It has been quite the past four years for myself. This action project was meant to be completed in previous terms, but it is here now in my last year at GCE. I am actually grateful to reflect on the schools curriculum, specifically an important aspect of the school, independent studies. For this class, Social Entrepreneurship, we had to focus on an aspect of our school and analyze what can improve and what makes it a strongpoint to the school.
In previous years, and terms, there were two instances in which I have taken an independent study. One was outside of the topics of my core curriculums and one was an extentsion of what we were learning.
My first independent study was on Behaviorism and exploring what it was. I was able to learn a lot more about it and how we apply it to everyday human behavior and the forming of our habits. What I was researching was really engaging and interesting to talk about. Completing an action was quite difficult for me as I did not understand how I wanted to conclude my learning. I did not feel as though I had learned enough to say I have mastered the coursework. My action project was weakly made, and did not represent what I was doing. It was a great start to my independent study but a terrible unsatisfactory ending.
The next independent study I completed was about animation. I tried to have more structure for myself in the study which was easier than before. My goal would be to complete an animation, with the guiding question: what is the animation process? This was a great start for my study, and I began to research and discover principles of animation. As the term continued though, I realized that I did not have the skill or time to create an entire animation and over estimated my abilities. I panicked in the situation and continuously tried to overachieve unrealistic standards to make up for my incapability.
The big problem that I was having as a student taking an independent study was being autonomous and accountable. An independent study advisor is meant to guide and support your work throughout the study, but I saw my advisors as a source of pressure and expectation. My lack of structure came from wanting to meet unreal expectations!
That is why, as a student who has taken an independent study and has struggled with feeling success after my independent studies, I find it important to make sure this doesn't happen to future students at GCE. Making sure that students are certain that they are making the right choice, either by choosing to take or not take an independent study. Below is a slideshow of my research and information for students and staff to consider for future independent studies.
Thank you reviewing my work. I enjoyed interviewing the staff and students of the school and seeing the different perspectives on the part of the schools curriculum.
= FULL INTERVIEWS =
STAFF MEMBER 1
What is your general opinion on Independent studies?Since we're such a small school, I think they are a great option for students who want to study something that we can't offer. That being said, they are hard to organize consistently since each one is so unique.
What is your favorite thing about them/what is their strongpoint?I think they let independently motivated students dig deeper into a topic of their choosing and have some staff support in their investigation. These can lead to all sorts of final products - machines, games, videos, slideshows, whatever format they want.
Should GCE encourage more students to take independent studies?
Should they be mandatory?
This is a hard one for me. In one sense, yes, we are trying to prepare students to be independent learners, so each student should do at least one, preferably as an upperclassman. On the other hand, some students just don't have the necessary skills for independent study. What happens to them? Perhaps we should "push the baby bird out of the nest" and let them try to figure it out on their own. Or, we lower the bar a bit and say the final product is whatever you want, spend a term researching something and put it together in some format and that's all we're looking for.
I believe that Independent studies can create a lot of pressure for students that learn best with structure? Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
I agree, the independent format works great for some students, but I can imagine some students who buckle under the pressure. This is why weekly meetings with your staff advisor are so important, to keep you on track. But that requires a lot of staff time, which is hard to come by.
I believe independent studies are great ways for students to explore their interests and passions. I think at our age we are doing a lot of exploring and experimentation and that should extend to our education as well! By giving students the ability to explore learning about their interests GCE fosters new ideas, potential additions to classes, and new passions for students
I signed up for an independent study after taking an elective class at GCE that sparked my interest in game design. The elective I took was sort of a more in-depth extension of Game Changers (the original class) where I studied more detailed game design and actually created a game.
Did you enjoy your independent study? What would you do differently?
I immensely enjoyed my independent study, it was so fun to have my learning in my own hands. If I didn't like what I was reading, I'd stop and identify what wasn't working and move onto something more useful to me. If I were to do it again I would probably move through my readings/learnings a bit quicker to have more time to actual game development.
Should they be mandatory?
Yes, I think at least 1 independent study should be mandatory through your high school career. you yourself get to decide how much time, effort, and passion you want to put into it. You can choose to study anything you like doing or are interested in. I think that a soft requirement would be best to allow students to not feel pressured into doing one, but I think it is highly useful and effective for each student to have at least 1 independent study.
I don't agree with this statement because independent studies are so open because they meant to be structured by the student. If you want to have an immensely structured study you can do that, the only catch is that you have to make it yourself. If anything I think students that have issues with autonomy would struggle more so than students who need structure.
What is your general opinion on Independent Studies?
I think independent studies are a great way for a student to explore something they are really interested in, outside of school.
Why have you not taken an independent study?
I didn’t know it was an option for me to take one.
Do you plan on taking one?
I probably will in the next year.
Some students believe Independent studies should be mandatory? Do you agree? Why or Why not?
I don’t think they should be mandatory because some students may not always be ready to explore things outside of school, during high school.
I believe that Independent studies can create a lot of pressure for students that learn best with structure. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
I agree with this because everybody is different, and some people might prefer how unstructured independent studies are, and others may be lost and overwhelmed by it.
Comments
Post a Comment