As part of the extracurricular activities performed by the teacher and the students to get into the very heart of the modern educational paradigm which tends towards global and lifelong learning, the Mathematical Sciences students are invited to visualize learning in terms of a completely new dimension and move away a little bit from the conventional classroom routines characterized by passivity and negativity. The Mathematical sciences students are called to get involved and participate in giving presentations to take their learning in hand and to boost their skills and competencies to get ready for the unexpected challenges of the future.The aim of these activities is to widen the students’ scopes concerning the thinking competencies and problem solving skills which become unavoidable to face the inconsistency of the future requirements and exigencies. On the one hand they have to make research in the fields that are connected to their studies like, creative cognitive abilities, active learning, scientific reasoning and critical thinking; on the other hand they have to deliver the final work in front of their classmates using new technology, video, PowerPoint or any other software.
The point is that we no longer like to see the main stream teachers and students keep doing the same things without questioning the methods used in the light of the rapid change that is permanently occurring around us. Let’s set up new learning methods based on negotiating meaning and paving the way for our students to be real lifelong learners.
Because the topic was new and very contemporary and because the two students’ work was great and there was a lot of research done on the subject, I deem it compulsory for me to share the major part of the work as it was presented, though a little long than it should be, for general profit.
Here is the layout of the presentation:
Despite all these difficulties, the girls had been doing well trying to surmount most of these obstacles. I believe this kind of activity ignites the students’ motivation and make them realize that they can take part in their own learning and this is the rationale behind such actions.
Generally speaking the presentation was a success though it was hard to do for young learners who were used to be passive recipients accumulating information without questioning the content. Now, they got aware that they can do things to administer their learning systematically and the teacher could just play the role of a mentor or a guide who supervises their work and promotes their efforts.
This is an audacious act from these students to venture talking about a subject like “Critical Thinking Skills” which they have heard about only recently and have to search the net to gather data and to use technology as a means of communicating their ideas. It was amazing as an experience and may be the most trouble lies in having to deliver their ideas in English.
Despite all these obstacles the attendees were satisfied and thought of going on doing more presentations to control all the three hindrances they encounter. Two other students, Zaher Ilyass and Chabab Ismail, volunteered to introduce us to the nanotechnology astonishing tiny world using the same techniques and tools. Good Luck to them all.
One final thing, the teacher reminded the students of the obligation of mentioning the sources of any borrowed piece of information. This way they protect themselves from plagiarism. Avoiding plagiarism is simply by quoting and mentioning the source of information used if it is taken from a book, a dictionary, an encyclopedia, a magazine, a website etc. Because it is a premiere and the activity was performed within the narrow circle of the classroom, the teacher drew the students’ attention to the fact that reference to sources (Bibliography) should be detailed because it is a very indispensable component of any research project.
All in all, the activity was successful and the students recommended more of such activities very so often.
