ETEC 512 Artifact of Learning- Group Project: Constructivism
Throughout ETEC 512, the importance of developing lessons and using an overall teaching approach that is in tune with effective learning theories became evermore apparent to me. My final artifact for this course was created in collaboration with a few of my classmates to explain and demonstrate the theory of constructivism. In an effort to really mirror what this learning theory is all about, our project was very organic and using a Google slide presentation format, we allowed our classmates to become active contributors to our assignment as well. We presented the project over a week long period during which our classmates could make their own additions to our project. I had not ever previously used this platform before for a presentation and I definitely had my reservations about using it. I was worried because our project did not look as polished or professional as a Prezi or a web based presentation. However, once we shared the link and the presentation began to grow and be strengthened by the contributions of its viewers, I was thrilled that we had decided to take this risk. This assignment and the process involved in making our intended final product come to fruition absolutely clarified for me the value of having students play a central role in constructing their own learning. You may view (and contribute to) the project here.
Personal Reflection:
This was a three person group project, including myself. It was my first group project in the MET program in which one of the three group members was almost entirely absent from the collaborative process. Having a bad taste in my mouth about group projects from countless experiences in my past schooling in which I was the person who ended up doing the bulk of the work, I was frustrated to find myself in that same situation. Never had I imagined that in a 500 level course, I would be faced with this dilemma. This was a real challenge for me, as I was reluctant to step in too early and take on more than my share of the work. In the end, we were left with no choice and we had to divide up the work that remained to be done, as the due date was looming. One of the things that I learned from this experience was to go into each group task with my eyes wide open and to be sure that I was more assertive with my group mates. I regret not having informed my instructor at the time about the absent group member. I was very new to the program and I did not want to appear to be ‘telling’ on anyone. I am happy to say that the situation did not repeat itself to the same extent in any of my other courses. On the rare occasion in which a group mate was not pulling their own weight, I either informed the instructor and/or had the opportunity to evaluate the group member’s contributions through the group, individual and self-assessment process that was a part of many major group assignments in the program.
This was a three person group project, including myself. It was my first group project in the MET program in which one of the three group members was almost entirely absent from the collaborative process. Having a bad taste in my mouth about group projects from countless experiences in my past schooling in which I was the person who ended up doing the bulk of the work, I was frustrated to find myself in that same situation. Never had I imagined that in a 500 level course, I would be faced with this dilemma. This was a real challenge for me, as I was reluctant to step in too early and take on more than my share of the work. In the end, we were left with no choice and we had to divide up the work that remained to be done, as the due date was looming. One of the things that I learned from this experience was to go into each group task with my eyes wide open and to be sure that I was more assertive with my group mates. I regret not having informed my instructor at the time about the absent group member. I was very new to the program and I did not want to appear to be ‘telling’ on anyone. I am happy to say that the situation did not repeat itself to the same extent in any of my other courses. On the rare occasion in which a group mate was not pulling their own weight, I either informed the instructor and/or had the opportunity to evaluate the group member’s contributions through the group, individual and self-assessment process that was a part of many major group assignments in the program.