Posts published in February, 2016

DQC Week 9

The Maker Movement has been growing in popularity in recent years. The wide ranging, nearly all encompassing nature of activities in the Maker Movement allow for a diverse group of participants. Makers are creators and builders, they use the materials around them to bring ideas to life. Activities in the Maker Movement might include building… Read more DQC Week 9

Week 8 discussion

As our group starts digging into the topic of parent engagement, one of our biggest question is about the awareness and knowledge that parents have about the impact that their actions have on their kids. The Crowley research paper highlights an action by parents that unintentionally contributes to a gender gap. I’m sure if you explained… Read more Week 8 discussion

Crowley- Girls and Science

I found this article to be incredibly interesting. Particularly because it brought me back to a video I viewed a couple of years ago: https://youtu.be/XP3cyRRAfX0. The lack of encouragement and development girls receive around STEM at a young age is incredibly disheartening. I think we are moving towards attempting to create tools to give girls access to… Read more Crowley- Girls and Science

Week 8

The Zimmerman piece was extremely interesting because it showed gave good guidelines for how ‘learning’ and ‘fun’ can be seamlessly integrated. It was interesting to note how science can informally be integrated in other activities a child engages in. I found the concept of place-based education to be very relevant. Something that I have heard… Read more Week 8

Week 8 Response

I love the idea of place-based mobile learning apps as presented by Zimmerman (2014) in theory. It’s a very natural use of new technologies, and a location-based approach is a logical but powerful way of helping users connect with learning in informal settings. Unfortunately, the actual images (particularly Figures 1 & 2) of the apps she describes are… Read more Week 8 Response

Week 8 Thu Ngo

As someone who loves video games and mmorpgs, the Steinkuehler reading was a very exciting and motivating read. The parallels it drew between players collaborating and contributing knowledge towards the scientific community contributing to “collective intelligence” is something that I never would have considered. This leads to me a few questions. The first is if this… Read more Week 8 Thu Ngo

Week 8: Constructivist Approach in Blikstein

In Blikstein’s study, the researcher discusses theoretical pillars for digital fabrication. One line in this section stood out to me in particular: “This chameleonesque adaptivity [of machines], which is embedded in technology, permits the acknowledgement and embracing of different learning styles and epistemologies, engendering aconvivial environment in which students can concretize their ideas and projects with… Read more Week 8: Constructivist Approach in Blikstein

Experiential Education

I found Zimmerman’s study of place based learning to be particularly interesting because it rests on a similar educational philosophy as that of Programs like Outward Bounds of SPOT. The motivating philosophy behind outdoor educational experiences is that, with the guidance of an expert, people may push themselves to adapt to often inclement or less… Read more Experiential Education

Week 8 Discussion

Constance Steinkuehler and Sean Duncan’s paper Scientific Habits of Mind in Virtual Worlds especially intrigued me because of the approach the authors took in analyzing a MMO that was not necessarily created for an educational purpose, but made a valid argument that it can be used to promote informal scientific literacy. I wonder how much of this socially… Read more Week 8 Discussion

Week 8: Informal Science Learning

This week’s readings looked at how scientific habits can be formed, fostered, and adapted. Crowley et al.’s look at parents’ explanations to their children featured specific, though “inconclusive,” evidence of its findings that parents explain scientific phenomena more to boys than to girls. Parents have go beyond simply bring their children to the museum, they… Read more Week 8: Informal Science Learning