Reflections from the Forum: Day 1

Interesting thread between Brie, Janet and Edward on Multiple Choice questions and wheter or not they are consistent with Inquiry Based Instruction.

"couldn't rewording, only a little bit, really foster inquiry learning?  Example:

1) Pick the right answer [a, b, c, d] --> there is a single truth, not open-ended.
2) Pick the best answer to describe _____ situation [a, b, c, d] --> there is a truth for a specific situation and inquiry still exists.

...I think this is especially important to consider in education: meaning is subjective."

.................................Brie

"..... Instead it provides a brief story with supporting graph(s), illustration(s), chart(s), etc.  It then asks MC questions that require the testee to critically think with the presented facts.  ....  So the testee is required to discover/formulate the answer and this might be inquiry based, but that might be stretching it (well according to me).  :)"

................................Edward

"But if 1 is "correct" the assessment isn't that interested in the meaning ascribed by the student."

...............................Janet

"If our goal is to get people thinking, if we want to value thinking--not a set of regurgitated "right" answers--then why not just migrate to portfolio assessment?"

..............................Deb

"Deborah, you are soooo right......."

.............................Edward

A couple of reoccuring themes:

Can learning styles change over time?  So, then what influences a learning style?  Or am I just born this way?

"...I have changed over time."....Judith

Resistance to Kolb's Categories.

"Dont box me in" ...Joyce

"Labels, especially learning styles, do feel like closed boxes--especially by way of introduction to new people in a new group.....Clearly, I've got some issues wth learning style inventories---I'm going to read some more about Kolb." ....Deb

"I find characteristics that do and do not apply to me in each of the four styles.  That is not a cop-out, it is simply confirmation of who I am not being wanting to be 100% in any box." ...Geneva

"They don't seem that helpful for me in thinking about my students."  .....Jill

So what does resistance tell us?  What do we do when our students resist?  One the one hand, the resistance could be telling us something.  Perhaps the lesson isn't working or inappropriate.  On the other hand, learning is not about what is known and comfortable.  A little resistance could be a sign of a uncomfortable challenge that needs to be met. How do we know the difference?

In the end, many faced the resistance and found a way to use it to their purposes:

"...I'm a Diconmodasimtor" ....Joyce   "...I'm a Divconverger" ....Judith