Learning Theory
Problem-based approach
“Problem-based approach allows students to solve realistic problems by reflecting
on best strategies and drawing on prior knowledge of effective approaches
used in other problem situations” Learning for all, p.23
I am committed to teaching according to a Problem-based approach. Always introducing my teaching sequences with a problem allows me to show the students that I am expecting them to think for themselves.
With this student-centered, active learning approach, students learn about a subject through the experience of solving an open-ended problem. Students learn both thinking strategies and domain knowledge. The goals are to help students develop flexible knowledge, effective problem solving skills, self-directed learning, effective collaboration skills and intrinsic motivation (Hmelo-Silver, Cindy E., Problem-Based Learning: What and How Do Students Learn?", Educational Psychology Review, 2004).
Big Ideas and Essential Questions
I think introducing teaching sequences with a problem / essential question gives the students the chance to consider the course as an ongoing process. It gives them the opportunity and time to think by pulling out content knowledge, making connections to other ideas and identifying different manifestations of the topic. Indeed, “a true idea doesn’t end thought, it activates it. It has the power to raise questions and generate learning” (What is a Big Idea? by Grant Wiggins). I often remind the student that I'm not looking for a written and formal answer, but I push them to question the issue in order to respond to it in a personal and original way. And the course must be designed to help them explore the subject area and big ideas through various assignments and references.
For example, to help students think and learn about shapes and forms in relation to Gradation in size, I could introduce the essential question “How are we contextualized to a work of art in relation to its size, its support and by extension its surrounding space to?”. And then suggest these assignments: “While drawing a person, an object or an environment, render the person either enormous or miniscule”; “Maximise the use of the work surface in order to give the viewer the impression of being enormous when facing the scale and size of the image” and finally the opposite as a team work : “Maximise the use of the work surface in order to give the viewer the impression of being minuscule when facing the scale and size of the image”. This would of course be accompanied by various references and the introduction and research of new vocabulary.
Spiral growth
The course that I am presenting here was designed for 10 year-old students. I think it effectively illustrates the three stages of spiral growth: engaging learners, providing opportunities for practice, and revisiting the concept.
The problem is: " In which way can objects, real or imagined, blend into a flat surface?".
First, we study the problem and the vocabulary, and we state the objectives of the sequence. In this way, with the first and seemingly very simple assignment, I engage the students.
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"Point no more" Without erasing or covering the point in the middle of your sheet, propose an original solution to make it disappear. The work should be performed meticulously with a black pen only.
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The second assignment is an opportunity for the students to practice:"Neither seen nor known " Make the distributed object invisible, without painting or covering it. Glue, blend in and camouflage the submitted object and create original solutions that make it disappear into your drawing. The work should be performed meticulously.
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Finally students can revisit the concepts studied and make them their own through a third assignment, which they must answer in groups: " Enter into the picture." If the assignment is voluntarily open, it suggests however that the students are to integrate themselves in a new visual proposal, adapting previously used tools or techniques.
