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Finding out about the world: what I know about my heroes

Age group

8-10 years

Primary CMS area

3. Finding and accessing opportunities

Other CMS areas

4. Managing life and career

Unit Description

The unit deals with the development individual and group learning strategies through inquired based learning Individual and group activities focus on finding the link between challenges of the life environments and professions that face these ones. The Unit is based on collecting information and data with interviews, text, documents. Students also work on the different aspects and dimension of professions like activities, work place, etc. This unit focuses on inquiry-oriented learning. This includes critical thinking, problem solving, self-management and collaboration skills (Darling- Hammond, 2011; Halpern, 2003). Inquired-based work often includes tasks that require multiple students working together to achieve a team goal, such as a final report, integrated analyses or a joint presentation. In this case, collaborative problem solving is applied to a familiar context – school, community or neighbourhood – but it can be integrated into specific courses of study, such as the sciences, mathematics and history.

Activity 1. What I know about my world

Learning outcomes

Analysing the own life environments
Finding and analysing problems (Students experiment learning throughout life)
Identifying opportunities (Students cope with challenges and changes which take place in life)

Activity Name

What I know about my world

Description

First activity is dedicated to find challenges in the life environment of the students.

The work is developed in the following steps:

Introduction

  • Introduction on the activity (20 minutes)
  • Brainstorming on the challenges in the environment
  • Identify a/some specific problem/s Execution first step
  • analysis the problem identified (causes, effects, etc.) and context resources
  • formulating hypotheses to collect information on the context

second step

  • sharing collected data
  • identify opportunities of the context to solve the problem

Closure
Presentation and discussion about the works of the student group

Learning materials

Bell, T.; Urhahne, D.; Schanze, S.; Ploetzner, R. (2010). “Collaborative inquiry learning: Models, tools, and challenges”. International Journal of Science Education. 3 (1): 349–377. 

Roth, Wolff-Michael; Jornet, Alfredo (2013). “Toward a theory of experience”. Science Education. 98 (1): 106–26. What is Inquiry Based Learning (EBL)? Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning. University of Manchester. Retrieved October 2012

Timing

The activity lasts 2 hours:

  • Introduction ½ hour
  • Execution 2 hour (1 first step + 1 second step)
  • Closure 1 hour

Role of the Teachers

The teacher participates in the activity and collaborates with the career educator. His/her role is to facilitate the engagement of students and their learning achievement. Teacher evaluate the activities and integrate them with curriculum and disciplines.

Methodology

collaborative inquiry learning 
Students experiment learning throughout life
Students cope with challenges and changes which take place in life.

Assessment

Observes students’ abilities and the learning achievement during each step of finding and analysing the problem, though a check-list

Activity 2. Who are the heroes of my world?

Learning outcomes

manage previous knowledge to systematize them (Students assess own information about work and professions)

Activity Name

Who are the heroes of my world?

Description

Introduction 

– Explain activity to the working group

Execution
In this activity, the working group analyse the professions that face the challenges identified responding to the following questions:

  • who takes care of this challenge?
  • what activities do they do?
  • where they work?
  • why do they do it?
  • how do you learn to do that job?

Closure

  • Representing the knowledge possessed on the professions that face challenges through a drawing or a graphic

Learning materials

Bell, T.; Urhahne, D.; Schanze, S.; Ploetzner, R. (2010). “Collaborative inquiry learning: Models, tools, and challenges“. International Journal of Science Education. 3 (1): 349–377.

 Roth, Wolff-Michael; Jornet, Alfredo (2013). “Toward a theory of experience”. Science Education. 98 (1): 106–26. What is Inquiry Based Learning (EBL)? Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning. University of Manchester. Retrieved October 2012

Timing

The activity lasts 2 hours:

  • Introduction 15 minutes
  • Execution 1 hour
  • Closure 45 minutes

Role of the Teachers

The teacher participates in the activity and collaborates with the career educator. His/her role is to facilitate the engagement of students and their learning achievement. Teacher evaluate the activities and integrate them with curriculum and disciplines.

Methodology

collaborative learning

Assessment

Observes students’ abilities and the learning achievement during each step of finding and analysing the problem, though a check-list

Activity 3. What I know about heroes of my world?

Learning outcomes

Collecting, organizing and processing of information and data

Activity Name

What I know about heroes of my world?

Description

Introduction
Explain activity to the working group

Execution

  • Interview witnesses, experts, family members or others to gather general and specific information on the identified professions
  • organizing and processing the information collected through a drawing or graphic

Closure
Compare the information collected with those previously held per finding the difference (activity 1)

Learning materials

Bell, T.; Urhahne, D.; Schanze, S.; Ploetzner, R. (2010). “Collaborative inquiry learning: Models, tools, and challenges“. International Journal of Science Education. 3 (1): 349–377.

 Roth, Wolff-Michael; Jornet, Alfredo (2013). “Toward a theory of experience”. Science Education. 98 (1): 106–26. What is Inquiry Based Learning (EBL)? Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning. University of Manchester. Retrieved October 2012

Timing

The activity lasts 4 hours:

  • Introduction 15 minutes
  • Execution
  • 1 hour to prepare collecting data
  • 1 hour to organize data
  • Closure 45 minutes

Role of the Teachers

The teacher participates in the activity and collaborates with the career educator. His/her role is to facilitate the engagement of students and their learning achievement. Teacher evaluate the activities and integrate them with curriculum and disciplines.