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Learning experiences by using Education by Design method - by Isai Ambalam School
Introduction: Providing quality education and imparting precious values depend upon a third, very important, component – creation of an appropriate learning environment, physical as well as psychological. Use of Education By Design method enables the creation of such a learning environment and the building up of it too to take place. As a result of efforts to provide holistic and meaningful education through considerable improvisation of Thematic Project Work method this method was discovered by Antioch University of U.S.A. This article describes briefly what Education By Design method is and gives several examples of learning experiences of the students of Isai Ambalam School in Auroville in India by using this method.
History of its use in Isai Ambalam school: In October-November, 2002 Brenda from Antioch University conducted a one-week workshop on Education By Design Method for teachers in Auroville in which Subash, Vincent, Kavitha, Shankar and Nirmala of Isai Ambalam School participated. Brenda used the very module of Education By Design Method itself to enable all the participants learn about it in a comprehensive manner. Within a month, assisted by Subash, Kavitha and Mathias designed the challenge “Indo-German Cultural Exhibition”, and Shankar and Nirmala designed the challenge “Can You Guide Me to Industries in Auroville?” and gave them to the Young Adults. Tackling of both the challenges took 15 working sessions of 1½ hours each to get completed. Both the groups of Young Adults conducted a performance of their learning through skits, one of which contrasted the German and Indian cultures by enacting a German and an Indian marriage. There were also exhibits of drawings, pictures and information about various aspects of the cultures of India and Germany, exhibits of products of small industries in Auroville produced by the students themselves and a map drawn by them to guide the visitor. A feed-back from the Young Adults after the performance made the teachers see what an impact these challenges made in different aspects of their learning. They were enthused by this impact and captivated by the use of this method. In the course of one year the teachers designed 3 challenges for Junior Young Adults, 3 challenges for Senior Young Adults, and one comprehensive challenge of a continuous nature for both. Improvisation of the use of this method occurred in each new challenge. One challenge given to the students for acquiring competencies in Social Science topic was extended to include the acquisition of spoken competency in English language. Another challenge enabled the students to learn faultless writing in 3 or 4 English sentence structures and to write their own stories in English using those structures. Yet another enabled them to acquire math competencies in life contexts pertaining to measurement. An experiment is being conducted by giving them a comprehensive challenge and it is expected that tackling this will enable them to acquire self-directed learning capacity.
What is education by design method? The essential process of learning in Education By Design method is through solving a problem or challenge designed by the teacher. Teacher finds out what knowledge the students need to learn and what psychological skills and qualities they need to acquire. He/she designs a problem or challenge and gives it to the students. The students tackle and solve it as a group and, in that process, acquire those things they need to acquire. After solving the problem or challenge they exhibit their learning in a particular form, like drama, dialogue, skit, display, book making, decided beforehand. This enables both the teacher and the students to evaluate their learning. Then together they reflect on what they have learnt, discuss how they can improve upon it, and, building upon this learning experience, get themselves ready to tackle the next challenge.
Thus Education By Design method has four aspects: 1. Experiential learning; 2. Creation of collaborative learning communities; 3. Standards-driven learning based on the learning needs of the learners; 4. Learning based on solving or tackling problems or challenges. We describe below instances of learning as experienced in Isai Ambalam School under each of these 4 aspects.
Creation of collaborative learning communities: Grouping students in various ways by giving them amusing games to play and short challenges to solve in a short period are strategies adopted for creating such collaborative learning communities. When Young Adults were given the big challenge “You Too Can !” they were also given a short challenge to solve in 10 minutes. It was: they shoud drop an egg from a height of 3 metres and it should not break. They were given 3 sheets of newspaper, some clay, 3 balloons and a glass of water using which they should tackle the challenge. Three groups of students were formed. First group put the egg in clay and wrapped it with a newspaper sheet. The second group put the egg inside the balloon and covered it with clay. The third group put the egg inside clay, rolled it into a ball, put the ball inside a bag made of newspaper sheet, filled the balloon with air and tied the bag to the mouth of the balloon. All of them dropped their production on the floor. The eggs of the first two groups broke, and the egg of the third group fell down on the floor intact. Each such session used to be followed by a brief feedback. The successful group said that they listened to the ideas of all the members of the group and together decided on the way suggested by a member which was based on the principle of parachute. The other two groups said that they listened to the idea of only one member, the others did not at all think, they felt hurried and there was no coordination. Like this a short challenge was given to the Senior Young Adults when they started Indo-German Cultural Exhibition challenge. Three sheets of newspaper were given to the students as a whole. They should spread the sheet on the floor and all of them should stand on those three sheets together. The students spread the newspaper sheets on the floor and tried to stand on it. It was not possible to do so. They divided themselves into 3 groups and discussed the ways. Two groups could not find out the way and one group found it out. Out of the 10 students in that group 4 of them stood on one sheet and took the remaining 6 on their shoulders. This group also said that they listened to the ideas of all the 10 and worked out the solution. The other groups did not do it.
Learning based on tackling or solving challenges or problems: The following were the challenges so far designed for the students. Each challenge is briefly described and the knowledge content expected to be learnt by the students is also given.
Spear and Rocket & Leaf and Jeans: Can you find out how the stone age people lived and defended themselves when they had none of the present day communication and defense facilities?
