Dreams and Goals of the Students - Essay Example

In this life, every person has dreams, hopes and ambitions that arise as s/he grows up and their thinking becomes elevated. Sometimes, these dreams, hopes and ambitions gradually fade because some people do not focus on their dreams and goals; in addition to not planning for their future. I have had dreams and ambitions ever since I was a littlie girl. One of my dreams was to become a teacher. With the encouragement from my family members and their support, I played a teacher role since I was 13 years old. I still remember the room in our old house that my family converted to a classroom for teaching my relatives. So, every weekend I played with my nieces, nephews and some relatives as if we were in school and I was the teacher. In order to make my dreams come true I studied very hard for four years to get my Bachelors degree, which is the basic requirement for a teaching profession in Saudi Arabia. Indeed, I got my Bachelors degree in Geography with a first class honors. Then, my dreams continued swelling and with my family’s continued encouragement, and support, I aspired of acquiring a masters degree together with a PH.D degree. My dreams are almost coming true after I got a scholarship from the Ministry of Higher Education in Saudi Arabia for a masters degree in USA. Here I am at the last semester of my Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. I chose to do Masters in Curriculum and Instruction for two reasons; firstly, I have always wanted to be a great and professional teacher that has the ability of presenting and reaching the information to her students in the simplest of ways and make them utilize what they have learnt in their lives. Secondly, studying this major is the best way to help my country develop in the educational field because the education and method of teaching in USA is different from that of Saudi Arabia. Moreover, it is a way to thank my country for my scholarship and for its immense support. One of the key features of the present age is the information revolution that touches all aspects of our lives. The role of the scientific and technological progress and the unprecedented growth of it in the last couple of years helped a lot in the development of people and communities. This scientific and technological progress requires from the education and educators in general and the curriculum in particular more effort in teaching and preparing the students consistently with the current era variables. Furthermore, it also, makes the young learners an effective tool in the development of their country. The choice of the appropriate method for teaching has a significant impact in achieving the objectives and goals of the material being taught. With the electronic environment that we live in and the popularity of e-learning and computer-aided training, I decided what my project would be. I thought that I needed a project that fits with the technological progress, the electronic environment of education and my major; in addition, to benefiting and getting the experience that would help me with my future career. Students need to become thinkers and be accountable to themselves and not rely solely on their teachers. They need to know how to use the technology in a good way. In addition, they need to broaden their horizons as it exposes them to the world outside their city or even country. Thus, at the beginning of the third semester and after consultations with my adviser and some friends in my country who work in education field, I decided to make my project on the basis of eLearning field. ELearning eliminated the Geographical barriers as well as opened up broader education options. The most effective thing about it is it fosters greater student interaction, collaboration and student/instructor contact. Introduction to the Geography is the online course that will achieve all my goals. It is based on my bachelors degree in Geography and my computer skills that I believe will help me through my project. Last semester I had two classes: Telecommunications in Education and eLearning Fundamentals, which helped me a lot in my project and gave a great foundation for designing my course. Recently, most the universities and collages in Saudi Arabia are using the blended learning approach for teaching their students, which is a direct presence of "face to face" and interaction with content, teacher and colleagues simultaneously or asynchronous ‘online”. E-learning is one of the best ways that provides an interactive learning environment that attract students’ attention and encourage them to learn and exchange their views and experiences. As a result, this project is designed to teach in Saudi Arabia as a means of supporting the development that Saudi Arabia is undergoing in all fields especially the educational one. Despite the use of e-learning in Saudi Arabia, however, the education system differs from that in the USA, so this project, will allow the Saudi students to explore a great experience that may have some differences than what they had seen or heard about. They will work in collaborative projects with their colleagues and develop their knowledge through contact with colleagues and experts have the same concerns. Also, they will learn how to search for information and formulation, which will develop their thinking, writing, and ELS language and computer skills. Moreover, it is one of the required classes in the first semester for students studying Geography, which would allow for a greater number of students to take it and overcome barriers of place and time. This project will help create an interactive learning environment for learning through new electronic technologies and the diversity of sources of information and experience. Finally, the project is aimed at raising the educational quality in Saudi Arabia; diversify the options and means of learning and transition to the digital society. Introduction to Geography is an undergraduate online course designed for students who have little or no background in secondary school Geography. The course will help students to develop a critical awareness of the dynamic world in