The
goal-based, anchored instruction and Star Legacy models all seem to be
variations on the problem-based learning environments. They seek to place the
students in a real world situation in which they use their extant knowledge and
developing problem-solving skills to work their way through realistically
situated challenges or problems in order to gain concrete experience within a
field so as to create lasting memories and understanding within a particular
subject.
The
MOST model was the most different from the rest. It had a cross-curriculum
literacy aspect that I really appreciated. It focused on building literacy
(reading, comprehension, listening, writing, computing, etc) skills, rather
than problem-solving skills. I like that this method does not assume that
students have already mastered enough literacy to be able to jump into
problem-solving situations well equipped.
My
problem with many of these "real world problem solving" models is
that they are pretty easy to adapt to science and math curricula, but often
seem harder to adapt for language arts and social studies.
The
advantage of the Star Legacy model is that it gives a fairly explicit method
and timeline for the process, which is circular and repetitive, allowing
students to work through the secondary problems that naturally develop as you
solve an initial problem in real world scenarios. This seems like one of the
most realistic methods, but possibly one that is harder to adapt particular
kinds of material to.
The
MOST method was very interesting to me, as I am teaching students that have
literacy problems and in the 9th grade struggle with social studies vocabulary
and basic writing skills. It has been estimated that the students I teach in
classes probably left primary school with a two year knowledge/skill deficit,
which has continued to grow as they aged. Using the information coming from the
studies on MOST, I can find ways of enhancing or supplementing the reading
materials with multimedia that help students to gain a better understanding and
comprehension of texts by supplementing the contexts in which information is
presented. I would definitely consider using aspects of this method in my
classroom.
If
the project goes well, I plan on using the goal-based scenario project we
create in this class in my classroom, so hopefully I will be trying it in my
classroom within a few weeks. I think using it as a way of incorporating
writing instruction and social studies content could be effective in some of my
classrooms.
Students
could use google drive to collaborate, brainstorm and edit materials and ideas
for the problem-solving aspects. I think voicethread could be a great piece of
multimedia for the MOST method, because teachers can create their own
multimedia to support text visually and auditorily. I would also probably
consider using Audacity to create audio versions of texts to help support
readers struggling with literacy.
