201529080001 威武
Home Work
When I had to choose the subject I am interested in most, I was surprised at how difficult
it was. I didn’t expect that such a simple question would puzzle me so much. At the very
beginning, when I just started to think about the subject I like, I realized that this question is
rather difficult to answer. In a while I realized that to deal with this problem I need some
kind of a baseline, and that’s why I tried to use Cmap. I wanted to visualize my thinking, to
see the end point of it and then make the right choice. The answer I finally found was
“history”. Even when I studied in Russian university several years ago, one of my favorite
subjects was History. So this is the first reason why I chose it.
The second reason is the importance of history for humanity, starting from ancient
civilization of middle east, ancient China, ancient Greece until present. Here I would like to
stress, that my understanding of history is not limited by a set of events or dates. For me
history is a conception, it’s a huge information storage (double BigData), oracle, source of
knowledge. History is a depository, the boundaries of which are not discovered yet; maybe
they don't exist. It’s an abstraction, clothed in the experience of our ancestors, the path you
and me walk along. Its importance in terms of science is invaluable. Here I don’t try to place
it above all the other scientific disciplines, but want to say that: if there is no History now,
we wouldn’t have become what we are today. History as a mechanism of storing and
transferring information, to some extent is a necessary basis for the formation of modern
scientific disciplines.
The third reason is the necessity of studying history as a discipline. To deal with this
question I tried to look at things from the point of view of the historians. Why, in their
opinion, do we need history? What place does it take in the modern world? In order to
understand how historians consider the place of history in our lives, I turned to Cmap again.
As a result, I was able to see as much as possible, a complete picture of what history is and
what role it plays today.
When I started to plan the lesson, the last two reasons, were the determining factors on
which I began to construct the main ideas of my lesson.
Cmap 1
Realizing that History is a subject that, not everyone likes, first of all, I would try to inspire
students’ interest. How to do that? I would try to convince them of the significance of
History and in its pervasive fascination. First I'd ask what they think on this topic, is there any
place for history in their lives? Ask them to ask these questions themselves. I think, we need
to do as much as possible to make students express their views and share their opinions
with other classmates. One of the best ways to make students talk is to let them use Cmap.
Since most students are not familiar with this tool, I would explain the essence of the
Cmap and how it is used (meaningful learning, a way of structuring knowledge, the source of
creativity). I would divide the students into groups of two or three, would ask them a
question “Why study history is useful?” and ask them to make their Cmaps. After that, I
would ask several groups of students to make a small review. The map will reflect the
existing knowledge of students, which will give me an opportunity to carefully plan my
future work with these students.
After general discussion, I would show to the students the Cmap I have prepared at home,
and ask their opinion about it. Here, the most important thing is not to thrust my opinion on
the students. The teacher should guide, but not just give knowledge. All the activities above
would give me the opportunity to make a rough picture of the level of knowledge students
already possess and to involve them in the discussions, which are from the first sight, could
seem boring. After that, I'd show them a new way of learning, the essence of which consists
in the meaningful learning of the subject, in a series of questions that lead to other
questions, thus leading to unexpected conclusions. Cmap, as a tool, when used correctly,
gives you the opportunity of constructing your knowledge, and eventually memorizing them.
Cmap 2
Cmap 3
In my class Cmap would become a tool that helps to learn, think and discover new things.
At the end of the lesson I would ask students to do a homework assignment using Cmap. The
focus question would be «What is history?»
During the second class, while checking the homework (and identifying the major gaps at
the same time), I would once again try to explain the principles of working with Cmap.
Cmap 4