Confusion sets in

Lesson03 Reflection - here it is!

Hmmm am geting confused what's with the WikiPages here and there, plus our indiv blogs for reflection. Hope I get this right (that this week's reflection is to be done on Grp wikipage) but just in case, will copy and paste to the blog.

• Have you come across any of the pedagogical approaches as a student? What was your experience like?
The Jigsaw method is definitely a norm, having had experienced that as a student numerous times. What was it like? It was okay, nothing magnificent. But of course the 'best' part was moving around and meeting friends, and at that age, it can be quite exciting ;)
One thing lacking from such activities in my opinion is the overall picture. Yes, we have our own niche areas, get more info from other 'experts' and then share the information with our group members. And then what? If I'm not wrong, in the next lesson we are to design a course for teachers to update them on what we have learnt.
But somehow i think it lacks 'kick'?
I was reading the EL text (for QUE512) and there is a jigsaw activity where students are given clues to solve a mystery. There is an element of competition as the first group to solve it may get a prize (or at the very least bragging rights!). I prefer using the jigsaw method in such a circumstance rather than to pool resources and combine information for a bigger project/presentation (although I admit that in essence it employs the same concept).
Undeniably, such an activity saves time on research and allows students to learn how to interact with each other, and shows them the importance of teamwork.

I have also encountered the other pedagogical approaches, and will elaborate on a few below:-
Project-Based Learning - yes of course. My batch was the first to be tested on this in JC, and it was not such a fantastic experience as they focused a lot on the paperwork (oh yes, remember the THICK file we had to submit? -_-), and while they kept telling us to 'think out of the box' it was really quite hard to do that given the guidelines we had to follow. I sure hope the batches after us had a more memorable time!
Resource-Based Learning - did this for pretty much the whole time in Uni, and had a great time as we get the opportunity to explore the given topic further according to our own interests. The presentations we had for our papers helped us learn more other areas which we did not concentrate on. I would think this (presentation part) can be similar to the jigsaw method of learning?

• What do you think is the relationship of these approaches?
The approaches are closely linked together, for example inquiry based is very similar to case-based learning. I think each approach will take on other approaches as well in order to make it more effective. A case can be presented to the students, and from there they formulate inquiries and teachers can provide a list of resources to start them on their research. All these approaches are also a form of SDL, and if the information/research is divided amongst students, it will then be a form of CL.

• What roles do the various ICT tools play in these approaches?
ICT plays the critical role of allowing for revision and feedback even after the presentation is over. While students can present to each other their findings, or present their combined effort to the class, the process usually ends there. However, with ICT such a blogsite, students and teacher can revisit the lesson to further understand topic, or come up with new questions.