Please respond to the statement below:
All research shows that we learn by doing. That is, by applying what we have learned, in order to answer questions for example. This makes learners process the information and make their own sense of it. This is called ‘constructivism’.
Here are a few questions to consider:
Do you agree or disagree? What are the pros and cons? Can this be related to teaching math?
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21 comments:
I thought the silent learning was a VERY GOOD idea. It forced you to concentrate even more than just listening to a professor talk. I actually had to concentrate the whole time in order to understand, and let the math be the language that spoke. I had looked a little bit at the Mandelbrot Set in high school but never really understood it in depth. After looking into fractals more after class, it is a very interesting thing and i am more interested in how to make more objects using Seelogo and fractals. DO you think next class we could go over how to use Seelogo a little more?
I really enjoyed our silent class yesterday. It reminded me of the first day of class when you said that vocal communication is possibly the worst form of communication - and gave the example of the sun providing so many things and communicating so many things without saying a word. We were able to work through frustration as a class, patiently writing things down -- always showing, never telling.
The image of the Mandelbrot that Siobhan brought up with google was beautiful and inspiring - and learning a way in which we all can make a beautiful image like that one using math was wonderful. I watched the whole class eagerly looking at the screen, not sure if it was worth it to take notes, not sure of where this fractal business was headed -- and then the collective exhale of awe at what was created by repeating the equation in the computer - that mathematical snowflake. It was great.
I believe that silent learning is completely effective for many reasons. I believe in a mathematic approach to "learn by doing" is the best way possible. I believe that silent learning is an uncommon and underrated strategy that should be used more often in schools. I believe this is related to using knowledge gained through schooling towards everyday practices.
I was thrilled to participate in the silent class and the fact that Mr. Novak took part in it as well showed a real dedication to his craft. Although it was somewhat hard to follow at times, it did force me to try and figure out the "squished line theorm" by myself instead of wussing out and asking for the answer instead.
The fractals were very cool too. I loved the symmetry and the intricate designs which inspired me to hop online and search for certain patterns that mirrored what we did on Seelogo. Although this picture is not an actual fractal I still find it fascinating since the entire image mirrors itself, while still included curves, triangles and the infinity signs.
http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/uploads/symmetry.jpg
I had mixed feelings about our silent learning class. I was able to grasp the concept of fractals- what they were, what they looked like, but had trouble understanding the computer elements without verbal instruction. I did notice that the absence of speech forced me to use my other senses in order to understand. I was paying very close visual attention and I was also having an inner dialogue with myself as I worked through the problems and contemplated fractals. I would definitely be open to more silent learning in the future.
Silent learning was phenomenal. I felt proud to have started the class off on the right foot of fractals regarding the buddhabrot and mandlebrot set. I found the silence provided room for more critical thinking and required greater concentration inorder to full grasp precisely what Dani was getting at. I'd never learned so indepthly about fractals before and have never done any work with seelogo. The existence of this buddhabrot set harkens back to earlier lessons regarding the akashic records. Clearly there is some greater force existing in the universe that has determined this particularly equation will depict the commonly used image of a buddha. There is clearly a greater understanding out there that can all be related in a million different academic fields, math especially. I would genuinely enjoy another silent lesson.
The silent learning activity was a really interesting way to approach class on Wednesday. I have never been a part of an activity like that before. I was surprised that NOT talking made it easier to pay attention, because it was so much more important to keep focused to follow what was happening.
I think that fractals were a really cool lesson topic, but I was a little confused up until the end when Dani showed us what the completed picture looked like. All in all, Wednesday's class was a different experienece. :)
I thought that silent learning was and interesting idea, although I'm not sure how fully I agree with it's effectiveness. Yes, we all basically got the gist of what we were trying to learn, but I found it frustrating to not be able to simply ask a question when I was confused. Also, I feel that the explanation of what fractals are would have been made more clear with simply verbal explanation. The silent lesson was a little vague for my taste. Also, it was sometimes difficult to see what was being written on the board in terms of writing out instructions, and it would have just been easier to hear them. I'm not saying I would always prefer the "easy" way, but when it comes to complicated processes and/or instructions, I think some amount of verbal instruction is necessary.
I think that it is definitely true that we learn by putting an idea into practice we are forced to figure out how it applies to a 'real' situation and thus understand the relationship between idea and actuality. This is useful to us because it gives us a deeper understanding of the concept of a whole but their is a downside of this method and that is that if we use this method of learning for every lesson then we will have a deeper knowledge of those lessons but we will be able to cover less material so it is important to find a balance and seek efficiency as well as totality. The silent learning day made us focus more, I believe, not because it was a better method of learning per se but because we are not used to learning in that matter it forced us to pay attention more to be able to grasp what was going on. Also without allowing talking at all there is no danger of side conversations slipping in.
Silent listening was a very interesting experience and worked out well thanks to participation from the entire class. What I thought was interesting was the idea of communicating and LEARNING without spoken language. It really backed up teh idea that learning comes from experience and participation beacuse you had to pay attention. I also found it was a lot easier to remember much of the lesson. So much gets lost in translation when you are listening to someone and taking notes, but when everything is in front of your face it makes a huge difference.
I really hate to be, well, a hater, but I did not find the silent learning experience as fulfilling as I imagined it would be. While I think it was a good experiment, it is not something that really goes in line with my particular learning style. I am a combination visual and auditory learner. Silent learning DID indulge my love for diagrams and visual aids, but I found it hard to grasp the mechanics of our snowflake excercise until Dani actually explained it when we started talking again. I liked the open participation aspect of the class and I legitimately enjoy things that force me to open my mind about a particular subject, but this wasn't as helpful to me as I originally imagined that it would be.
