W05 journal

ENGAGE: 

• Could it really be as simple as applying this visual approach?

I think this visual approach can be extremely helpful to all students. The value in making math seem less complicated through the use of visuals and the software program presented is valuable and clearly has great results. I do think that language has to be incorporated at some point. The speaker discusses that students get so excited about the concepts they are learning that they begin to talk about math more, which is a great starting point. However, students will eventually encounter written things and will continue to do so all their life. We need to have a balance and make sure that students do not reach a block when they are presented with such a scenario. 

EXPLORE:

·        How does this perspective (e.g., con

ceptual change, situated learning, etc.) recognize, view and describe this element of a STEM learning environment (i.e. learner-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, community)?

·        For each of these elements, what inferences can you make about the kinds of classroom activities that would be deemed appropriate?

·        For each of these elements, what inferences can you make about the nature of the classroom discourse that would be deemed appropriate?

·        For each of these elements, what inferences can you make about the classroom use of technology that would be deemed appropriate?

		Perspectives on STEM Learning
		Conceptual Change	Situated Learning	Social Constructivist	Models & Modeling
Essential Components of a STEM Learning Environment	Learner-Centered Environment	I gather that activities revolve around the learner, the learners explore though activities to further understand information. Students are describing their knowledge and how they arrived at this knowledge. The teachers take what they hear from the students and base the course of their lessons on that information.	The teacher is modeling, assists, coaches and scaffolds. While the teacher is involved, the students, or apprentice is working side by side, first observing but then slowly taking over the doing. Their learning grows in the process. Students rely on each other more than the teacher, especially after the school year has “set” into place.	Teachers create a social system in which students assist one another and the teacher assists the students. Groups of students plan stages of an activity and bring back information to the whole group so all learners are involved. Discussions involve an exchange of ideas, even when students disagree. These disagreements are addressed by the teacher in the sense that they are rerouting these disagreements into a question than gets the students to think further.	Students would engage in activities in which they are creating some sort of model. They are either making sense of a concept using a model or starting with a model and then arriving at knowledge through their exploration of the model. Students learn about a concept through asking each other questions and keeping each other accountable for their knowledge.
	Knowledge-Centered Environment	Students are asked why they say or represent certain things, where the knowledge comes from. Finding out where the knowledge comes from is important. Technology can be used in order t verify information. Students are discussing ideas based on their previous knowledge of concepts. Students are representing ideas in their heads in either a 2d or 3d model. Students need to find ideas believable and why one idea makes more sense than another and can expand their knowledge with new ideas.	Students working in groups have discussion about their knowledge. Students are bouncing ideas off their own groups. The jigsaw exampled there was shared ownership among the students – they all work together to form the entire “piece” that they are trying to gain. Activities are centered on the students’ knowledge and the sharing of that knowledge. Because the students produce knowledge in a way they feel they “own” it and really makes them feel invested in their knowledge.	Students talk about things that they know, but they also discuss what they want to know. The teacher focuses the activity or project based on the questions the students have about a topic.	Students participate in activities in which they are constantly bouncing ideas of each other. The models that they are creating and interacting with are allowing them to expand their knowledge. The students talk about what they have learned and what they would like to learn as a group and keep  each other engaged and on track.
	Assessment-Centered Environment	It is not quite so assessment centered, it is more based on the discussion students have. The teacher listens to students’ conversation and how they are relating their ideas to accepted knowledge and using it to expand on a problem.	This seems to focus on moving students toward a point in which they went from needing teacher support to being able to complete tasks, explorations and assignments on their own. Assessment probably involves an open ended problem after students have gotten to the point where they are thinking and expanding on ideas on their own.	It seems as if this approach is based on community cooperations and discussions in order to allow ideas to flow. The students progress through an activity or round table discussion. Assessments can take place through teacher observation in these projects and the final outcome of these types of activites.
	Community	Students work in groups, both whole class and small groups to discuss their knowledge on an idea. The students address each other’s ideas and build off each other’s ideas.	Activities involved include jigsaw learning in which each student or group of students study one section or problem and then present it to their peers. The students are learning from each other.	Again, the community is formed though a “circle of assistance”. Students assist each other and the teacher assists the students when needed. Students work as a community because they help each other through their learning. When one group discovers something they share it with the community	The community aspect is involved in how the students are asking questions. The students begin to gain a sense of what is and isn’t a good question. They talk about questions that have come up as they explore and other students give them feedback or remind them they are getting of track. The students are working as a community to learn

EXTEND:

• What is your reaction to Conrad Wolfram's ideas?

I understand Mr. Wolfram's ideas- I think that his points are very good. I like his ideas of showing how calculus can really be taught to younger children if it were not for the difficult calculations involved. I am not one hundred percent sure how I feel about it, having always been taught how to perform calculations. I can't help but feel that they are important, even though Mr. Wolfram explains that may not necessarily be so. I do think that we could move toward that type of education, but it is currently being in a sense thwarted by what is expected in our school systems. If we do not teach calculations we will be viewed as not following curriculum and our students will nto show proficiency in what is expected. We need to convince the right people that this change is worth it so that everyone can be on the same ship  and then hopefully get our students to understand and interact with math without feeling the burden of calculations