Using Real World Problems To Engage Students
The
writer is Head of School, Mount Litera School International, Mumbai.
When
I first meet parents who are looking for admission, I always ask them, “How
many of you remember what you were taught in Class 9 or 11?” To date, no one
has said they remember. I think this is a problem. Many of them do remember
Class 10 and 12, why? As students, they were engaged in learning because of the
high stakes involved in exams. They didn’t care about what they learned during
their other years in school, because there was nothing to engage them.
But
what if students were engaged in their own learning every year and in every
subject? It stands to reason that their learning would be better. The question
is how to get them engaged. Over the past decade, there have been several
studies, which show that students who are engaged in learning by using real
world problems, do better on exams and in college. What it boils down to is
that teachers present problems or challenges to students and guide them to find
solutions. Who doesn’t love a challenge or puzzle?
Solving
problems doesn’t have to take place just in the classroom, parents can do it
home. When your child says that she/he is bored, think up a challenge for them
to solve. Let’s say your child has been learning about area/perimeter in
school, an easy way to keep he/she engaged and reinforce what has been taught
at school is to pose a simple challenge. “I’m thinking about painting the
bedrooms, but I need to figure out how much paint we will need. Can you suggest
how I can do that?” They may need you to ask other questions to lead them to
the answer, but eventually they will figure out that they need to find the area
of the room. Then let them go on their own, they will measure and do the math
to figure it out. It’s up to you if you want to paint afterwards, or just give
a treat as a reward.
Of
course, in schools we can do deeper projects that involve group work as well.
One of my favourites is to tell the students that we are getting a grant of Rs
50 crores to build a fun park outside Mumbai and they need to plan how they
would spend the money and what type of rides. At the end of the project, after
about three weeks, all groups have to make a presentation.
The
whole point of these exercises is for students to be engaged in using their
learning, not just memorising a formula to find out the area of room. By seeing
that their learning has practical uses, students are more likely to remember
and make use of it. So instead of sending your kids to tuition classes think of
problems that they can solve and then they can actually use what they have
learned.
Source | Daily News Analysis | 4 May 2017
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @
Knowledge Repository
Khaitan
& Co
Upcoming Event | MANLIBNET 17th
Annual International Conference on 15-16 September 2017 at Jaipuria, Noida,
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