Navigating Unfamiliar Seas or Learning through Inquiry Learning
Worshop Descriptions and Website Summary 2011
We cannot imagine what the world will look like in five years let alone in twenty when the students entering primary this year will be in college. This workshop aims to help students learn and practise the skills that they may need in a fun and engaging environment. Inquiry learning activities will give them the practice identifying problems, designing investigations and finding solutions that they will need to be capable students in the future. The particular type of inquiry learning problem addressed in this workshop is one known as a multiple solution problem or an ill-structured problem.
Upcoming Workshops
Association of Nova Scotia Science Teachers' Conference October 2011 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
1025 Learning to Navigate Unfamiliar Seas: Using Case Studies and Ill Structured Problems with Your Students (6-12)
Alan Dick, Teacher
How do we teach our students to be confident and capable independent problem solvers who can identify and solve real world problems? They will need to be able to face unfamiliar situations that will require answers not found in textbooks alone. This workshop will focus on the use of case studies and ill-structured problems as one way to give students the experience of working through novel problems, encouraging them to develop the self-reliance and the skills necessary to tackle the challenges they will face in the future. We will also examine how to foster greater student engagement and how best to provide ongoing support and guidance for our students while they are working through their investigations. Real examples from science classes will be used to illustrate the ideas and methods presented in this session. The workshop website may be found at http://navigatingunfamliarseas.weebly.com/
Provincial Social Studies Conference 2010
A11: Learning to Navigate Unfamiliar Seas
In the future, today’s students will be using technologies not currently invented to solve problems that we do not even know are problems. They will need to be ready to deal with novel situations that will require answers not found in a textbook. This workshop will focus on the use of simulations and ill-structured problems which allow students to learn and to practise the skills they will need for the 21st century. A variety of simulations will be presented as well as ways to employ these ill-structured problems in the classroom. (Applicable to all grade/subject levels
The presentation for the SSTA conference may be found below in PDF format.
| navigating_unfamiliar_seas_oct_2010.pdf |
New Material on the site and contact information
A PDF of the presentation given at the CAIS conference may be found on this page and on the Links and Workshops page. If it does not load or work for you please contact me at dalan.mail@gmail.com.
The onions and apples that you wrote for the workshop are listed on the blog.
You may contact me at dalan.mail@gmail.com if you would like copies of the articles used in the workshop or if you have any resources that you would like to share.
The onions and apples that you wrote for the workshop are listed on the blog.
You may contact me at dalan.mail@gmail.com if you would like copies of the articles used in the workshop or if you have any resources that you would like to share.
| cais_2010_teaching_students_the_skills_min_size.pdf |
CAIS Best Practices Conference 2010 Session A5 "Teaching students the skills necessary to solve the problems of the 21st century world"
- The main focus of this session will be an examination of the use of ill-structured problems and simulations in class as a way to promote the development of higher order thinking skills.
- We will look at finding information on the web as well as going beyond Wikipedia in conjunction with learning how to critically assess web based resources.
- There be a discussion about how to educate students about the hazards of multitasking while working on-line and a review of how one may teach students to present and summarize their conclusions.
Survey
Please take the nine question survey for this workshop so that the session may better reflect your interests and experience.
Simulations and Ill-Structured Problems
Simulations and ill-structured problems may used to help teach students the critical thinking skills and problem solving skills that they will need to be successful in the future.
Information and Media Literacy
- Learning about the hazards of multitasking.
- Going beyond Wikipedia and learning how to critically assess web based resources.
Presenting Ideas and Communication Skills
- Working with data and communicating understanding.
- Generating and presenting conclusions.
- Using visual representations and diagrams
