Page 20 - 0051
P. 20

Culture, Knowledge, and Assessment in Active Learning  13



                      Situation 2
                      The professor asked the students to dissect and observe two plants – a cone and a

                  flower – under a magnifying glass. The professor asked the students a set of questions on
                  plants’ structure. The students, then, compared the structures of the cone to the flower.
                  He wrote the students’ observations on the board. The professor revealed that the cone is a
                  part of a plant that belongs to a group called “gymnosperm”. He then proceeded to lecture.
                  After the lecture, the professor conducted a Think-Pair-Share where students share what they
                  have learnt and questions they have. Before the class ended, he gave the weekly reading to
                  the students on gymnosperm.

                      We can notice that both situations involve active learning activities. However, they are
                  designed divergently that may lead to desired or undesired results. The purpose of the
                  Think-Pair-Share activity in situation 1 is to elicit students’ understanding of their research
                  and previous reading of an academic article. We can predict that the probability of May
                  dominating the Think-Pair-Share activity is very high. May has an advantage over Del due to her
                  cultural capital – experience of being in hong king group in secondary school and the financial
                  resources to afford time and advanced classes with a highly skilled tutor. May is possibly aided
                  in research and academic article reading in her advanced classes. The advanced classes may
                  have provided her broader schemata to understand and explain more complex ideas about

                  the weekly reading. Additionally, having highly educated parents and being a former member
                  of the hong king group may have given May the chance to be exposed in vertical discourses
                  (see next section for an elaboration of vertical discourse) at a young age. Exposure in vertical
                  discourses can help one understand highly specialised discourses – e.g. academic article on
                  gymnosperm – needed in universities.
                      In the second situation, the professor drew from the students’ ability to observe and describe
                  physical structures. He is drawing from students’ ‘observable present’. Therefore, it is more

                  likely that more students can participate and engage in the discourse because the knowledge
                  framework of physical observation required to do the task is already developed in them. The
                  professor linked the students’ observable present to an abstract concept. May, in this situation,
                  may have an advanced understanding compared to her classmates, however, she is not given
                  the opportunity to outshine them as the professor did not draw from a knowledge framework
                  that only a very few students, like May, have. Moreover, the purpose of the Think-Pair-Share
                  activity is different: to check students’ learning about the topic discussed and clarifying possible
                  confusions. We can notice that the professor avoided tasks that enables students to study
                  topics that have not been discussed. If the professor gave them research work or a reading (e.g.

                  research article) as a preparation for the class, learners who do not have access to technology
                  or who are working students (therefore have no time for research) may struggle, or at worst,
                  fail to do the given task. In addition, students who have limited linguistic capital may struggle
                  to process information from research materials written in highly specialised language.
   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25