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Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Independent Inquiry Reflection
I'm counting down the hours until I am done with all of my MT requirements! This inquiry was the last of my assignments to finish, and at times I felt exhausted and ready to give up.
Reneeta and I decided to collaborate on our inquiry as much of what I was planning to include in my inquiry were things that she was also debating for hers. I think that by collaborating our ideas, we were able to produce something that I think ended up being more complete and in depth. It also helped to spark enthusiasm to finish everything up, as collaborating with another person is much more fun than trying to come up with words all on your own.
The content of our inquiry had me overwhelmed at times. Although I have been immersed as a student in an inquiry based program for the past two years, I still find it quite challenging to define the true meaning of inquiry. It is not something I was exposed to as a student – not in high school, and certainly not in my undergraduate degree. I remember the first few weeks of transitioning from a traditional lecture-style university semester to this strange concept of inquiry based learning. Confusion flooded my mind. How was I supposed to learn anything? Coming from a background where the teacher was the main source for delivering information, to a class where personal research guided what I learned was challenging. I did not know what information was required for the course, where I was to find this information, nor where to start looking for it. I had the impression that many of my colleagues felt the same frustration when we started this inquiry based program.
I wish I could tell you that I have developed a firm grasp on inquiry throughout the past two years and that I could provide you with an eloquent definition, but it wasn’t until my final semester in the Master of Teaching Program at the University of Calgary, that I have finally been able to shed some light on the true meaning of inquiry.
Throughout this course, I was able to not only gain understanding of the true meaning of inquiry, but also practice my skills in it. At times I felt frustrated with the inquiry part, other times, the technology had me panicking. But in the end, I think I will leave this University as a well trained educator in the field of inquiry.
I feel that by writing this inquiry, I was able to summarize everything that I had learned. The dimensions of inquiry and the IO designing inquiry parts were what helped me to understand what inquiry was. Therefore, sharing it in the inquiry was really important for me. By adding it to this inquiry, we were able to add our own voice and our own understanding of the material needed to create a good inquiry.
We did a lot of research for this inquiry, and in the end, I think we were able to produce a piece that integrated both our ideas and those of experts in the field. By adding our own voices, we were able to internalize and personalize the information set forth by the experts. In a sense, I feel that we have gained a lot of expertise in the field of inquiry throughout the design and creation of the inquiry projects this semester and thus we too have become experts in the field.
As far as media goes, Reneeta and I chose to do a website to display this inquiry. By creating a digital copy of our learning, I think it allows us to share what we have learned with a greater audience and also adds a nice piece to our professional portfolios. The hardest part about doing the website (besides the many hours we had spent learning the program throughout the semester) was making sure that we were using the technology to enhance our project, and not just as a method for publishing our paper. Although we were able to include videos, links, and documents into our inquiry site, I wish that we could have integrated the use of technology in a more elegant manner. I honestly think that we did the best we could with our time, and if we had put more thought into it, we could have created something even more elegant to add to our inquiry. Overall, I am quite pleased with with the final product, and know that I have done everything I could to create something I am truly proud of.
Reneeta and I decided to collaborate on our inquiry as much of what I was planning to include in my inquiry were things that she was also debating for hers. I think that by collaborating our ideas, we were able to produce something that I think ended up being more complete and in depth. It also helped to spark enthusiasm to finish everything up, as collaborating with another person is much more fun than trying to come up with words all on your own.
The content of our inquiry had me overwhelmed at times. Although I have been immersed as a student in an inquiry based program for the past two years, I still find it quite challenging to define the true meaning of inquiry. It is not something I was exposed to as a student – not in high school, and certainly not in my undergraduate degree. I remember the first few weeks of transitioning from a traditional lecture-style university semester to this strange concept of inquiry based learning. Confusion flooded my mind. How was I supposed to learn anything? Coming from a background where the teacher was the main source for delivering information, to a class where personal research guided what I learned was challenging. I did not know what information was required for the course, where I was to find this information, nor where to start looking for it. I had the impression that many of my colleagues felt the same frustration when we started this inquiry based program.
I wish I could tell you that I have developed a firm grasp on inquiry throughout the past two years and that I could provide you with an eloquent definition, but it wasn’t until my final semester in the Master of Teaching Program at the University of Calgary, that I have finally been able to shed some light on the true meaning of inquiry.
Throughout this course, I was able to not only gain understanding of the true meaning of inquiry, but also practice my skills in it. At times I felt frustrated with the inquiry part, other times, the technology had me panicking. But in the end, I think I will leave this University as a well trained educator in the field of inquiry.
I feel that by writing this inquiry, I was able to summarize everything that I had learned. The dimensions of inquiry and the IO designing inquiry parts were what helped me to understand what inquiry was. Therefore, sharing it in the inquiry was really important for me. By adding it to this inquiry, we were able to add our own voice and our own understanding of the material needed to create a good inquiry.
