Since the first day of our Solar System class, I have noticed that the way the class was structured felt very reminiscent of elementary school, with all of the group workbook activities we do in class and its overall fun environment.
Shelby’s point about the use of physical models in class really drove this even further for me, and made me wonder: when, and why did science classes diverge from using all of these physical models and fun ways of teaching, to being the note-taking lecture-heavy classes they seem to be now?
I can’t speak for everyone, but at least for me personally, the use of the spinning top in class to demonstrate the effects of precession on the Earth was definitely much more helpful to my understanding of the topic than was reading through the textbook. In general, I feel like physical models and demonstrations will trump diagrams and lectures any day of the week in explaining difficult concepts.
I guess that’s why it seems like there is a such a focus on that on teaching children. They really have little to no prior scientific knowledge to base what they learn in class on, and so physical demonstrations are the best way to go. Maybe it still is the best way to go, at least for teaching the more difficult concepts. I can’t say for sure right now, but I will continue to mull over this idea more in the future.
