Folio Essay Example

The pedagogy approach adopted in this case is the inquiry learning directed by challenges, problems and questions which students work to achieving. The approach provides questions and problems to solve and how to arrive at solution. The students are assisted by the teachers to clarify the questions and the process which they have to follow in order to arrive at the solutions in what comes to be known as guided inquiry (So and Kim, 2009). At some stage, the students will generate questions and assume much of the responsibility in solving them. It is apparent that the benefits of this approach is that student engagement is very high considering that they are actively thinking and working to get results or solve some puzzle. This way students would develop as critical thinkers rather than gaining information the way it is presented. The problem with this approach is that it is constrained with classroom structures, student’s abilities, curriculum, effort and time to prepare for experiments. Internally, the students may have some anxiety over incorrect outcomes which might come out of an experiment, attitudes, beliefs and lack of knowledge (Songer et al., 2002). This is a huge positive concern as it puts education in some philosophical dilemma. It is disruptive to test-based standards and by extension, it is an industrialized system by itself. Under common parlance, test and essays are based on standardized terms and known knowledge rewarding the right answer. However, this approach rewards idiosyncratic solutions derived from exploration of a process whereby students practice evidence-based findings, creative design and thoughtful exchanges. In the process, they grow as people and not test-takers.

In any learning activity, the choice of instructive resources largely determines the decree to which learning outcomes. In order to achieve the unit outcomes, the instructor will use video clips. Videos have pedagogical benefits in that they facilitate problem-solving and thinking. Asensio (2002) established the connection between visual cues, the recall of new knowledge and the memory process. According to Moes and Young (2014), the creative challenge of using moving images and sounds to communicate a topic is engaging and insightful besides allowing students to engage with a wide range of transferable skills of research, collaboration, problem-solving, organizational skills and technology. The images enhances the visual perception of children. Without the educated seeing and critical looking which children develop with images, the children creative art’s production capabilities would be significantly retarded. The use of butcher’s paper makes the student accountable to one self while the use of musical instrument elements bring some reality to learning.

The units mainly uses self-assessment. This approach has can-do statements which clearly expresses what the students can do in simple terms and are very understandable making progress more understandable. It helps learners understand how they identify and learn based on their learning styles. This is very helpful in grasping vocabulary. Self-assessment helps educators individualize their lesson based on the goals and the students by giving the teachers the necessary information to choose activities (Fountas and Pinnell, 1996). However, it is not easy as teachers guide learners in intentional step-to-step processes so that they can learn how to asses learning styles. This includes peer-and teacher assessment and teacher modelling. The assessment do not have to be lengthy but the inclusion and frequency with instructions are major factors.

References

Asensio, M. (2002). Looking through three ‘I’s: The pedagogic use of streaming video.

Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (1996). Guided reading: Good first teaching for all children. Heinemann, 361 Hanover Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801-3912.

Moes, S., & Young, C. (2014). How to move beyond lecture capture: Pedagogy guide.

So, H. J., & Kim, B. (2009). Learning about problem based learning: Student teachers integrating technology, pedagogy and content knowledge. Australasian Journal of educational technology, 25(1), 101-116.

Songer, N. B., Lee, H. S., & Kam, R. (2002). Technology‐rich inquiry science in urban classrooms: What are the barriers to inquiry pedagogy?. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39(2), 128-150.