We did a lot of research for this inquiry, and in the end, I think we were able to produce a piece that integrated both our ideas and those of experts in the field. By adding our own voices, we were able to internalize and personalize the information set forth by the experts. In a sense, I feel that we have gained a lot of expertise in the field of inquiry throughout the design and creation of the inquiry projects this semester and thus we too have become experts in the field.
As far as media goes, Reneeta and I chose to do a website to display this inquiry. By creating a digital copy of our learning, I think it allows us to share what we have learned with a greater audience and also adds a nice piece to our professional portfolios. The hardest part about doing the website (besides the many hours we had spent learning the program throughout the semester) was making sure that we were using the technology to enhance our project, and not just as a method for publishing our paper. Although we were able to include videos, links, and documents into our inquiry site, I wish that we could have integrated the use of technology in a more elegant manner. I honestly think that we did the best we could with our time, and if we had put more thought into it, we could have created something even more elegant to add to our inquiry. Overall, I am quite pleased with with the final product, and know that I have done everything I could to create something I am truly proud of.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Integrated Unit Reflection
I am so glad the integrated unit is done!
What a relief!
I had fun creating it, but the work that went into it was overwhelming. Besides coming up with a creative idea for the unit, making sure to include all the necessary components of a good inquiry was challenging! Not only did we have to worry about engagement, we had to struggle to create meaningful tasks amids the abstract curriculum of Pure Math 30.
Coming up with a solid idea was the most challenging. We had to return to the drawing board quite a few times throughout the process. The most common challenge we faced was "Are we using technology effectively, or are we just putting it in because we feel like it?" We had to stop and re-evaluate this step quite often. We also had to ensure that we didn't complicate things too much. Two different creative math teachers. Two different teaching styles. Two different visions. Combining the ideas coherently was at times challenging. Both Reneeta and I were often left playing the role of Devil's Advocate to ensure that we were able to bring our visions to life.
The most important thing I learned through doing this integrated unit was the constant need to step away from the project, reflect on what you have created so far and critically evaluate your process. The Galileo inquiry rubric was great for this. I feel there are still some areas where we could improve the project given more time and a test audience. I would like to create a final task with more of a "Real world' connection, and somehow bring in experts to talk to the students.... Realistically, I'm not sure how I would do that though. The subject matter that we chose to deal with makes it a little bit more tricky.
Our focus was on allowing students to explore the subject matter through as many venues as possible. They got to see the mathematical explanations in the interactive lessons, practice the mathematical application in the investigative assignments, and show off their conceptual knowledge with the creative scrapbook tasks.
It was fun creating the project... but it took a lot of work. I chose to create the website for this task... which presented a whole new challenge in itself. At times I was frustrated with the technology, at times I wanted to give up, but looking at the final product, I am proud to say that I was able to bring (part of) my vision to life. If I could, I would have created animations and mini-clips to support each station and incorporate the theme of Amazing race more.... But my technological knowledge is just not there yet. I think we did fine with what we had to work with. I am very proud of this production.
What a relief!
I had fun creating it, but the work that went into it was overwhelming. Besides coming up with a creative idea for the unit, making sure to include all the necessary components of a good inquiry was challenging! Not only did we have to worry about engagement, we had to struggle to create meaningful tasks amids the abstract curriculum of Pure Math 30.
Coming up with a solid idea was the most challenging. We had to return to the drawing board quite a few times throughout the process. The most common challenge we faced was "Are we using technology effectively, or are we just putting it in because we feel like it?" We had to stop and re-evaluate this step quite often. We also had to ensure that we didn't complicate things too much. Two different creative math teachers. Two different teaching styles. Two different visions. Combining the ideas coherently was at times challenging. Both Reneeta and I were often left playing the role of Devil's Advocate to ensure that we were able to bring our visions to life.
The most important thing I learned through doing this integrated unit was the constant need to step away from the project, reflect on what you have created so far and critically evaluate your process. The Galileo inquiry rubric was great for this. I feel there are still some areas where we could improve the project given more time and a test audience. I would like to create a final task with more of a "Real world' connection, and somehow bring in experts to talk to the students.... Realistically, I'm not sure how I would do that though. The subject matter that we chose to deal with makes it a little bit more tricky.
Our focus was on allowing students to explore the subject matter through as many venues as possible. They got to see the mathematical explanations in the interactive lessons, practice the mathematical application in the investigative assignments, and show off their conceptual knowledge with the creative scrapbook tasks.
It was fun creating the project... but it took a lot of work. I chose to create the website for this task... which presented a whole new challenge in itself. At times I was frustrated with the technology, at times I wanted to give up, but looking at the final product, I am proud to say that I was able to bring (part of) my vision to life. If I could, I would have created animations and mini-clips to support each station and incorporate the theme of Amazing race more.... But my technological knowledge is just not there yet. I think we did fine with what we had to work with. I am very proud of this production.
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