Dream IT: A Technology Based Grant Proposal for Transformative Learning
Part I: Brief Project Description
A big idea that middle school students have difficulty understanding is how events of the Civil War are interconnected, why decisions that were made affected outcomes in particular ways, and how this ultimately led to the Union victory. From the events leading up to the war to the final surrender, complex situations unfolded around the stories of people who were forced to make choices which eventually affected the lives of many others. A sophisticated computer simulation that will create a more authentic learning situation will be utilized to transform student understanding by also connecting this historic event to executive functioning skills. Students will be able to apply learning through the simulation to their own lives, express deeper empathy for people of the Civil War era, and increase their own self-knowledge. It is possible that student perspectives will change as they experience what it was like to live in Civil War America. The simulation will address a unique context where students are deeply diverse in their learning needs and will be combined with a face-to-face simulation to provide students a rich learning opportunity that is supported by a belief that studying history should be active, and connecting with the past has deep implications for us today.
A big idea that middle school students have difficulty understanding is how events of the Civil War are interconnected, why decisions that were made affected outcomes in particular ways, and how this ultimately led to the Union victory. From the events leading up to the war to the final surrender, complex situations unfolded around the stories of people who were forced to make choices which eventually affected the lives of many others. A sophisticated computer simulation that will create a more authentic learning situation will be utilized to transform student understanding by also connecting this historic event to executive functioning skills. Students will be able to apply learning through the simulation to their own lives, express deeper empathy for people of the Civil War era, and increase their own self-knowledge. It is possible that student perspectives will change as they experience what it was like to live in Civil War America. The simulation will address a unique context where students are deeply diverse in their learning needs and will be combined with a face-to-face simulation to provide students a rich learning opportunity that is supported by a belief that studying history should be active, and connecting with the past has deep implications for us today.