How do students engage with science learning in the classroom and the outside world? They learn through their own experiences. Constructivism is a theory about how people learn. It says that humans construct meaning about the world around them by experiencing things and then reflecting on those experiences. Constructivism says that as active creators of our own knowledge, we ask questions, explore, and reflect on what we know.
Photo Credit: James Sibley @SibleyCCHSMeteo // via Twitter
At StratoStar, we believe wholeheartedly in the constructivist approach to learning. StratoStar’s scientific balloons allow students to use active techniques (such as the engineering design process, the scientific method, and real-world problem solving) to create knowledge, reflect on their accomplishments, and talk about how their understanding of the world around them is changing.
Photo Credit: Adrian Neibauer, EdD @MrNeibauer // via Twitter
With each mission to the edge of space, students are active participants in their learning experience. Students are hands-on and minds-on engaged with rigorous, real-world science research and experimentation. Students ask and answer testable questions by designing high-altitude investigations and conducting experimental research from an altitude of 100,000 feet and beyond. Are you interested in launching a StratoStar STEM program in your school? Let us know and we’ll be happy to get the conversation started.
