The instrumental goals of the Science Techniques Laboratory "technology" courses taught in the big three NYC high schools seems to be problem solving. The goal of the course is to introduce the students to various tools, methods and techniques that they can use to solve problems that come up. The students learn about designing for a real world situation, where they have to deal with factors that are normally ignored in their textbooks, such as friction and air resistance. The students are also forced to communicate effectively and learn to document their steps. They have to know what they did and have a previous record, because if the made a mistake they need to be able to see where. The Science Techniques Laboratory is one of the few classes where students are really held accountable, because not only will their mistakes result in a bad grade, they could possibly be harmful to other students. The Science Technique Laboratory is associated in many students’ minds with vocational training classes that used to be given at many schools. The goals of those courses were to teach the students a marketable skill, one that would directly relate to their future vocation. The Science Technique lab does this on an abstract level. The students learn skills that they will later transfer to other aspects of their lives. Because the students create their own project, and are involved in every step, they learn to fine tune planning, designing and building things. It’s kind of similar to computer programming, where the programmer has to code for all the possible errors that could occur. The students have to think about everything that could possibly go wrong and account for it in the planning and designing stages. The Science Technique at the Bronx High School of Science is also supposed to motivate students to become interested enough in a topic that they learn enough about it to be able to explain it to someone else. It is supposed to spur independent study, and determination to finish the project. At Bronx Science, students are allowed to opt out of taking the science technique lab in favor of research classes, which also promote heard work, experimentation and discovery. A lot of the class actually is about experimenting with various tools and methods to see what works best in a given situation.
The class is much more hands on. The student isn’t just sitting at a computer at four in the morning typing out a report, but is in the classroom sawing the piece of wood or soldering the connection. The accountability issue is also very important. For the blocks, a lot more care was taken in terms of sanding then would normally be taken, simply because they are being given to children. If they have sharp edges, it is not the group who gets harmed, but a bunch of toddlers. It becomes a very powerful incentive to do a good job in terms of breaking the edges. Another learning experience would be calling a hospital to check with them first before donating something. In other words sizing up all the variables involved. Very few classes create an opportunity to interact with the world at large in that kind of way. Calling the paint company is similar, having to think about whether something that says that it is safe on the label is really safe, and calling the company to get it in writing from them. There is also the hand’s on aspect of experimentation. The student pretty much creates his own experiment in the shop. It is not given by a lab sheet to be followed precisely. They set up the hypothesis, the materials and methods, and the results and conclusions. It is a way to learn many of the same skills learned in a laboratory, namely observation, documentation, and experimentation, in what would traditionally be considered an unorthodox setting. This allows some of the concepts to sink through to students for whom a science class is torture or simply uninteresting and unstimulating. The fluidity of the environment also allows for a lot of freedom. One group’s unsanded blocks can be leant out to become another groups soldering blocks. Anybody who is free lends out a hand to a group that is in need because the teacher does not mind and the unfinished task is easy to pick up. Juniors in high school build crazy towers out of blocks that are being made to be given to toddlers. Teenagers are allowed to be creative, but they learn to balance it with practicality. As long as it can be done in the real world in the given amount of time, and it fits within the parameters of the project, students usually are allowed to try it. The only major problem seems to be a lack of time. Given more time, and maybe better organization of tools, so that they are easier to find, it would be interesting to see what students could come up with. Some of the projects students have done already illustrate a very skillful blend of artistry and technology.
The hardest part of this project was probably team work. The team was composed of two stronger willed people, and two pretty mellow people. The two strong willed people were almost at each others thoughts at some point. Learning to listen and compromise is a challenge in itself. The project also was challenging in terms of planning and designing. The safety regulations had to be researched, and learned, so that the blocks could be checked for safety without the reference guides on hand. Safety has to always be considered in every aspect of the project, whether in the shaping, sanding or staining. The age group also had to be considered. The first idea, a dollhouse, had to be discarded after it was learned that the children’s wing of the hospital is primarily made up of toddlers. A dollhouse would have been a logistical nightmare in terms of safety and design. Research had to be done on a good try to create that would be beneficial to them. While blocks are a simple enough task, they are one of the most beneficial toys to give to children. They encourage hand-eye coordination, special reasoning and creativity. Blocks teach basis principles of physics, such as gravity and torque. For many children, blocks are their introduction to the principles that the Science Technique Laboratory is supposed to teach and reinforce. The principles are planning, design and construction. Whether building the blocks or constructing the tower out of blocks, they same thoughts are going through the mind. How these pieces should be positioned to get the desired shape, where they should be put so that the structure is sound, what should be done to prevent the structure or the little sibling getting hurt if they should come in contact with each other. The project also forced the students to think about children’s development and needs when choosing the shapes and colors of the block. Many of the blocks are squares and rectangle because those are the most useful for structural purposes. Other shapes were made to add variety, but they all shared the common theme of having at least one flat surface, so that all the pieces could be used when building towers and castles and highways. The group also had to decide what colors to use, and ultimately chose bright, primary colors, such as red, blue, yellow, green, and purple. Those are the colors that the toddlers will most likely react to best, they act as a stimulus for the children. There is also a lot of documentation for this project, because everything had to be recorded in case a mistake was made. The group has to be able to show that the blocks are perfectly safe. Blocks have been modified if one member of the group feels that a block is too small. Sanding does not end because the blocks have to be as smooth as possible to prevent splinters and sharp edges. If nothing else, the project has taught the students exactly what they should be looking for and wary of when buying children’s toys.
Jean Piaget was a biologist who studied the human mind. He broke down the stages of cognitive development into four separate stages:
Piaget’s four stages serve as a model for a lot of pre-school and primary school’s curricula. Encouraging toddlers to play with blocks fits into the schematic well because it encourages imagination, and thinking in an egocentric pattern. The child is the builder, the creator of his structure. At that stage, the goal is mostly to go further, not to undo his steps, nonreversible thinking. The child is too young to have the preconceived notions of logic. Piaget’s idea of stages three and four are also used as models for elementary and middle school. As the child progresses through the grades, the curriculum becomes more rigid. Although some people don’t progress from one stage to another, a large enough percentage of the population does to allow the justification of a one size fits all education system. Recently more and more schools have tried to break away from classes based on Piaget’s stages, instead offering experimental classes and stressing alternative teaching methods.
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