Woops for some reason I though I had section 4.
This chapter dealt with the idea that understanding abstraction, is hard for students. The first example they gave, is of a student not knowing what to do with a certain math problem, they were trying to figure out a geometry problem dealing with the area of a tabletop. Which with the help or prodding of the teacher the student figured it out but when it came to doing the same for a soccer field, they struggled once again, why?
Is it because we don't have the background experience that enables us to relate in concrete thoughts to the problems we are presented? I get confused on the difference of thinking and knowing because of what we have been exposed to. Do we always have to have something from past experiences to relate to so we can think.
The use of the measurement scales to express what is concrete and what is abstract, definitely even seemed abstract to me.
On page 92 - it says "Every new idea must build on ideas that the student already knows".
How do we do this if we don't have the background knowledge? The chapter also says that memory is the key to being successful, as memory is built on experiences and background information.
On page 97 it goes on to talk about "why doesn't knowledge transfer". The paragraph points out that we may have the same problem but see it in a different way do to experiences of our past and the background information we have built up over the years.
I like the statement on p. 102 - "to help student comprehension, provide examples and ask students to compare them" I think as teachers this is one of the best ways to get our students to understand the material is relate it to past experiences that they may have had so they can relate to them.
Chapter 5 - explains about drilling is it good or bad - being an ex military man, I find that drilling has its place in certain situations. Math - learning the facts would be a good one as "repetition / repetition" worked well for me in learning my multiplication tables etc; The thought in this chapter stresses extended practice which builds that background once again.
The whole concept or point of the past pages is that one needs to develop background information so the thinking process becomes automatic.
On page 102 it states …“it’s hard to understand stuff, and when at last we do, it won’t transfer to new situations…..if understanding was easy for students, teaching would be easy for you!” It kind of sums it up, we need to keep practicing and relating the new to the old. We need to challenge students to think. We need to be sure that how we teach reflects the high expectation we hold for our students. “Deep knowledge is hard-won and is the product of much practice.”(p.103)
ReplyDeleteI am personally a fan of practice since I teach math. “…the processes that need to become automatic are probably the building blocks of skills that will provide the most benefit if they are automatized. Building blocks are the things one does again and again in a subject area, and they are the prerequisites for more advanced work.” (p. 124) this is very obvious in math when students spend their time trying to count on their finger or check their times table. When the basics aren’t there, how can we expect them to learn the deep structure? Solution? Practice, practice, and more practice.
"The whole concept or point of the past pages is that one needs to develop background information so the thinking process becomes automatic"...I agree.