Rosie_0801 Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Hi Everyone. Due to a complete lack of interest and an impending child custody trial, I'm having trouble even brainstorming suitable topics, let alone choosing one so I can get on with it. Trial starts Friday and I don't know when it will be over, so I can't afford to spend time perusing journals to let an idea come to me. I am feeling pathetically desperate. And rather :zombiechase: In this task, you will be required to prepare an oral presentation on an issue that you identify and begin investigating in the weeks leading up to the due date. The issue you choose should be one that is topical and preferably hotly debated in your field of education and learning, and should be one that interests you, one that inspires and impassions you, or perhaps concerns or troubles you. Most importantly, it should be a contemporary issue in the field of education, the nature, dimensions and implications of which you feel motivated to investigate and enter into conversations about with others in the field. The issue you settle upon can relate to school, adult or higher education learning, both formal and informal, and can be viewed through a variety of lenses that may include local, national, regional or global perspectives. Any ideas? :wacko: I'm supposed to write 3000 words this time, then another 4000 about the same thing in October. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishes Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Year round schools Longer/shorter school days Single gender classrooms Homework in elementary grades 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 :grouphug: Just wanted to add green schools to the list of ideas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 (edited) home education I think you'd have a lot to say about that ;) online education Edited July 31, 2016 by regentrude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 home education I think you'd have a lot to say about that ;) Heh. I could manage 7000 words on that, but I don't think there's enough supporting journal articles and I'd be afraid of getting the marker offside. :huh: I don't know how out of the box these people can cope with. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 I'd love to explore the idea of a one room school house model as being effective, particularly for students with learning difficulties. That's probably not something I can knock off in three weeks around a court case though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 The obstacles that stand in the way of teachers, schools and educational policy as a whole changing their practices to reflect evidence-based best practice. Why does the educational institution cling to methods that have been repeatedly shown don't work while scoffing at ideas that study after study show to be effective? Wendy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 The obstacles that stand in the way of teachers, schools and educational policy as a whole changing their practices to reflect evidence-based best practice. Why does the educational institution cling to methods that have been repeatedly shown don't work while scoffing at ideas that study after study show to be effective? Wendy The 64 million dollar question… :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Some other ideas... - Mixed age classrooms (scaled down from one room schoolhouses) - The pluses and minuses of insisting on higher math studies for all students - Ways that students of various religions (or lack there of) are still subtly discriminated against by schools and...it might be hitting too close to home...but, - How grief effects learning Wendy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grover Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 modern / innovative learning environments, aka taking down the walls and teaching children in barns to fake teacher / student ratios 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 (edited) Early childhood development/cognitive development/higher order thinking skills, and academics vs. play (are academic preschools really good for childhood development. )'Definitely what fit me when I read your description. ;) Not sure if these are issues there: educational outcomes of standardized testing focused classrooms High % of remedial work required of high school graduates Technology driven classrooms (we have schools here where even Kers use an IPad all day. High schoolers use laptops or computers for instruction and teachers are more monitors, not teaching.). (Contrast that to studi s demonstrating students actually learn better and retain more from handwritten notes.) I could go on a long time ;) Edited July 31, 2016 by 8FillTheHeart 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 The obstacles that stand in the way of teachers, schools and educational policy as a whole changing their practices to reflect evidence-based best practice. Why does the educational institution cling to methods that have been repeatedly shown don't work while scoffing at ideas that study after study show to be effective? Wendy I want to see more essays and investigations into this! I'm so burnt out on reading about what works and what doesn't work. We know, we know, we know! I want to get a clearer picture of how we get from "The evidence shows..." to "Well, we're going to do the disproved methods anyway." I know some of the steps in there, but my mental flow chart has a few empty boxes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El... Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Movement throughout the day (bouncy-ball chairs - helpful, or menace to society?) Length of recess/outdoor play in the school day (I see that one on Facebook) Highschool start times - should teens to going to school later, because they are night owls? