My subject is mainly about galaxies and extraterrestrial life.
Do you think there is extraterrestrial life?
In fact, there is still no definitive answer to this question, but I hope that students can inquiry about it from a multi-directional and interdisciplinary perspective. For example, from the perspective of the composition of life, the size of the universe, the probability of mathematical calculation, as well as the political and economic interests in social study, which will involve the study of history. That’s why there are multiple groups, we need to discuss in multiple groups, which will not only reduce the workload of students but also allow more ideas to communicate with each other. The communication ability is also what we hope students can improve. Although the course belongs to science, the interdisciplinary contact, imagination and in-depth self-directed learning are what I hope this course will bring to students.
4 replies on “Welcome to Yu’s inquiry subject.”
Star: I really enjoyed reading your curriculum project on extraterrestrial life, this is a very interesting topic I think students would love the process of inquiry. You developed many varied student activities, for example, I really appreciate your first question in the familiar things around us then move out extraterrestrial life this topic, and then you asked your students to create a telescope to watch the stars. These activities can foster their curiosity and creativity in the learning process.
Wish: I recommend you to have more inquiry questions in the later improvement. I think it is also necessary to discuss among different groups so that they can have a better understanding of each other’s points of view.
Question: How do experts deal with the interdisciplinary question of students? Because you also mentioned that students can explore this question from multiple perspectives.
Thank you for your hard work! It was so nice see you!! Take care and stay safe!
Yi MAO
Hi Yu,
I really enjoy reading your inquiry project about galaxies and extraterrestrial life.
My comments are below:
Star:
You did a good job on your clear and well-organised lesson and project plans. This course belongs to science, and I think it is about students’ imagination, curiosity, and creativity about their study and life as well. Through this inquiry project, students can recognize opportunities to apply their knowledge in their everyday lives or contribute to science in their future careers if it is possible.
Wish:
Through all your lesson plans, I wish you can add more activities in your class to improve your students’ engagement in this lesson, and I wish you can use more teaching materials to rich your lesson content.
Question:
How can you apply your lessons with other subjects?
Thanks for your wonderful lesson plans and website.
Clarity
Hi, yu
I am so excited to read your inquiry project about exploring galaxies and exploring life beyond earth life. Because I am a super fan of exploring the aliens, based on your approach to inquiry and your approach to teaching, I think I totally agree that being curious at all times is the foundation of effective teaching which you mentioned in your topic exploration. What’s more, I also agree that learning is effective when students work together in social situations such as group work and discussions in order to deal with real-life scenarios.
Wish: I suggest you arrange some practical activities in class, for example, teaching how to use telescopes in class…
Question: How to evaluate students’ learning performance?
Take care,
ZeYu Tian
Hi Yu,
Nice to see you again!! I think you did a fantastic job! It was nice to see that you also added the suggestions from our group meeting to your lesson plans. I love your topic and certainly as I said before, you have chosen a topic that definitely peaks the interest of any generation and can be expanded to include multiple disciplines. I mean, how could this planet be the only planet in a vast universe? We could look at quantum physics too? New forms of energy? It is interesting how religion has influenced our human thoughts in so many ways. It is unfortunate that self-serving interests of some in religion got in the way of thought and humanistic progression.
Nevertheless, I recall as a child that sometimes I had questions that I would not ask out of fear of appearing silly or “stupid;” how would you make the classroom environment safe to ask any type of questions? Is there some other way children could ask questions particularly if they are fearful for whatever reason, such as in journals? I think a journal is a fantastic way in which we can begin to discover the thoughts of the introverted or fearful child. I also think that journals should be a place of allowing thoughts or artistic visions flow without restraint. It is a way teachers can develop a more meaningful relationship, understand how the child thinks and also encourage the child to go deeper.
Yu, you have a natural ability to affirm students, even when providing feedback in my presentation in our group and also when another group member and I provided feedback to yours. You were very gracious and affirming. I loved it! It made me think my comments mattered; even though, my background is not in teaching. I think children would love to have your personal feedback in written form encouraging and guiding them to dig deeper, ask more questions, decide for themselves what they would like to explore regarding the topic, and assist where they may be having some problems.
Wish: Perhaps focusing on core principle 5? Who will you connect with to improve your inquiry based practice (other teachers or professionals)? Core principle 3; how will you assess the students learning (this could be part of the journal writing).