I don’t necessarily agree with the film when it argues that students are “unaware” of their own theories concerning phenomenon that they haven’t yet learned how to correctly explain (i.e. like seasons and phases of the moon). I think it is in our nature as human beings to formulate theories and ideas about how our world works. Therefore, before they ever step foot in a classroom, students have come to comprehend certain things about their world in ways they can understand. I feel that this is why it can be so difficult as an educator to reconstruct their understanding of certain concepts, especially when it comes to natural phenomenon that they have spent their entire lives approaching with a very specific mindset. I don’t believe it is anyone’s fault (teacher or student) that these misconceptions linger past the date of the initial class “lesson”, or numerous lessons for that matter. This is why I believe it is important to contextualize certain scientific material within multiple lessons as often as you can, because then it allows the student to stretch their minds far enough to encompass the new material in relation to other concepts they approach and on a variety of different levels in general.
Specifically, here’s what I’m taking away from the video (though it is technically nuanced from the above paragraph): students have spent their whole lives explaining and trying to understand the world in their own terms, so don’t assume that they are a blank slate. Why not ask kids “how do you think this works? how do you think that works?” Questioning of this manner is a way to exercise inquiry, to talk about how people have thought about the world in similar ways in the past, and also that those ideas were well-thought out even though they aren’t necessarily fact. We can constantly be thinking about the world around us, and this curiosity will lead us to discovering truth- which is essentially the inspiration of science in general.
Specifically, here’s what I’m taking away from the video (though it is technically nuanced from the above paragraph): students have spent their whole lives explaining and trying to understand the world in their own terms, so don’t assume that they are a blank slate. Why not ask kids “how do you think this works? how do you think that works?” Questioning of this manner is a way to exercise inquiry, to talk about how people have thought about the world in similar ways in the past, and also that those ideas were well-thought out even though they aren’t necessarily fact. We can constantly be thinking about the world around us, and this curiosity will lead us to discovering truth- which is essentially the inspiration of science in general.
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