Information Processing Family

Project-Based Learning

• students work on a project for an extended amount of time, learning through hands-on experience
• Inquiry is key for learning
• collaboration amongst students help them learn and also teach one another
• ask questions, make predictions, gather and utilize data, and draw conclusions

Example of Project-Based learning

• an example for an elementary/middle school level science would be to create a garden
• students would learn the best strategies to plant the seeds, nurture them, and ultimately harvest the fruits/vegetables they grew

Inquiry Learning

• form of learning that initiates curiosity in students, asking them what they want to know or think they will be learning
• 5 E's: engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, evaluation
• students actively participate in the learning process
• teacher modeling, facilitating with more of a "hands-off" approach, less direct instruction

Example of Inquiry Learning

• building off the previous example, students can discover the best ways to help nurture plants to go
• they can conduct an experiment using the scientific method, and have a hypothesis, different experiments, and draw conclusions
• students use higher level thinking, analysis, and problem solving.

Socratic Dialogue

• students take on roles to either agree or disagree with a topic
• the goal is to formulate a discussion to have all sides come to an agreement
• teacher works as a facilitator of discussion, by asking students to clarify and elaborate
• students use research and artifacts to help persuade the others in the group

Example of Socratic dialogue

• further expanding on the previous example, regarding a garden, students could adopt the roles of a scientist, gardener, and home taught plant enthusiast/amateur garderner
• students would present research form their specific fields of expertise.
• the students would discuss the best ways to maintain a garden in their backyard, and work together as the teacher facilitated question asking and clarification