Problem: 6th graders grasping the concept of the Electromagnetic Spectrum and its wavelengths, when they cannot conceptualize the terminology.
A. (TP) The technology that I have selected (simulations and images from different camera types) allows me to bring the visual and experiential aspect of my lesson to students. It is hard for students to conceptualize the terminology that is being learned because they cannot see it. Technology allows me to provide a visual of how the different waves within the spectrum act. Seeing this will allow students to make the connections that couldn’t have been made before. It also allows me to bring an experiential learning experience, as students will be able to use infrared goggles. This tool will bring the interactive element and should help students use the terminology as a part of their experience.
B. (TC) The use of simulations when studying the different types of wavelengths in the Electromagnetic Spectrum will make the content readily accessible for students. As humans, we cannot physically see the waves. With simulations, a visual is provided that allows students to draw from. This makes the content more intellectually accessible because students do not have to form a mental image of the concept in their mind, while learning terminology, they have one provided that they can observe and note the differences in. They can then take that information and apply it to real-life scenarios. The use of images that have been taken with different cameras/satellites (therefore, capturing different wavelengths) also makes the content more accessible to students. It does so by providing how one image can look when all but one type of wavelength is filtered out. From this, students can create inferences and note how these wavelengths affect what is seen.
C. (PC) In dealing with students being caught up in terminology that they cannot conceptualize, bringing experiential and visual learning experiences will allow them to grasp the concept more holistically. I believe that when paired with these experiences, students will better understand the content because they have interacted with it. After the students have learned the terminology and have been able to apply and observe it in action, they will be able to conceptualize what those terms really mean; thus, broadening their understanding. I also plan to provide a kinesthetic experience where students will act like the different types of wavelengths. This will allow kinesthetic learners to pair the terminology with movements, relating the waves to paces of their own motions. By combining visual, experiential, and kinesthetic experiences together it allows a variety of learners to have access to the content and to constructively build their own knowledge in a way that best suits them.
What is exciting to me about this post is the fact that you are already starting to think about how you might integrate a wide array of pedagogies to accommodate a variety of learning styles. Your commitment to the use of multiple representations (visual, kinesthetic, etc.) positions your students to "see" the content in more than one way, and by doing so, is likely to equip them with a much more complete, sophisticated understanding of the concepts you are trying to teach.
ReplyDelete