CONNECT-TYPE ACTIVITIES

Connect activities help learners to close the gap between learning and the rest of their lives. They prepare learners to apply learning in situations in real world. If Absorb activities are the nouns and Do activities are the verbs, then Connect activities are the conjunctions of learning. They do not so much add new knowledge but they tie previous skills and knowledge together. When application is crucial, not adequate or while teaching a general subject and learners doubt applicability of material or cannot make connections by themselves, Connect activities can solve these problems. Common types of connect activities are ponder activities, questioning activities, stories by learners, job aids, research activities and original work.

Ponder activities are simple learning experiences that prompt the learner to examine ideas from a new perspective. They are used to make learners aware of how ideas and values apply in their lives and encourage a broader and deeper view about a subject. Ponder activities come in several flavors. Rhetorical questions require learners to think deeply in order to answer the questions for themselves. Meditation activities involve more than cognitive aspects of a subject. Cite-example activities connect the concept with things the learner is already familiar with. Evaluation activities require learners to rate the importance of items of learning. Summary activities ask learners to recap what they have learned.

Questioning activities present learners the chance to answer questions, thus exercising their ability to integrate and apply learning. Such activities are included when learners need to fill in gaps, connect learning to a personal situation and verify truth. Questioning activities deal primarily with knowledge. Such activities are therefore a core part of know and believe objectives and a secondary part of others. It is important that questions in questioning activities should naturally go to those who can best answer them. A good question must be original, simply-structured, sincere, clearly-expressed and open-ended.

Stories by learners are the mirror image of listening to the stories. The difference is the storyteller. In this activity, learners tell stories relevant to the subject they are studying. It enables students to share their own stories that connect the subject that they are learning with their own experiences. In order to be sure that the storytelling activity contributes to learning, story must be relevant to the topic and be complete. Stories have a simple structure including setting, characters, conflict, resolution and moral. Giving learners time to think of a story and announcing them well in advance make learners fell comfortable and self-confident.