which we live, as well as to ask questions that seek to understand the spatial relationships between people, places, and the environment. Learners will have intrinsic motivation such as gaining new knowledge and extrinsic motivation such as getting their bachelors degree in Geography. Learners should have a computer, internet and writing skills. Its main goal is to make students recognize as well as recall the basic concepts, facts, and terminologies of geography. Secondly, students will explain the physical and historical processes which have created the present landscapes and summarize the distribution of climate and the distribution of biota and resources. Thirdly, the course will describe the difference between physical and human geography as well as discuss the spatial relationships between people, places, and the environment and lastly interpretation of environment as well as explanation of simple geographic information. Because of this course, students will acquire knowledge and skills such as the ability to identify and define basic vocabulary and concepts in medical and health geography, think critically and creatively about spatial relationships in their environments and understand how these relationships have developed through time. Moreover, students will develop the ability to use and apply geographical concepts, terms, facts and theories learnt to new contexts ad issues. Thirdly, students will be able to analyze simple geographic information, list and explain components of physical and human environments. Fourthly, this course will communicate basic geographic facts and information and undertake independent learning through reading and searching about natural and human phenomena and share them in discussion. Finally, after the students take this course, they will be able to analyze simple geographic information and observe the environment around from a geographic perspective. At the first class of the course, I will apply some activities that help me know what prior knowledge and the interests students have. For instance, I will make a list of 10-15 geography statements related to content of the course, including commonly held misconceptions, then make the students mark “true” or “false” next to each statement. While studying this course, students will engage in performance tasks that ensure they achieve the desired goals and acquire knowledge and skills. There are 4 major tasks; firstly, quizzes which students should expect to do at the conclusion of each unit. In most cases quizzes will have multiple choices and may include short answer questions. In addition, student will receive opportunities to rethink and revise their understandings and work through the review before the quizzes and feedback after the quizzes. By submitting a draft of their final project to get feedback, which is the second activity they are required to do as well. The third take is the weekly assignments such as reports and essays that aim to assess their understanding. Finally, discussion related to each unit of the content. At the end, student will have the opportunity to evaluate their work and its implications through the activity that they are required to do. For instance, the reports, essays, peer feedback, the review before the quizzes and feedback after the quizzes will allow students to evaluate their work. In conclusion, the course will assist students to familiarize themselves with basic geographic terms, concepts as well as well as terminologies. Additionally, the course will adequately prepare students for any future geography classes they are bound to encounter. It is therefore a very firm foundation for anybody who would like to further their studies in geography-related courses. It is a worthwhile initiative in every sense and is bound to bear fruits. Thus I strongly believe that this instructional sequence is worth conducting. This course contains ten modules and some of these modules are divided into parts in an attempt to cover most the basics of the topic. Every module and parts start with the goals and objectives, and then simple activity that gives the students an idea about what will be learnt followed by the reading materials. Some of them have Geographical vocabulary and terms section that present it before the reading materials. The reading materials are various types and sources. Some of the materials are videos, websites, and PDF/power point files. To achieve the goals and objectives; there are some two ways for that; which include activities and assignments. The activities require reading or watching materials to complete specific tasks and sending it to the instructor as part of participation grade. The assignments are diversified due to the diversification of goals, objectives and the information that combines between understanding and conservation. Besides the first project, students have to complete several tasks such as summarization, participate in the discussion, quizzes and small tasks. Every task will have instructions and some of them will have guidelines. There will be activities between main points of the module as a way of achieving the goals and giving the student the opportunity to remember the information that they received and see what they understood and what they did not Module one is introduction to Geography and it has three parts. The module covers the definition of Geography and the history of Geographic study at the first part which aims to explain the nature of Geography and how it relates to our lives. It also presents the history of geography as a science. The second part introduces the five geographic elements that serve as the methods to study the Earth. This part teaches students how to see, think and examine the world like a Geographer. Also it presents the historical development of geography and geographic thought to help students to recognize how geographers use the five geographic elements to study the earth. The third part presents the Geographical branches which aims to explain the main branches of geography and the differences between them in an attempt to understand that geography is more than studying countries and capitals.  