Take a few moments to answer the questions below by clicking on the plus sign. There are multiple choice, multi-answer multiple choice, and ‘thinking/reflective questions for which you jot down a few notes then check them against the considerations offered. This is self-graded. When completed post your results in the Drop Box on Canvas along with a reflective self-evaluative statement.
True or false, To an engineer in the classical sense, there is no such thing as a 'bad' outcome.
| Recall this quote: Consider these thoughts "experiments are merely fact-finding missions that, over time, inch scientists toward greater understanding" |
The study of museum learning is relatively new but has gone through revolutionary changes in the past 20 years
| Museums have been studied since the turn of the century. | |
| Museum learning has been around since the turn of the century. Most folks studying museum learning are dealing with the same issues since 1993. |
Which of the following is true as it relates to selecting an instructional delivery methodology?
Note that there may be more than one correct response.
| Not sure how relevant this is. A good instructional designer will become knowledgeable of the intended student population | |
| There is a time and place for every type of instruction, including lectures/direct instruction | |
If no specific feedback is offered it may be because you have not selected all the
possible correct responses
Thinking question #1: Think about this following and jot down a few notes then compare your ideas to those offered:
Why do you think we were asking you to describe what a quadratic equation is?
Compare your response to these ideas:
- If you informally survey several math teachers, chances are they do not know how it is used in real life
- Most responses you find describe the math behind it rather than its application
- Knowing how it is used is fairly representative of the difference between how a mathematician and an engineer thinks about things.
- It is a lot more used in daily life than we all give it credit.
- Simply put it, differs from a linear equation simply because it can have more than one variable
Thinking question #2: Think about this following and jot down a few notes then compare your ideas to those offered:
Why do you think the Peter Stack article on STEM was provided as a reading assignment
Compare your response to these ideas:
- There exists an alternative view on whether a STEM crisis actually exists.
- If it does exist, it most likely is not the result of a faulty educational system.
- Such a shortage MAY be more difficult to solve than simply producing more science and math completers.
- We need another look at STEM teaching in order to make its benefits relevant to all students regardless of career choice.
Why was the concept of a Stochastic framework discussed in the lesson on STEM?
This question MAY have more than one correct response.
| Randomness is a natural part of the real world and total control of random behavior is difficult, if not impossible to provide absolute control over. |
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| The world at large includes both balance and randomness and to an engineer, recognizing this fact, helps create a better feedback loop when designing and testing |
Providing credible empirical evidence about museum learning experience is a relatively easy.
| According to Knutson and Crowley to understand learning in museums, one must also think through the broader implications of the museum environment. Visitors do not necessarily come to a museum to learn. And museums do not solely exist to teach. |
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| In fact, certainty in education, whether in the literature about school learning or learning in the museum, it may not be possible to arrive at certainty, according to Hein |
Which of the following is true with regards to museum/informal learning?
Note that the MAY be more than one correct answer
| Sometimes direct teaching is the most efficacious way to instruct. Don't discount lecture format needlessly without first thinking about the needs of the learner | |
| Constructivist learning requires two separate components. 1- a recognition that in order to learn the active participation of the learner is required, and 2- constructivist education requires that the conclusions reached by the learner are not validated by whether or not they conform to some external standard of truth but whether they make sense. |
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| This is also true.. sometimes there is not just one correct answer | |
| We have to accept the idea that it is inevitable that they do so, regardless of our efforts to constrain them. |
There is no place for design thinking when one considers informal learning environments (or for STEM disciplines for that matter)
| Design Thinking is the methods and processes for investigating ill-defined problems, acquiring information, analyzing knowledge, and positing solutions in the design and planning fields.. sounds just like what occurs in museums | |
| Its broader use in describing a particular style of creative thinking-in-action is having an increasing influence on twenty-first century education across disciplines. In this respect, it is similar to systems thinking in naming a particular approach to understanding and solving problems |
Thinking question #3: Think about this statement and place some comments/notes in the box provided. The compare your
ideas to those provided by checking your response:
The quadratic equation not only represents a mathematical factor but also is a metaphor for design thinking
- If we are actually serious about implementing a constructivist learning experience,
then we must change the way we approach the problem... we cannot look at it in a linear way. - Design is most often thought of as a noun but is more of a process or a verb.
- In the IDEO model one needs to factor out the variables to come to some conclusion.. the quadratic equation is
what a mathematician uses.. and becomes a the 'technology' or tool for the engineer.
Thinking Question #4:
What does the following statement mean? Think about it for a while and then jot down some thoughts. The compare your ideas to what is being offered when you select the 'check response' button:
‘There exists a designerly way of thinking and communicating that is different from scientific and scholarly ways of thinking and communicating, but is as powerful. of inquiry when applied to its own kinds of problems’.
- First of all, the two concepts do not have to be mutually exclusive
- Second, design think, if the designer/research becomes a part of the stakeholders,
can actually contribute more to the situation than a researcher doing summative assessment.
True or False:
The basis for success in museum learning is what is known as 'free choice learning". The implication is that
museums are, in effect the perfect solution to motivate and engage all Learners.
| The truth is not all free choice learning works ... museums are not a perfect world. Learning that is too unstructured does not work either. There is the issue of ensuring there is a true depth of learning and issues to make the experiences truly educational. |
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| The conceptual design/premise of informal learning is great but instructional designers often face many of the same design challenges as do those working in formal classrooms. |