Active learning methods have some advantages when using them in the process of teaching and learning: long-term development of open, collaborative relationships, development of students’ ability to think critically, stimulating independent learning, taking students’ responsibility towards their own learning process, understanding the logic of arguments, synthesizing ideas from different sources, formation of reasoned opinions.
THE LEARNING FRAMEWORK
-evocation;
-making correlations with the previous lesson from the perspective of the new subjec;
-taking interest in the new issues to be addressed;
-REALIZING SENS;
-REFLECTION: fixation, consolidation of knowledge.
1. QUESTIONS
Critical thinking methods are based on the use of a wide range of questions that stimulate pupils’ participation in the discussion and determine solutions from various perspectives.
Not recommended:
-closed questions (yes or no);
-questions that direct the answer („not so …”);
-questions that require only memory.
TYPES OF QUESTIONS CREATING CRITICAL THESE:
-What happened? (students are helped to clarify their perspective on the problem);;
-Why did it happen? (students are helped to understand causes, effects);
-Why did they do so? (allows movement of the emphasis on looking for reasons, inner causes);
-Could it be otherwise? (it is encouraged that actions are actually the result of an election or are influenced by the fact that they have not chosen the best possible alternative);
-Can you do it too? (the idea of transposing the theory into practice is open).
-What would you do if you were in such a situation? What do you think that person felt? What would you have felt in such a situation? (allow observation of the extent to which students use empathy in certain situations, to what extent they can identify alternatives but also develop the emotional intelligence of students);
-Was it just / correct /? Was it wrong? Why? (allow the pursuit of the stages of moral development).
2. I KNOW/ I WANT TO KNOW/ I LEARN
Make a table with three columns on the blackboard, as follows:
I WANT TO KNOW THAT I TURNED
-Ask students to do the same, dividing the notebook sheet into three columns;
-Announce the topic and ask the students to say what they know about the subject. These ideas will be noted in the first column;
-Put into the second column the unknown elements, the ideas they have doubts about or that they would like to know about the topic;
-Discussing with students using complementary materials, acquiring knowledge about that subject, clarifying the unknowns or problems misunderstood. You can use teamwork to get new information;
-After the students have finished, talk about the new items they have acquired. Pass these ideas into column III;
-Ask students to compare:
-what they knew at first, what they learned;
-what they wanted to learn, what they learned;
-Then decide with the pupils if there are still issues that should be clarified and if so, clarify them.
3. THE GALLERY
-Students, in groups of 3 or 4, work on a problem – learning task – which can be materialized in a product – scheme, drawing, inventory of ideas – made on a sheet of paper;
-Group work products are exposed on the walls of the class, turning them into a real exhibition gallery;
-At the teacher’s signal, groups go on each product to examine and discuss the products proposed by colleagues. I can write comments and comment on the exhibited materials;
-After the „tour of the gallery” ends, the groups re-examine their own products. I read the comments of the other groups and, if necessary, discuss the comments and comments of their colleagues on their own product. Finally, he / she comments with the teacher on the outcome of the work.
ADVANTAGES OF USING THIS METHOD:
– direct interaction between pupils (in the initial group) and indirect interaction with other colleagues (through their work products);
– students are encouraged to express their own ideas and opinions, to discuss with others and to find solutions to the problems analyzed, weighing alternatives;
– cooperative learning develops students’ intellectual abilities (to think, understand, communicate effectively, be creative, etc.) to solve the problems they face.
The method can be used, for example, in the following topics:
– „Things that express us”, 3rd grade
– „The group we are part of”, 3rd class
– „Local Community”, fourth grade
4. VALIDITY LINE
– The teacher asks a question / raises a problem that admits more perspectives of approach;
– Students think independently of the proposed problem, outlining a certain position of the problem in question (pro, contra, undecided);
– The teacher asks students to have an imaginary ” value line „: at the end of the line there are those who have favorable opinions, at the other end there are pupils who have unfavorable opinions, undecided pupils can place in the middle of the” value line „. They can be convinced by a „camp” or another to join them. The students’ attitude towards the extremes of the „value line” expresses the intensity of their attitudes towards the topic in question. Students who manage to persuade the undecided prove their ability to support argues the position adopted and to cause them to change their attitude.
5. THE „CIORCHINE” TEACHING
– The teacher writes a word or a core sentence in the middle of the board, and the pupils in the Student-Student will propose words that come to mind about the issue being discussed – written in the middle – Words or Ideas products must relate to the word or sentence – the nucleus, established as the starting point, by drawing lines that highlight the connections between ideas. This method allows: – Better setting of ideas – Structuring of information – Facilitating the retention and understanding of information The crooks stimulate : – highlighting connections between ideas – making new ideas associations – revealing new meanings of ideas.