The Impact of Last Week’s Seminar

Dr McGuire had plenty of good things to say about increasing our students’ motivation, but the notion of teaching our students Bloom’s Taxonomy had the greatest impact on me. I don’t think that Dr. McGuire was literally suggesting that we take a day of class to teach Bloom’s to our students, rather that we take advantage of “teachable moments” to enlighten our students and challenge them to analyze their learning process. I found myself, in the week following the seminar, pointing out to students where they were stuck at the memorizing stage of Bloom’s, and challenging them to think about how they might develop understanding. It also just so happened to be a week where my lecture topics were about applications and I found myself similarly trying to ask questions that would push my students into analysis and evaluation.

Of course, it is quite understandable that our first-year students come to us stuck in the first (maybe second) level of Bloom’s. With the current nearly exclusive focus on standardized exams, the concept of learning has been twisted into this grotesque notion that the purpose of education is to be able to vomit facts onto a scantron. Convincing our students otherwise is one of our greatest and most important challenges, and training our students to think about their learning process is the key.

Scavenger Hunt: Green Team!

A court of sorts, used for sports.

A Hexagon of Windows

An historic landmark, A feat of engineering, and twin modes of transportation

The VA Health Care Center

An Hotel

A Monument with an Institute of Higher Learning

Library books about other books

Two Live Mammals

Living Plants

A local ad campaign

A Method of Transportation

A national ad campaign for water

A new building creeping up behind an old building

A religious institution

A restaurant

Underground Railroad Entrance

I think this used to be used for telecommunication.

The DUMBO Theatre

Wayfinding

Art.