Session 3.. er 4 and 5 as well?

Alright, I have to confess that I've not been the most concientious student around. (sorry cher!) My ICT blog has apparently collected 3weeks of dust and cobwebs.. So here I am into my 5th week, desperately trying to recall what had been done and of course, my reflections.

Session 3- Various Pedagogies

As a student, I've experienced various teaching methods employed by teachers, some fun, mostly boring ones. And of course, the most 'memorable' ones are usually those implemented in the form of project works- role-play, fieldwork, concept-maps (in those days we know them as mindmaps), collaborative research work, powerpoint presentation.. yadda yadda.. As engaging as they are, I do hate them to a certain extent. Simply for the reason, there's just TOO MUCH work to be done! And it doesn't help that teachers seem to be in the craze of projectworks all AT THE SAME TIME! Right, probably it's the way learning can best take place, it is after all based upon sound pedagogies.

However, I feel that more time and attention can be placed on the process of learning, rather that the final product. Most of the time, teachers simply drop a bombshell on students by expecting them to submit a particular project by a given deadline. Yep, some form of scaffolding may be given in the form of instructions, expectations, guidelines.. and that's about it. The students are usually left on their own to self-organize and get their work done. From my experience, students would usually dismiss it till about a week before the deadline where they find themselves in a madrush of time to meetup, discuss and produce the work somehow, anyhow. Usually, 70% of the workload will fall on the shoulders of the more 'motivated' students, simply because they have decided to take the lead in getting the group moving. But I can't help but wonder how much learning have actually taken place? As much as students were more engaged than before, I feel that perhaps they have missed the entire point of the projectwork.

Having the various pedagogies is good, but the full benefits will not be reaped unless they can be executed effectively with the right objectives. Most importantly, students must be made aware of the relevance of the task and the associated learning outcomes. More attention should be spent on monitoring the progress of the students, facilitating their learning process and making sure that some form of internalization has taken place. Most importantly, students should be enjoying the process of learning rather than finding themselves burdened by the increased workload, or worst to even develop a dislike for the lesson.

Alright.. I shall continue my reflection 4 & 5 till the next post!