General learning 12278

M1 Assignment

Written Assignment

Donald Boucher poses with his aluminum can cactus outside his home in St. Joseph, Mo., on Oct. 18, 2005. Eight years ago, he sat before a big table in his basement with some empty aluminum cans and an idea. Boucher had heard about a can cactus in Phoenix, Ariz., of all places. His cousin, Stan Moore had made one there. And Moore provided directions for his cousin. "He told me how many cans and how high," Boucher says."That was about it," says his wife, Sondra. "He didn't draw me a picture or nothing," he says.

Reading: Chapter 1 of  The Having of Wonderful Ideas  (p. 1-14)

In your reading for this discussion, Eleanor Duckworth describes three children who discover 'for themselves that they have a 'wonderful idea'. Duckworth, indeed, says more than once that 'the development of intelligence is a matter of having wonderful ideas'. Of course, when Duckworth talks about children, I expand her views to lifespan learning. She makes a number of points that I like a lot:

· "Wonderful ideas do not spring out of nothing." (p. 6)

· "Having confidence in one's ideas does not mean "I know my ideas are right"; it means "I am willing to try out my ideas". (p. 5)

· "You don't want to cover a subject ; you want to uncover it." (p. 7)

· "The greater the child's repertoire of actions and thoughts... the more material he or she has for trying to put things together in his or her own mind." (p. 13)

Please find three quotes in this chapter which resonate with your ideas about learning. Integrate them into an essay of about three pages. Use your experience as a learner or teacher, this reading, other readings from this course (or other courses), and your reflecting and writing skills. All references must be cited, and cite at least two references.

Note: As you read Duckworth, if you find the references to Piaget to be confusing, try to 'read around them'. Just read her ideas about learning and don't focus on Piaget.​