Finding out about the world: what I know about my heroes
Age group
8-10 years
Primary CMS area
3. Finding and accessing opportunities
Other CMS areas
4. Managing life and career
Unit Description
The unit deals with the development individual and group learning strategies through inquired based learning Individual and group activities focus on finding the link between challenges of the life environments and professions that face these ones. The Unit is based on collecting information and data with interviews, text, documents. Students also work on the different aspects and dimension of professions like activities, work place, etc. This unit focuses on inquiry-oriented learning. This includes critical thinking, problem solving, self-management and collaboration skills (Darling- Hammond, 2011; Halpern, 2003). Inquired-based work often includes tasks that require multiple students working together to achieve a team goal, such as a final report, integrated analyses or a joint presentation. In this case, collaborative problem solving is applied to a familiar context – school, community or neighbourhood – but it can be integrated into specific courses of study, such as the sciences, mathematics and history.
Activity 1. What I know about my world
Learning outcomes
Analysing the own life environments
Finding and analysing problems (Students experiment learning throughout life)
Identifying opportunities (Students cope with challenges and changes which take place in life)
Activity Name
What I know about my world
Description
First activity is dedicated to find challenges in the life environment of the students.
The work is developed in the following steps:
Introduction
- Introduction on the activity (20 minutes)
- Brainstorming on the challenges in the environment
- Identify a/some specific problem/s Execution first step
- analysis the problem identified (causes, effects, etc.) and context resources
- formulating hypotheses to collect information on the context
second step
- sharing collected data
- identify opportunities of the context to solve the problem
Closure
Presentation and discussion about the works of the student group
Learning materials
Bell, T.; Urhahne, D.; Schanze, S.; Ploetzner, R. (2010). “Collaborative inquiry learning: Models, tools, and challenges”. International Journal of Science Education. 3 (1): 349–377.
Roth, Wolff-Michael; Jornet, Alfredo (2013). “Toward a theory of experience”. Science Education. 98 (1): 106–26. What is Inquiry Based Learning (EBL)? Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning. University of Manchester. Retrieved October 2012
Timing
The activity lasts 2 hours:
- Introduction ½ hour
- Execution 2 hour (1 first step + 1 second step)
- Closure 1 hour
Role of the Teachers
The teacher participates in the activity and collaborates with the career educator. His/her role is to facilitate the engagement of students and their learning achievement. Teacher evaluate the activities and integrate them with curriculum and disciplines.
Methodology
collaborative inquiry learning
Students experiment learning throughout life
Students cope with challenges and changes which take place in life.
Observes students’ abilities and the learning achievement during each step of finding and analysing the problem, though a check-list
Activity 2. Who are the heroes of my world?
Learning outcomes
manage previous knowledge to systematize them (Students assess own information about work and professions)
Activity Name
Who are the heroes of my world?
Description
Introduction
– Explain activity to the working group
Execution
In this activity, the working group analyse the professions that face the challenges identified responding to the following questions:
- who takes care of this challenge?
- what activities do they do?
- where they work?
- why do they do it?
- how do you learn to do that job?
Closure
- Representing the knowledge possessed on the professions that face challenges through a drawing or a graphic
Learning materials
Bell, T.; Urhahne, D.; Schanze, S.; Ploetzner, R. (2010). “Collaborative inquiry learning: Models, tools, and challenges“. International Journal of Science Education. 3 (1): 349–377.
Roth, Wolff-Michael; Jornet, Alfredo (2013). “Toward a theory of experience”. Science Education. 98 (1): 106–26. What is Inquiry Based Learning (EBL)? Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning. University of Manchester. Retrieved October 2012
Timing
The activity lasts 2 hours:
- Introduction 15 minutes
- Execution 1 hour
- Closure 45 minutes
Role of the Teachers
The teacher participates in the activity and collaborates with the career educator. His/her role is to facilitate the engagement of students and their learning achievement. Teacher evaluate the activities and integrate them with curriculum and disciplines.
Methodology
collaborative learning
Observes students’ abilities and the learning achievement during each step of finding and analysing the problem, though a check-list
Activity 3. What I know about heroes of my world?
Learning outcomes
Collecting, organizing and processing of information and data
Activity Name
What I know about heroes of my world?
Description
Introduction
Explain activity to the working group
Execution
- Interview witnesses, experts, family members or others to gather general and specific information on the identified professions
- organizing and processing the information collected through a drawing or graphic
Closure
Compare the information collected with those previously held per finding the difference (activity 1)
Learning materials
Bell, T.; Urhahne, D.; Schanze, S.; Ploetzner, R. (2010). “Collaborative inquiry learning: Models, tools, and challenges“. International Journal of Science Education. 3 (1): 349–377.
Roth, Wolff-Michael; Jornet, Alfredo (2013). “Toward a theory of experience”. Science Education. 98 (1): 106–26. What is Inquiry Based Learning (EBL)? Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning. University of Manchester. Retrieved October 2012
Timing
The activity lasts 4 hours:
- Introduction 15 minutes
- Execution
- 1 hour to prepare collecting data
- 1 hour to organize data
- Closure 45 minutes
Role of the Teachers
The teacher participates in the activity and collaborates with the career educator. His/her role is to facilitate the engagement of students and their learning achievement. Teacher evaluate the activities and integrate them with curriculum and disciplines.