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Flipped learning in the included classroom..allow the one room school plan of learn at your level and pace, or go with no child gets ahead.what is just? Whats best for the student, the family, the teacher's union, society. Concrete opportunities to learn science concepts...worth the time and expense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Unschooling/autonomous learning vs. traditional pedagogy Factors in home life affecting academic outcomes Brain development in the first 5 years and how it affects academic outcome Brain research vs. traditional pedagogy teaching exclusively utilitarian skills vs. Classical Liberal Arts Education higher academic standards for teachers (like Finland's) vs. low academic standards in other countries (like the US) subject integration hands on, applied, experiential learning vs. theoretical, abstract book learning their own ethnic studies included throughout as a means to motivate students Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: as you face your court case. (I don't have any topics for you essay, but best wishes.) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Discuss how effective methods for reading and math do not get used in favor of things that are not evidence based like sight words and math focused on slog isms rather then understanding Dyscalculia and how little is done for it Addressing learning challenges How poverty effects achievement and methods that help Year round schooling Cutting out recess, science, history and art Comparing different countries educational methods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishes Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Year round schools Longer/shorter school days Single gender classrooms Homework in elementary grades Just wanted to add that I did a paper in grad school on year round schools and the data differed on whether or not it was done for capacity reasons (in states like Nevada and California where the population is booming) versus academic reasons. When it was done for capacity reasons there was very little gain, partially due to to craziness of the scheduling. There was less data on doing year round schools for academic reasons. Of course, this was seven years ago so that may have changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Cursive writing (benefits, should it be required?) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xahm Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Full inclusion vs tracking vs individualized ed for all. What is feasible in a real classroom setting, which groups benefit from or are hurt by different options? (For example, how to avoid ignoring kids at one end of the spectrum or the other, whether using gifted students as peer tutors is helpful to the gifted, what class size can allow for students to move at their own pace) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 My sister did a whole masters program paper (for graphic design of all things) on the death of cursive instruction. She came at it from the perspective of kids now not even being able to read all public uses of cursive for advertising/ brochures and how the graphic arts has to change design font. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingmama Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Hi Rosie. That would be an easy peasy one for me. Wish I got cool assignments like that rather then the 2500 words I just wrote on attachment theory🙄 Hot topic would be appropriate age to start school.." " I would intersperse with studies showing significance of play based learning..as in child initiated not teacher initiated. Start with Vgotskys theory of cognitive growth in children through play. Compare with overseas countries whos kids start later and do better. Add studies showing detrimental effects on kids who are pressured into learning before they are developmetally ready..eg. anxiety, conduct problems, Read the book "Free to Learn" which is awesome and interesting and talks about the Sudbury School method. Look online at Sudbury school method for inspiration lol www.sudval.org. Read heaps of journal articles about the value of play based learning ..the real kind..not the kind teachers design to make their class seem kid friendly and up with the times lol Hope that helps and sorry about the custody trial...they certainly suck. 😕 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingmama Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 I'd love to explore the idea of a one room school house model as being effective, particularly for students with learning difficulties. That's probably not something I can knock off in three weeks around a court case though. Check out the Sudbury school model for inspiration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 (edited) Given Seymour Papert's recent death, https://www.media.mit.edu/people/in-memory/papert. I would research and write about his assertion that to paraphrase "The child needs to program the computer, not the computer program the child" ETA https://tltl.stanford.edu/content/seymour-papert-s-legacy-thinking-about-learning-and-learning-about-thinking from Stanford's Graduate School of Education should give you a good place to start. ETA2: His constructionist theory is somewhat Vygotskian despite the fact he essentially did a Postdoc with Piaget in Geneva... lots of eduspeak jargon with a unique take on computer/online education... Also you can find youtube video's of him debating education theory with Paulo Friere... Lots of good stuff. Edited August 4, 2016 by raptor_dad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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