Chapter 3

Chapter three discussed a variety of topics that were interesting to me, including scaffolding, the importance of group learning, and the difference between knowing something and truly understanding it. Knowing that knowledge is not something that is simply verbally passed on from teacher to learner, but rather students must construct new knowledge for themselves. Constructivism is an important theory that I feel is necessary to incorporate into the classroom. I feel that students have more of a grasp on the new information they are trying to learn when they can connect it to their own prior knowledge and experiences. I really liked how they specifically pointed out the differences of knowing something and truly understanding it. The chapter does a nice job in demonstrating the different levels of understanding a child can have.

I feel that organization is a very helpful and necessary part of learning that children sometimes struggle with. It was good to emphasis the use of graphic organizers and concept maps for students. It allows them to have a visual aide to the new or existing knowledge they are trying to make connections about. I am a visual learner, so when I was a student I loved when a teacher used graphic organizers. It really helped me see and analyze the information in a way that I could not do by just discussing it.

According to Vygotsky, children learn at higher levels in cooperation with others than when they work alone. I have learned about this is previous classes, and intend to use it in my own classroom, especially in science. When experimenting and learning, I feel it is important for students to have feedback and discussion amongst each other, to see others opinions and viewpoints. It allows them to be self-reflecting, which is also important for students while learning.

In another part of the chapter, they discuss children's misconceptions when it comes to science, and they made a really good and important point that stood out to me: simply telling or threatening a child that they should change their viewpoint is not how you get past their misconceptions. Students need many opportunities to struggle and see the inconsistencies between their own ideas and scientific explanations, to make their own links between their ideas and scientific concepts.