The PowerPoint Quiz activity did not support thematic instruction. The main goal of thematic instruction is to “choose themes that relate to students' lives to ensure interest and engagement in the content.” The activity that was performed in class was just the opposite. The teacher in the PowerPoint Quiz activity plays a very active role. It is somewhat a “my way or the highway” project. On the other hand, in thematic instruction, learners are very engaged and encouraged to ask questions. In a classroom where thematic instruction takes place, the teacher will make many connections throughout the activity to help the students relate with their prior knowledge. The activity in the class was just introduced and monitored. There were no explanations or reasoning behind the assignment. Some students were left with the question, “What exactly is the point?” Through thematic instruction, students will understand the situation given and, as stated in the article, “be engaged in immersive learning experiences.”
The activity that we did in class can somewhat be modified to reflect thematic instruction. At the beginning of the project the teacher could introduce a problem such as: Is there a way we could link slides together in PowerPoint to somehow create questions and different responses? Students could research through PowerPoint, talk amongst their peers, and the whole class could share the evidence they discovered on PowerPoint. Another modification could be developed in the question asked on the quiz. The question could reflect something that is of interest to the class, and it could ask something that would lead the students to research what the answer is.
I believe that thematic instruction is a very successful strategy in the classroom. Students feel like they have more of a voice, and they actually feel like the teacher cares about them. In the activity introduced in our class we felt rushed, stressed, and embarrassed. Before we knew that it was just a simulation, we felt like the teacher was almost being rude. I feel that this activity would have more negative effects than positive. It is important to use thematic instruction in our classrooms as much as possible.
Resource:
NA. (2005). Focus on effectiveness. Retrieved from http://www.netc.org/focus/strategies/them.php
Good analysis of the activity in terms of thematic instruction. I don't think developing a PowerPoint quiz could a theme. Instead, students might make a PowerPoint quiz to demonstrate their understanding of a project based on a theme like What makes us human? or Why do bird sing? or What is freedom.....
ReplyDelete