Re: [ISTATALK-L] Thinking issues

[Kent Schielke <schielkesspp@xxxxxxxxx>]

Last winter I took a day to talk to the science teachers at one of the high schools to which many of our eighth graders feed.  As a group they told me that many of the students were great at memorizing facts but poor at critical thinking.  I think it would be a mistake for anyone to jump on the idea that this was "caused" by old fashioned "drill and kill" teaching methods.  Most of these students are coming from teachers who have been all taught to emphasize critical thinking and hands-on science.  So I think the source of the problem is different.

 

Many students now have short attention spans because other forms of activities provide continual and instant forms of feedback, excitement and entertainment.  Science classes can do that, sometimes, but certainly not all the time, nor should they.  But students are impatient and won't work it through without seeing a clear relevance to themselves or some kind of payoff.  I think many of my students are just not that curious about how or why things work the way they do.  They have to be faced with a question, issue or problem they really care about, OR a presentation that intrigues them (remember the "discrepant event?").  Either way, I share much of your problem.

 

The other important part of the issue you raise is the difficulty in getting students to see the importance of good quantitative data measurement and collection to good science , and the importance of taking the time to patiently analyze it and understand what the data means.  To me this is a hugely critical problem, because I think sloppy or impatient practices here spill over in students' later work, including those who actually get into science fields, resulting in bad science at higher levels.

 

Kent Schielke

Ss Peter and Paul School

Naperville

Eeva Burns <eevaburns@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I am working on narrowing down a research project topic and I wanted to get some feedback on a couple of things.

 

Do you see a problem with your students not wanting to have to "think" about their work?

 

Is it instantly "too hard" because there is some deciphering or pondering that needs to occur?

 

Are critical thinking and problem solving skills missing in the majority of your students?

 

Does this seem to be more of a problem in the middle school years as opposed to elementary school?

 

I have all of these issues with my students (8th grade) but I want to see if this is unique to my school (probably not) or if it is a global issue.  Any response will be appreciated.

 

Eeva Burns

8th Grade Science Teacher

Tavierne Middle School

Ingleside, IL

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