning in the lower levels, so there is a place for direct instruction, but
it probably should not be used alone. A
possible twist in this teaching strategy is for the students themselves to
later try to teach and demonstrate what the instructor has covered. At the end of each class period, the students
could also try to write a short report or journal entry as to what they learned
and how they can apply their new knowledge.
For students who are genuinely interested in the subject
matter, direct instruction may lead them to self-directed and lifelong learning
as they seek to gain more skills and knowledge.
I can easily see this with my computer students who are into multimedia
and who wish to be able to do more than what’s covered in class.
Interactive Lecturing
Interactive lecturing goes a step further over direct
instruction in that students are able to participate. In choosing to interact, students would
operate at a minimum of the Understanding level and perhaps as high as the
Evaluating level if they were to seek the validity and applicability of the
lecture. That is, participating students
are likely to use and develop analytical skills. Moreover, negative transfer would be
minimized as the students evaluate their understanding.
Responsibility for learning falls more on the student,
depending on how much he or she chooses to interact. A student who participates also gets
immediate feedback from the instructor and other students.
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