Your Thoughts on the Articles

The following are quotes that I pulled from each of the three articles we read today. You can choose to respond to the quote from the article you read, or to any of the quotes that you'd like to comment on (whether you've had time to read the other articles or not). If you'd rather respond to something in the articles other than the quotes I pulled, that's fine as well. The emphasis in each quote is added by me.

From Structuring Learning Around Primary Concepts: The Quest for Essence

We are all responsible for our own learning. The teacher's responsibility is to create educational environments that permit students to assume the responsibility that is rightfully and naturally theirs. (p. 49)

From How Experts Differ from Novices

Expertise in a particular domain does not guarantee that one is good at helping others learn it. In fact, expertise can sometimes hurt teaching because many experts forget what is easy and what is difficult for students. Recognizing this fact, some groups who design educational materials pair content experts with "accomplished novices" whose area of expertise lies elsewhere: their task is to continually challenge the experts until the experts' ideas for instruction begin to make sense to them. (p. 6 of our copy of the article)

From The Design of Learning Environments

If teaching is conceived as constructing a bridge between the subject matter and the student, learner-centered teachers keep a constant eye on both ends of the bridge. The teachers attempt to get a sense of what students know and can do as well as their interests and passions - what each student knows, cares about, is able to do, and wants to do. (p. 3 of our copy of the article)

Tags:

• constructivism
• education_change