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Law #3: Make Meaning
Research shows that people
learn more effectively when the matter they are studying
is in some way meaningful to them. In a way, it is common
sense that we would take greater interest in understanding
something that has relevance to our lives.
Unfortunately, many teachers violate the law of "Making
Meaning". They teach concepts that are often out of
context, and which students can not relate to. For instance,
a teacher might do an activity where she asks students to
categorize nouns in a table under 3 headings (person, place,
thing). She then provides them with a list of words such
as table, chair, teacher, Punjab, etc. Now just for a second,
think from the students' perspective...what is intrinsically
interesting about this activity, or about these words.
One way that you could make the activity relevant is to
take a film that they love and pick words from that film.
E.g., the film Makhdi, using words like spider, haunted
house, village, etc. Because that film is meaningful to
the children, they will take greater interest in the activity.
The same goes for other classes and subjects. Teaching effects
of pollution? Ask students to list the effects of pollution
that have personally affected them, their family members,
their neighborhood/community, etc.
By making learning meaningful, students will take greater
interest in your lessons and will learn more for longer.
If you have ideas of how to make activities more meaningful,
feel free to post them here!
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