Follow-up on Essential Question

A Map of the Brain

Sunday, 23. June 2002

mccomas, June 23, 2002 at 5:49:27 PM CEST

On Friday I came to a conclusion about my essential question. I didn't work on it yesterday (well, I did roll it around in my mind a time or two) and have returned this morning to see how this question fits my purpose, intent, and goals. I made the following note on the printed copy of Friday's posting on essential questions:

I want to use the stories told by my three students to be able to tell my story -- the story of how students move from one place in their work to another place [no, I want to tell the story of how students leap from one place in their work to a very different place]. My hope is that others will understand their task better by reading these stories ("we make meaning through stories").

A year ago I read an article by Marsick that suggested "we make meaning through stories" and I've been trying to understand that ever since. On one level it makes perfect sense; on another level it remains an ambiguous and untouchable construct to me. I think about times when I'm trying to learn something and I say, "Give me a for instance." I think about in class when students ask for an example. I'm thinking about how, when I give students written instructions for an assignment, they never seem to be comfortable with those instructions until they hear me orally talk about them. We, the students and I, are attempting to use stories as a way to understand what someone else is saying. So, with this assignment, instead of (or in addition to) telling the students how to do the assignment, it may just be useful to tell them a story about how one, two, or three students completed the assignment. By hearing these stories, they would have choices about whether to attempt to replicate the processes these students use or to carry on with their own path toward completing the assignment.

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