Kids are curious by nature. When they are interested in something they will figure out how it works or where they can learn more about it. When I lecture from the front of the classroom I don’t see that interest. I see boredom and apathy. They’re resigned to being in the class because they feel they have to be. No matter how great my presentation or my amazing puns are, the learning isn’t relevant to them so they sit there tortured for 52 minutes.
I want to change what I see. I want my students to enjoy coming to class because they know they’ll be learning something relevant to them. Why not harness their natural curiosity to investigate questions and let them choose their learning path so the learning is meaningful to them?
To change my classroom, I need to be removed from the stage. Class isn’t about me, it’s about the students and the learning. I want the students to be introduced to topics with video, so they can use the information to determine their learning path for the day. Will they have a rigorous discussion over how trigonometric functions relate to the ocean tides they’re studying in their Astronomy class? Or will they decide that they need to see how those graphs actually get made in an interactive online game that allows them to watch the points fly off the unit circle and onto the graph? These are questions the students can answer to determine the path of their learning.
When students choose how they learn, not only are they engaged and interested in what they’re learning, they also develop the grit they need to be successful in life. I have prepared a video and proposal, backed by research, and developed a plan to implement my idea to use video to introduce topics to students at their own pace, so they can choose their learning path and make the learning meaningful to them. This site is devoted to my plan and its supporting materials.
Future reading to continue my research:
10 Strategies to Improve Teaching with Video. (2019, September 03). From https://www.frontlineeducation.com/solutions/professional-growth/resources/ten-strategies-to-improve-teaching-with-video/
Erwin, J. C. (2004). The classroom of choice: Giving students what they need and getting what you want. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Claro, S., Paunesku, D., & Dweck, C. S. (2016). Growth mindset tempers the effects of poverty on academic achievement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(31), 8664-8668. doi:10.1073/pnas.1608207113
Bostwick, K. C., Collie, R. J., Martin, A. J., & Durksen, T. L. (2017). Students’ Growth Mindsets, Goals, and Academic Outcomes in Mathematics. Zeitschrift Für Psychologie, 225(2), 107-116. doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000287
Sun, K. (2018). Brief Report: The Role of Mathematics Teaching in Fostering Student Growth Mindset, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education JRME, 49(3), 330-335.
Lai, K. (1993). Teachers as Facilitators in a Computer‐supported Learning Environment. Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 2(2), 127-137. doi:10.1080/0962029930020202
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