Home » ExchangeEveryDay » Novices and Experts – The Case of the College Classroom



ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues


<< Previous Issue | View Past Issues | | Next Issue >> ExchangeEveryDay
Novices and Experts – The Case of the College Classroom
October 26, 2006
Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't.
-Pete Seeger

I am always surprised when someone has not heard of Piaget. During the admission process, students entering the field of Early Childhood Education typically state that they are interested in working with children, citing volunteer experiences that attest to this interest. Yet, each September, I am struck by the fact that not everyone has given as much thought as I have to accommodation and assimilation.

My experience points to the importance of establishing linkages between students and educators that link the course director’s expertise with the curiosity of his or her students. In “Developmentally Appropriate Practice with College Students”, Teresa McDevitt and Jeanne Ormrod offer several suggestions to support student engagement.

  • Identify preexisting beliefs that students bring to class. These will be the lenses through which students will interpret all material. Challenge these beliefs when they are inconsistent with information gleaned through research.
  • Act as a guide for students’ learning. Ask questions that extend students’ understanding of the material. Resources such as video-taped segments and case studies (many of which are available through the Childcare Exchange) as well as presentation formats such as in-class debates help to deepen students’ understanding of topics.

In education, there is a difference between knowing a fact and understanding a topic. Gifted Early Childhood Educators strive for the latter.

McDevitt, T., & Ormrod, J. (2006). Developmentally appropriate practice with college students. Developments – Newsletter for the Society for Research in Child Development. (p. 4).

Contributed by: Laurie McNelles – Mothercraft Institute for Early Development

ExchangeEveryDay

Delivered five days a week containing news, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.

What is ExchangeEveryDay?

ExchangeEveryDay is the official electronic newsletter for Exchange Press. It is delivered five days a week containing news stories, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.

Powerful and Flexible Center Management Software
EZ-CARE2 can provide you a complete solution for information & fee management, scheduling & attendance, center door access, accounting modules (including QuickBooks) and more. It’s easy to customize family, child, staff and other screens and reports.

Struggling with software that doesn’t meet your needs? Get a free trial version of EZ-CARE2 Center Management Software





Post a Comment

Have an account? to submit your comment.


required

Your e-mail address will not be visible to other website visitors.
required
required
required

Check the box below, to help verify that you are not a bot. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this form.



Disclaimer: Exchange reserves the right to remove any comments at its discretion or reprint posted comments in other Exchange materials.