Knowledge content – Lifestyle of stone age people.
Water! Water ! As the monsoon has failed in the last two years, what should we do conserve water and use it properly?
Knowledge content – Conservation and proper use of water for drinking as well as irrigation.
Will You Guide me to Auroville Industries: I want to buy the products made in Auroville and sell them in my city. Can you tell me where they are made in Auroville and guide me to those places?
Knowledge content – Map drawing, English spoken skills, vocational skills
Vicks Action 500 and Nayuruvi thazai (a local herb): Your village and my village are the same in all respects. But in the course of 6 months 200 people died in my village due to common diseases whereas everybody is healthy in your village without being affected by any of these diseases. What made you immune from these diseases?
Knowledge content – Contrasting allopathic medicine and herbal medicine and learning about various herbal remedies for common diseases.
You Too Can! Abdul Kalam came from the same poor background as mine. Can I find out how he managed his learning in his student days and succeeded, and follow it myself to do well in my studies?
Knowledge content – Drawing a learning programme for one month and implementing it.
Will she realise her dream? Kalaiyarasi dreamt in her sleep that she won the award for the best English short story of the year and was very disappointed on waking that it was only a dream. She wants to work for making her dream true. How will you help her?
Knowledge content – Learning the faultless use of 4 English sentence Structures
Come on, tell me its weight!: Your friend’s uncle had promised a gift to him if he manages his groceries shop for a week, but he is poor in measuring things and calculating their prices. He seeks your assistance. How will you give it?
Knowledge content – Measurement in math
Earth, Ocean or Sky? What topic among these three will you select for a debate and why?
Knowledge content – Geography topic in secondary level Social Science
Indo-German Cultural Exhibition: You are invited by Mathias’s friends to participate in a competition of Indo-German cultural exhibition. How will you participate in it and win?
Knowledge content – Culture and geography of India and Germany
Standards-driven learning based on the learning needs of the learners: In the previous section the challenges designed and the knowledge content to be acquired by the students were given. The challenges are designed so that the students also acquire life skills and positive psychologcial qualities along with them. There are 8 life skills (Problem solving, Decision making, Critical thinking, Creative thinking, Communication, Organization, Management, Leadership) and 6 positive psychological qualities (Ownership of life-long learning, Self-direction, Quality work, Ethical character, Curiosity and wonder, Collaboration, Community membership) generally needed by a person. Examples from the students’ learning experiences in acquiring some of them are given below.
Life skills:
- Critical thinking skill: In solving the “Water! Water!” challenge one
student, on his own, reasoned thus: If cement channels could be constructed
instead of mud channels waste of water through absorption by them will be
eliminated.
- Creative as well as resourceful thinking skill Before tackling the Water!
Water! challenge a short challenge was given to the students. Within 5
minutes a 1-litre mineral water bottle should be filled up from a bucket full
of water kept at a distance of 6 metres without wasting even a drop of water.
When all the others used their polyester shirt to soak in the water in the
bucket, bring it to the bottle and fill it up, one student, Shashikumar, alone
got hold of a cotton cloth and used it to fill up the bottle. Not a single
drop was spilt whereas the efforts of others resulted in the spilling of
considerable amount of water because of the less effective soaking capacity of
polyester cloth. When they were tackling the main challenge Sanjeev Renganthan
of Asha for Education visited the classroom. On their own students discussed
between themselves and got the idea of asking him about water conserva-tion
strategies in U.S. which Sanjeev enthusiastically replied. In the “Earth, Ocean
or Sky ?” challenge when somebody raised a question, what would happen if a
peninsula surrounded by all the three sides happened to be fully under water
and how people would have lived there. Five of the students gave original and
innovative answers.
- Organisation skill: In the Auroville Industries challenge Rajesh from Junior
Young Adults gathered all the necessary information to give the visitor to tour
Auroville, organised his drawing in such a way that the map not only indicated
the location and direction but also what was available in each place. He did
this on his own.
- Problem-solving skill – In the Vicks Action 500 challenge the person
engaged to give explanation was not available in the herbal research farm; on
their own, the students found out somebody in the village, knowledgeable in it,
and got the explanation from him.
- Decision-making skill – Grouping decisions were made by the students
themselves for going to the villages for data gathering on herbal medicines.
- Management skill – Kalaiarasi, a group leader, managed the learning of her group in such a way that all the members in the group learnt to use the English words with full understanding. She devised her own idea of finding out who used the words without understanding them.
- Self-direction – In the Vicks Action 500 challenge one of the Junior Young
Adults listed out the names of the herbs about which he should gather data, of
the places he should visit and of the people whom he should meet. He drew up a
plan and successfully implemented it.
- Quality work – In the Spear and Rocket challenge Rajesh of Junior Young
Adults group planned the drawing for the display, and decided beforehand how it
should contain all the aspects without exception. He executed the drawing
accordingly.
- Ownership of life-long learning – In the “You Too Can !” challenge, the process of tackling it consisted of designing a learning programme for a month, and implementing and monitoring the programme. 14 Young Adults successfully monitored the programme till it was completed.
- by Subash, Kavitha, Shankar and Nirmala, Isai Ambalam school, Auroville
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