Michael Archibald's blog

Learning is not always fun.  Although many of the things I remember through my educational experience were learned during interesting scientific labs or by watching cool scientific demonstratiClick here to read more »

Learning is a long an arduous process whereby the learner begins to understands different concepts that comprise an entire subject. Learning is being able to put together the different puzzle pieces of knowledge and attach them to one another. For example in science class you must be able to perform proper lab experiments accurately and then write about your research appropriately. Science like all other subjects has information that crosses into various other subjects such as English (how to write a lab paper), History (famous scientists and their discoveries), Math (calculating motion or density or volume), and many others subjects. As teachers it is imperative that we help students "connect the dots" and show them the relationship between all of the different subject matters out there.

Learning involves interesting facts and information that sticks out in your head. When you truly learn something you remember it for years to come. I also feel that if you truly learn something you should be able to vocalize and share your information with other individuals.Click here to read more »

I like the new theory we studied this week about cased based learning and how we draw upon past experiences to solve current problems. I feel that through experiences we have in our life we learn certain unique principles that we can later draw on to correct current situations.

For example I recall when I was a student in 7th grade and in my science class I recall how difficult it was to remember the different cell parts and functions. I remember the concept seemed very foreign and difficult to me until we had a little activity where we drew pictures that depicted each part of the cell as parts of a building. I remember the cell wall was the structure or walls of the building and the lysosomes were the trash cans for the building and so on and so forth.

Audience response system strategies have become more popular in higher education classrooms throughout the country over the last several years.  There is currently a high spirited debate on whether or not the use of these "clickers" or "response systems" can be used as a valid measure of assessment and help in the process of knowledge construction.  Some critics of audience response systems consider them to be a game similar to "Who Wants To Be A Millionare" where the classroom randomly guesses answers to questions rather than cognitevly processing the appropriate information.  Proponents of audience response systems believe that using "clickers" in class allows teachers the opportunity to be aware of student learning or confusion so that teachers can focus their learning practices on specific concepts that are hard for students to understand.  Specifically in this research paper I will also be focusingClick here to read more »