I love the strategy that was expressed by Dr. Orey on the Laureate DVD is week. He described how students should be put into groups to become experts on a topic. Then be separated and put into a different group to then teacher their peers the information learned. They then are the expert on that topic and must convey that knowledge to their peers and aid in their learning. I have found this to be an excellent method in my freshman science classes. The student’s besides attaining knowledge and socially interacting with their peers, learns how compile knowledge and present it. I use this in the beginning of the school year so the student’s get used to working with each other but also become familiar with the workings of my classroom and my expectations of a high school student.
I believe that this correlates directly with the principles of Social Learning Theories:
1. Defines how learning occurs in a social setting.
2. There is a cognitive capacity where rich networks are bridged
3. The Zone of Proximal Development is utilized and students are informed of the big picture (rigorous and relevant tasks) (Siemens, 2009.)
Reference:Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author
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Mrs. C
ReplyDeleteJigsaws are a wonderful way to teach concepts. Last year I used this approach while teaching my students about plot. I was actually being observed by my prinicipal when I did this lesson. I found that the students learning much more about plot by using the jigsaw than they would have by simply listening to me tell them about it.
Travis
Travis~
ReplyDeleteI had the same feeling about it when I used it. So much more engaged and they talk to people they would not normally talk to.
~Michele
Michele,
ReplyDeleteI also enjoy using the jigsaw strategy. I teach an inclusion classroom with 22 4th grade students. I find it works great with a wide variety of learners. It assigns an element of responsibility that regular lecture and group projects omit. I use this strategy as well as other collaborative problem based learning projects to foster independence, responsibility, and team work. It is interesting to hear how one strategy can work well with 4th graders and 9th graders. That is a great example of differentiation.