There is so much that goes into the learning process that most of us take for granted. If we really analize every minute of our day, we will see that there are many times during the day that we apply some kind of learning process in our daily lives. I remember a few semesters ago, I took a biology class. As I was reading this chapter and came upon Discovery Learning it brought to mind a project we did in our biology class. Our instructor wanted to teach us about nature and the many things it has to offer. She decided to take us on a field trip down a long road that leads to ranches and acres of open land. The assignment consisted of finding different species such as birds, insects, plants, trees and animals. We spent several hours walking around learning about all the things we were seeing. Although I didnt realize it then, this was a perfect example of discovery learning. Even now, after several semesters have passed, I can still remember everything that I learned that day about nature and the wonderful creatures that made up that part of nature because of the meaningful learning experience the instructor created for us. There is nothing like making learning a fun experience to help students remember what they learned even years after they learned it.
I'd love to hear some of your experiences dealing with Discovery Learning.
Discovery learning isn't just for kids, is it? One of my clearest recollections was some discovery learning during high school. I "discovered" that when you throw waste chemicals in a sink, it just might blow up on you!!! I love to answer my students questions of "Why did that happen?" with "Beats me, what do you think?". By the time they have heard me say that for two of their four years with me, they know I know why, but I want them to think about it and test their hypotheses. In other words, discover their own answer.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I love Science projects. The students get to explore and discover. In 2nd grade, we are not required to ask students for a Science project, but I make sure I always have a unit that concentrates on science experiments. They enjoy it so much!
ReplyDeleteMost of the discovery learning that gets done in the classroom, is usually through field trips. The school I used to work for took our students to Brownsville to Palo Alto Battlefield, or to the San Antonio Missions. In the classroom the only way to provide for discovery is usually through computers, since most districts do not have the money for manipulatives, and many schools are in the middle of the cities. Our science teacher was able to run experiments with the students, but in the classroom, we were only allowed to teach the content.
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