Design-Based Learning: STEM and Simple Machines
Watching children play, particularly very young children, we can see they behave scientifically. Children observe and collect. They wonder and deduce, and they’re methodical. They collaborate – sometimes! – and when they’re puzzled, they experiment and make adjustments. At whatever age STEM learning occurs, though, make no mistake: it is real STEM learning, not mere […]
Design-Based Learning (DBL) and Challenge Learning
“… we learn by doing.” So observed Aristotle in his study on how we should live, The Nicomachean Ethics, a work that is named – so scholars think – out of fondness for Aristotle’s father and son, both of whom were named Nicomachus. While obviously not a new concept to educators, the principle of learning-by-doing […]
Making Connections: playing with electrical circuits
This week in Create, Make, Innovate, we explore electrical circuits: squishy and paper-based. Play-based, hands-on learning activities appeal to our creativity and our curiosity.