Module two involves study of the Universe and characteristics of Earth. This module is aims at explaining the big bang theory and origins of the universe and covers a range of subjects related to the Solar System, Galaxy, Universe as well as the Earth’s place between them. Also, it presents the four spheres of the Earth and how they are interrelated. After completing this module the student will recognize the origins of the universe, and will be able to describe our Solar System, Galaxy. Also they will describe the Earth’s place in the Solar System, Galaxy, Universe and its characteristics. Students will name and define the planets and the four spheres of the Earth; and describe them. Module three is Landforms and geomorphology. This module aims at explaining the differences between landforms and geomorphology and provides students with the basic information about both terms. Students will learn about tectonic, crustal movements, landform areas, the theory of continental drift, Earth’s layers, rock types, endogenic forces and exogamic forces, in addition to weathering and erosion. And by the end of this module, students will be able to identify the types of features and landforms that exist on the surface of the Earth and investigate why, how, and where these features were formed. Also students will be able to assess landscapes on their state or city and identify the processes that shape Earth’s surface there through their final project. Module four is Hydrology and Water Resource. Water is one of the factors that work on the formation of the Earth landforms, changing it. So this module will present the basic information of how water on the Earth moves distributes, interacts with the environment including precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil water, ground water, and runoff. Students will recognize the hydrological cycle, they recognize where does the water come and where does it go. By the end of this module students will be able to define, explain and correctly use terms and concepts used to describe basic physical hydrologic processes such as evaporation, transpiration, precipitation, infiltration, ground-water flow and surface runoff. Students will acquire skills of analyzing hydrological data using excel through analyzing their hydrological data in the city such as precipitation and transpiration. Finally, students will be aware of some global and local hydrological environmental issues and methods to solve those problems. The previous two modules and next couples will allow the students to apply what they learned in their real environment though the final project. This final project will be the major assessment of students’ learning. Students will be able to experience their knowledge in actual filed. Module five covers Climate. Its goal is to provide the students with a better understanding of the processes occurring in the atmosphere that are responsible for the weather and climate we experience. This module will cover a wide variety of topics to help you gain an understanding of the science behind daily weather, climate and climate change. It will also assist one to gain a basic understanding of the atmosphere, and to develop critical thinking skills so that you can read and discuss newspaper or articles related to weather and climate. After this Module, students will be able to define the Earth’s climate system and its components and determine various atmospheric phenomena. In addition, they will develop critical thinking skills through comparing the weather in different countries. Consequently, students will improve their knowledge and understand how the interactions of the natural atmosphere and human activities occur. Module six is soil. This module aims to teach the student the differences between the science of soils and Geography of soils. Also it will present the basic and applied chemical, physical, and biological concepts in soil. In addition, it will also present the origin and classification of soil and its relationship to people and food production through discussing some soil issues in an attempt to make student recognize and appreciate the role of soils. Apart from that it will also improve their thinking of soil management as critical components of environmental systems and improving environmental quality. By the end of this module students will be able to recognize the soil and its formation, the soil components, physical Properties, Chemical Properties and the biological Properties of soil. In addition, students will be able to define and determine the environmental impact of soil use. Humus is the most vital factor in effective environment. Humus relationship with the environment dates back since the beginning of hundreds of thousands of years while humans were just collectors of the fruits and sniper animals. Then the stability and agricultural stage came, which meant the stage of food production after that it was followed by the consumer era. Then the industrial stage came which used chemical materials, with the fumes of factories polluting the air. As result of all that development many environmental problems appeared. Therefore, the humans and the environment module appear at the end of the course. The humans and the environment module aim at explaining how people impact the natural environment of different regions. The module will focus on environmental problems and their global and regional causes. It will address a population and their distribution on the Earths surface and the factors influencing that distribution. The module will also address humans’ impact on the environmental pollution and the areas of environmental pollution such as water and air pollution. The main aim of this module is to increase the awareness of the environmental challenges as well as of the complex interconnections between the natural and human. Finally, the module will present some global and local problems and how to address them. By the end of this nodule, students will be able to identify the social environmental issues and describe them adequately. Students will also develop critical thinking skills through reflecting on environmental problems and appropriate decision-making. Read More