Human and Non-Human Learning Experiences

Learning happens in many ways, could be formal or non-formal. As we all know, every moment is an opportunity to learn something new. Well, I never thought that going to school every day was impacting my social life in any way. I was used to waking up every morning, going to school, transferring the lecturer’s notes to my notebook then getting back home and that was it. At least that was it until one day during one of my eighth-grade science classes. As usual, I got to class but today things looked different. Every lab table had a tray on it and do you know what this meant? We were supposed to work in groups for whichever project the teacher would assign. Being the introvert that I am, it is quite understandable that I hated days like these. Working in groups also meant that I was expected to either delegate roles or have them assigned to me so as to complete the project. None of these was appealing to me at all! With all these thoughts going through my mind, I silently sat at my location and pretended to be reading my notebook to put off anyone who would try to talk to me.  After a few minutes, the teacher came in and after the usual morning greetings, he said, “Today you will not work in twos, rather, work in groups of four. I have provided you with all the materials that you need for the project. Make it work”. That was it! There were three wires, a light bulb, a potato and a large battery. There was no guidance or structure. We were to figure it out on our own. The teacher had not even told us what we were to expect or purpose of these items. In short, this meant that we had to talk to each other. I dreaded this moment. The four of us silently sat at the table trying to figure out the idea of this project. To be sincere, at this point in my life, I had lost focus in my studies. What mattered to me was myself, my friends and boys. Simply put, my mind was totally blank. I had no idea whatsoever about what the teacher expected. So, as the other group members wracked their nerves trying to crack the project, I just sat there silently with literally nothing on my mind.  Thirty minutes passed. Nothing. Looking around the room, it was clear that the other groups were also as frustrated and confused as we were. No one seemed to have an idea of what we were to do. A potato, a bunch of wires and battery? How were these three even related? As the teacher walked around observing what we were doing, I couldn’t help but notice the disappointment on his face. Apparently, he had expected more than what we had delivered so far. That is when my heart jumped. We had to make this work! Forgetting my social positioning, I opened up and asked the group members to come together so we could reason in unity. In no time, the four of us had warmed up to each other, and we started sharing jokes about the project. We tried analyzing all the possible arrangements. After several attempts, we were finally able to bring our bulb to light. It was like a miracle! I bet you can imagine the excitement that we had. For the first time, our group managed to be the first one to finish a class project. It was such a joy. I was so happy that I was finally able to overcome my social fears and to bring our group together. This particular project was a major learning experience for me, teaching me how moments of frustration requires great unity (Fink, 2013). Looking back to this learning experience, I cannot help but compare it with an animal documentary that I recently watched. The story involved a lion that had attacked a grazing area where a zebra and a gazelle. These two herbivores do not have much in common. However, in this case, there was a major uniting factor, their enemy (the lion). The gazelle and the zebra came together, and they were able to fight the lion. This scenario is so much similar to our case in the science lab illustrating how people with different lives and interest come together when faced with a challenging or life-threatening situation (Thrun, & Pratt, 2012). 

References

Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. John Wiley & Sons. Thrun, S., & Pratt, L. (Eds.). (2012). Learning to learn. Springer Science & Business Media.