Texas A&M University – Commerce
Master’s of Education in Secondary Education – MED
MISD & A&M – Commerce Partnership Cohort 2010
SED 513 Secondary School Curriculum – 3SH
Generating and Testing Hypotheses
What?
I am guilty of not using this strategy probably as much as I should, especially in World Geography. I did use this however recently when my class was studying Africa. We looked at the Rwanda Conflict and applied this strategy to it. It worked very well.
So What?
The students had to come up with a hypothesis on the best way for the United States to have handled the Rwandan Conflict, other than doing nothing. The students had to put themselves in the role of the President of the United States and come up with a solution to peacefully ending the conflict in Rwanda. Finally, the students had to look into why the conflict originally started, why was one group trying to eliminate the other, what brought about the hatred among the two groups. Collect evidence that confirms the student’s hypothesis.
The hardest part of this assignment was trying to get the students to formulate a hypothesis that would allow them to problem solve and investigate. Many of them wanted to just send in American troops and stop the fighting, what they failed to understand was that by doing that the United States would have to commit to policing the area once the conflict was resolved. I believe those students that struggled with this did so because I do not do enough of it in my class. I need to use this strategy more and will.
Now What?
I need to incorporate this strategy more in my classroom so my students can use their higher level thinking skills. Plus it allows for my students to see what tough decisions have to be made when dealing with other countries. It lets them see the freedoms that they take for granted. I will use this strategy more in my classroom in the future. It is a lot better than worksheets and maps.
Master’s of Education in Secondary Education – MED
MISD & A&M – Commerce Partnership Cohort 2010
SED 513 Secondary School Curriculum – 3SH
Generating and Testing Hypotheses
What?
I am guilty of not using this strategy probably as much as I should, especially in World Geography. I did use this however recently when my class was studying Africa. We looked at the Rwanda Conflict and applied this strategy to it. It worked very well.
So What?
The students had to come up with a hypothesis on the best way for the United States to have handled the Rwandan Conflict, other than doing nothing. The students had to put themselves in the role of the President of the United States and come up with a solution to peacefully ending the conflict in Rwanda. Finally, the students had to look into why the conflict originally started, why was one group trying to eliminate the other, what brought about the hatred among the two groups. Collect evidence that confirms the student’s hypothesis.
The hardest part of this assignment was trying to get the students to formulate a hypothesis that would allow them to problem solve and investigate. Many of them wanted to just send in American troops and stop the fighting, what they failed to understand was that by doing that the United States would have to commit to policing the area once the conflict was resolved. I believe those students that struggled with this did so because I do not do enough of it in my class. I need to use this strategy more and will.
Now What?
I need to incorporate this strategy more in my classroom so my students can use their higher level thinking skills. Plus it allows for my students to see what tough decisions have to be made when dealing with other countries. It lets them see the freedoms that they take for granted. I will use this strategy more in my classroom in the future. It is a lot better than worksheets and maps.
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