Session 3 of ICT

The third session of our ICT module brought us into contact with the art and science of teaching - in other words, pedagogy. Dr Quek said that defining pedagogy this way doesn't actually mean anything however, so we attempted to use more specific terms to come to grips with what that word actually means. For myself, pedagogy means the educational techniques and strategies used to make oneself an effective teacher, for example how to actually convey knowledge to our students and how to conduct a lesson effectively.

To this end, we were introduced to four methods of teaching, all of which can be used independent of one another or combined for greater effectiveness. They are case-based learning, inquiry-based learning, project-based learning and resource-based learning. I think all four of these methods are very effective means of teaching and used appropriately can really motivate students to grasp the lesson content thoroughly and even give both the teacher and the pupils fresh insights into what is being taught.

Take project-based learning for example. Back in my schooling days, project work as a component in the overall assessment of a student's grade had not been introduced. Lessons were conducted solely in class and basically all work was done individually. Thus many students did not do well as they were uninterested in the subject and had no incentive to perform well. However, if project work were to be introduced, this might have changed the mindset of these students. As they are now forced to work in a team, they have to play an active role in the group and contribute to the discussion at hand. They can no longer afford to "slack" and remain on the sidelines, waiting until the exams for reality to set in and to know that they have flunked. Furthermore, apart from the fact that students in groups will be motivated to work harder, discussing the project with their group mates will also brush up their knowledge of the subject and refresh their memory on what the teacher has taught. In this way, everybody can learn from one another and content reinforcement has been achieved.

Having said that, traditional teaching methods like memorization and rote learning still play an important role. These cannot be neglected in the rush to implement innovative teaching strategies. Another consideration is that these four methods are still in their infancy and not many teachers are well-versed in them. Take the teaching of geography using case-based learning for example. Using a standard geography textbook, how are we to decide which parts of the text are suitable to be used for case-based learning? How are we to actually convince our students to employ case studies to grasp the concepts of say, population dispersion and migration in human geography? All of these requires that teachers know which parts of the curriculum are suitable for creative teaching and which parts should be taught in the traditional manner. Hopefully, with the increasing liberalization of the Singapore education system and the on-going reforms taking place within it (ICT being one example), we will soon see more teachers able and eager to use these new teachniques of teaching to complement the traditional classroom lesson.

Session 2 of ICT

In last week's lesson, we learnt about self-directed and collaborative learning and how implementing these teaching strategies in the classroom can maximize our effectiveness as a teacher. We were also shown 2 videos showing us examples of these strategies "live" and in action.

I found all this to be an interesting take on what it means to be a teacher in the classroom: no longer are we confined to being just educators with the sole purpose of transmitting knowledge to our students, our roles can and should be much more than that. In the words of an old adage, "Teach a man how to fish and you teach him for a lifetime", encouraging our pupils to actually have a go at solving real life problems through group work and coordinating with others makes the lesson much more real to them and gives them a first hand knowledge of the problems that require them to exercise their thinking skills and put them to practical use. These fresh ways of making a lesson come alive will also greatly stimulate students' interest and make them more motivated to pay attention in class. Thus the collaborative efforts of the pupils in solving these problems will hopefully lead to the self-directed part of the lesson, where they actually without any "pushing" on the part of the teacher, go back and read up on the topic and take the initiative to find out more about the subject at hand.

After seeing the videos, I was very impressed by what the 2 schools featured had done to encourage the students to be independent thinkers and learners both inside and outside the classroom. Both the EAST programme and the astronauts' simulation were very well thought out and implemented, they taught the students how to communicate and work with others, how to bring their best skills and talents to the table to solve practical, real-life problems and how to work as a team, all of which are indispensable skills that are essential for our students to master in this rapidly changing and developing world.