Reflection

                                                 My Reflection on this Project!

This project was a completely new experience for me. I have never created my own website before and worked so closely on such a sensitive topic related to environement. The pedagogy used in this project i.e., Inquiry-based learning will not only help students to make their own connections about what they learn but their curiosity will help them to engage and gain a deeper understanding of topics and content, instead of primarily memorizing and recalling rules, ideas or formulas.

Challenges

The only challenge that I faced in this project was that I had so many thoughts and wanted to do so much in one project only. Hence, initially, I did face difficulty in connecting all the phases with one other. However, eventually, I could very well connect all of them once I restricted myself to one core question!

Successes

I believe while doing this project, my students might achieve a variety of successes  as follows :

  • It will help in nurturing the inner talent of the students.
  • It will help in increasing motivation and engagement among learners.
  • It will allow them to develop research skills which is something that will helps students forever.
  • It will fortify the importance of asking questions
  • It will allow children to take ownership of their education

Any further questions?

I had few questions before I joined this course regarding how it is practically possible to implement this kind of pedagogy in schools, but after becoming a part of this project and course, I have realized that it is an ongoing process and it is the responsibility of a teacher to plan it so well that they do not need extra time to implement it. It can be very well integrated across the curriculum.

If I were to plan this project again…!

If I am given this project again, I would still ask the same question time and again because this is such a serious topic and it is high time for people to realize the detrimental effects of it. However, I might change the learning activities, and maybe I can even try this project with younger kids of grade 6 or 7 to comprehend their understanding and thoughts on this project.

Reflection on the inquiry process.

Unfortunately, our traditional educational system discourages the natural process of inquiry. Not only this, even the students are also not curious to ask questions as they move through the grade levels. Instead, they are encouraged to listen and repeat the expected answers.

Effective inquiry is more than just merely asking questions because it is a complex process that involves an individual’s attempt to convert information and data into useful knowledge. A useful application of inquiry learning involves several factors like – a context for questions, a framework for questions, a focus for questions, and different levels of questions. A well-designed inquiry learning produces knowledge formation that can be widely applied.

It is quite evident that memorizing facts and information is not the most important skill in today’s world. Educators need to develop an understanding that schools need to go beyond data and information accumulation and move toward the generation of useful and applicable knowledge . . . a process supported by inquiry learning. In the past, our country’s success depended on our supply of natural resources and not on the people of the country. Today, it depends upon a workforce that needs to “works smarter.”

Through the process of inquiry, individuals can construct much of their understanding of the natural and human-designed worlds. Inquiry is not so much seeking the correct answer but rather seeking appropriate solutions to questions and issues. For educators, inquiry implies an emphasis on the development of inquiry skills and the nurturing of inquiring attitudes or habits of mind that will enable individuals to continue the quest for knowledge throughout their life.

Insights on initial questions before coming into this course

As mentioned earlier as well, I was quite unsure about the practical implementation of this pedagogy in real classroom situations due to the other pressures of course completion and other co-curricular activities. However, my whole perspective got changed after taking up this project and reading all the recommended and required readings provided by my instructor.

Still wondering…

I am still wondering that how will students react when they will actually work on this project?

Reflect on feedback from instructor and peers.

It was a wonderful experience of demonstrating this lesson plan with my peers. I could never imagine the fun part after adding Kahoot- an online learning activity and carbon footprint activity in the session as these activities were very engaging and allowed my peers to interact with each other too. As per the feedback provided by my instructor, I got a direction in this project especially by including the carbon footprint into the investigation phase. I have tried to include experiential learning in almost each lesson plan and in each phase of the inquiry project plan to make it more lively. Not only this, the dirty air, air quality index, and carbon footprint and ultimately the solutions to all such problems are so well connected that the outcome of this inquiry project is itself able to answer the title of my inquiry – Does worrying about air pollution enough? which can be seen from the lesson activity of lesson plan # 4 where students will be creating websites, advertisements, posters to spread awareness in their local areas by making small efforts to contribute in reducing air pollution. I am definitely planning to practically implement this project with my students someday because I believe, that this inquiry project has brought so much curiosity within me as well to find more and more about the sources of carbon emissions and how to reduce it so as to make this place even better. The strength of this lesson is that it is extremely engaging and interactive irrespective of conducting offline or online. This lesson was completed within the time limit of 45 minutes including the Kahoot learning activity. Not only this, this has helped students/peers to know more about different learning about technology. too As far as the feedback is concerned, because the grade selected in the lesson was from 7-12, they suggested that the level of this plan is of classes 11-12 and hence I upgraded it accordingly. Not only this one of my peers has suggested to explain each FPPL and relate it with my activities. Well, I have tried to incorporate that too.

Overall, it was such an amazing experience !