Obviously I mean no disrespect or real negativity, I understand that sometimes in life you have to adapt to circumstances that are not what you consider ideal. I just wanted to express my honest opinion.
I agree With Christopher, it really made me concentrate more so than usual. At the beginning, i thought it was stupid and i that i would probably fall asleep. I didn't. I learned alot during the silent class. I feel like every class should have a silent day every month or week or so.
At first, I was skeptical about the silent learning activity. We as a class were all in high energy mode and I think it was a great way to focus our energy towrads math. It was so silent in the room that I could feel our attention all on Dani. I really liked the analogies he used about Math, saying that you cant just make music by reading the notes on the page, it is a process that is slowly refined. I remember learning about fractals a long time ago, and not having speech in the class made me try harder to recall from my memory bank what fractals are all about. I think it was a great activity that could be done more often.
Wednesday's class involving silent learning was a success. People absorb information through different channels of communication and it was interesting to try out a new one.
At first I was skeptical of the new form of learning. However, once the entire class seemed to get involved and interested, i found the experience to be very rewarding. Instead of trying to listen to an explanation of "squished theorems" i found myself concentrating harder to figure it out myself. The silent learning also allowed each student to take in the information in different ways, more helpful to their personal learning style. Many people are better visual learners and without the distraction of talking they were able to get a clearer understanding of the theorem.
However, it was difficult for me to understand how SeeLogo worked in creating fractals without an auditory explanation.
"Silent Learning is the most amazing thing EVER, I learned SO much"
Glad I got that compulsory suck up fest out of my system...
Ok, personally I found the silent learning very gimmicky. First off, how does this relate to Math and my understanding of it? Secondly, why would a professor attempt to use a communication method that hinders the understanding of his students? Instead of using the 50 minutes of class time in an effective manner, this little exercise spent 50 minutes to tackle maybe 10 minutes worth of information at best. There's a reason why humans utilize complex language and not grunt like animals. Verbal communication is probably the most efficient way possible, so why fix what isn't broken? I'm not trying to be a jerk here, I just can't honestly pretend I'm in awe of something just to get an "A" for the day...
I really really enjoyed our activity on Wednesday and found it to be a really effective way of learning. I find that in class when we are allowed to talk, i am tempted to talk to my neighbors about related topics to what is being shown to the class. I found that with this recent exercise, we all were more or less on the same page in the sense that we all were engrossed in the lesson and that we were more attentive. There was definitely a different vibe in the room. I've always been interested in pedagogy and different styles of instruction so this was an interesting class for me. I also would like to go into fractals more in depth and learn how to use Seelogo. I would also like to talk more about how fractals are present in nature.
I read your comments and it looks like some people thought silent learning was a good idea and some did not. Several people wrote That NOT using words made them put more efforts on trying to understand which is a GOOD thing. The mixed reactions prove what we know already; that there are different learning styles and different needs too. My personal thought about this lesson was that it was just a fun and spontaneous experiment and I look forward to creating other fun experiments with you.
I agree that learning by doing is Very Affective! I would say that the pros of this are that practicing something or trying something new can help you achieve better things, as well as teach you what not to do in the future. That is where the cons come in. A minor problem in learning by doing is if you make a HUGELY detrimental mistake, for example trying to hit lefty in a big baseball game when you only know how to hit right. More or less there is a time and place for learning by doing.
I feel like when words are left out, the class becomes more connected at some other level that is deeper and all the more meaningful. We pay closer attention. We gain a heightened sense of things. We respond to each other on a much more instinctual and therefore true level. There is no formalization or facade to be held up when language is taken away. It's just us, together, working for a common goal. It was an excercise I would be thrilled to repeat!
I learned a miraculous amount from our silent learning day. Not only about math and fractorals, but learning itself. There is a quote that I just found on the internet that I think best explains my feelings on verbal communication's importance in learning.
"Many attempts to communicate are nullified by talking too much." Robert Greeleaf.
I noticed that during this class of silence, I payed attention the entire time. This was obviously because if I did not I would get lost and not understand the concepts being explained. By controlling my natural tendency to lose myself in other thoughts, I wasted much less of class time.
Another concept that I learned from last weeks class was that
"Frustration is not bad, it is part of the process." -Dani Novak.
I thought this quote was honestly beautiful. Growing up in the 'mtv generation' we are used to microwaves, cell phones and programs that can teach you a language on the computer in a couple of days. Because of this instant satisfaction we have forgotten that hard work usually pays off. I am glad that I was reminded of this fact, because I often forget and get frustrated when I cannot do something right away. Not only do I look at math differently after that class, but my objectives and everyday tasks.
"Life is not easy, but it's definitely not impossible."
Alison Walter
i feel like everyone has already made good points about the silent class. i think it's a good idea because, just like closing your eyes allows you to hear things better, shutting off verbal communication allows you to see things better. i think i understand fractals and i'd like to try to draw one, although i guess they are infinitely getting smaller, so there would be limits, but still. when i was little i first noticed fractals in queen ann's lace, because you know, the flower is made up of many miniature flowers. The pattern only repeats twice, but it's the same idea. google 'queen ann's lace fractals' and you'll see what i mean.
anyway, silence is an interesting way to connect with the world. Silence is about taking things in rather than producing them, and it takes some amount of trust. I once heard that if you love someone, the best way to bond is to spend a whole day together without talking. They say the morning will be awkward, but by the evening you will have an intense perceptiveness and even intuition into each other's feelings and thoughts, and developed a new way of being around each other, and experiencing things together. I haven't tried it yet but it's on my list.
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