SHOR

This week for my blog I decided to do an extended comments off of Mariah's blog!  I really enjoyed reading the quotes that she chose and they really reflected the article that we had to read this week.

One thing from Mariah's blog was:

"In science, a problem-posing approach could take a debate form. A science class could present controversies in the field and in society. Students could examine competing interpretations of the origins of the universe, the causes and treatments of AIDS, the policy conflicts over energy sources and global warming, or the debates over the health hazards of exposure to low-level radiation to electromagnetic fields generated by power lines. By presenting science debates, controversies, and competing interpretations, the critical teacher would pose the subject matter as a problem for students to think through rather than a bland official consensus for them to memorize."
--Shor discusses the problem-posing approach in this quote. He believes that if you approach a subject asking questions it will give the subject matter more meaning to the student. The subject mater does not matter  at all to a student if they facts are given to them and they are told to memorize it. Shor proposes that they are prompted with, as an example, a debate in science class. Instead of telling the student the treatments and causes of AIDS, have them debate about it. That way, instead of them just memorizing the material they are learning to be critical thinkers by debating the idea. This website shows an article that talks about the problem-posing approach in Biology Education. One point this author makes is how he thinks textbooks should be changed to accommodate the problem-posing approach.


I believe that it is important for students to be challenged and that they should be questioned so that they can find the answer. A question can be so broad that the students will have to think and try and find the answer.  It is important that the student knows the information, and not just memorize the information. A student should be able to explain what they learned and use it in different context, instead of just memorizing a definition of something.