{"id":1572,"date":"2017-02-23T23:56:54","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T06:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/?p=1572"},"modified":"2017-02-23T23:56:54","modified_gmt":"2017-02-24T06:56:54","slug":"save-the-boxes-bridge-building-with-lfu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/2017\/02\/23\/save-the-boxes-bridge-building-with-lfu\/","title":{"rendered":"Save the boxes! – Bridge building with LfU"},"content":{"rendered":"
Imagine how LfU principles might be applied to a topic you teach. Now switch out the My World technology. What other domain specific (and non-domain specific) software might help you achieve these principles while teaching this topic? By domain-specific, we mean software designed for STEM education, and by non-domain specific, we mean software or other forms of technology that could be used generally in multiple domains (eg. Wikis). Other GIS software can be selected for the switch.<\/span><\/em><\/h5>\n

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Traditional images of education usually involve a teacher lecturing in front of a group of students, didactically transmitting knowledge to students. \u00a0There are also images of students in labs or activities, taking their learned content and engaging in activities that more often than not are designed primarily to confirm and reinforce said content. \u00a0This view that the teaching of content and engaging in process are opposed to each other is challenged by Edelson’s Learning for Use (LfU) theory (2001) which contends that inquiry can be means to help students understand content. \u00a0Edelson’s LfU is based on 4 main principles:<\/p>\n

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  1. Learning occurs through constructivist methods.<\/li>\n
  2. Construction of knowledge is a goal-driven process that is guided by an understanding of the reasoning behind the goals.<\/li>\n
  3. The constructed knowledge is used as a foundation for building subsequent knowledge.<\/li>\n
  4. Knowledge must be constructed in a meaningful and useful way before it can be applied.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In doing do, Edelson argues, inquiry-based activities can be used\u00a0as a means to both deliver content and reinforce concepts. \u00a0LfU theory also outlines how these learning processes should be designed and highlights three important areas of consideration: motivation, construction of knowledge, and refinement of knowledge (Edelson, 2001). \u00a0In this process, motivation first helps students recognize the need for more knowledge and serves to drive their engagement in the activity. \u00a0The construction of knowledge occurs when students develop an understanding and then use it as a basis for further knowledge construction. \u00a0Finally, the refinement of knowledge allows students to connect and reinforce learned ideas in order to make them useful.<\/p>\n

    One topic that I have taught that fits neatly with LfU theory is the bridge building unit in my Science & Tech 11 course. \u00a0The overall theme of the unit\u00a0is to understand the shapes and structures commonly used in bridge building and culminates in a popsicle stick bridge building challenge. \u00a0To aid student understanding of basic bridge structures (namely, trusses), a domain specific\u00a0bridge building simulator<\/a>\u00a0can be used to allow students to test and verify their ideas.<\/p>\n

    Reading Edelson’s description of the LfU process, I realised that my unit plan could be separated into the three stages discussed above. \u00a0With Edelson’s LfU process applied, the unit progressed as follows:<\/p>\n

    Stage 1: Motivation<\/p>\n