Sustaining students’ interest by building on their prior knowledge
Why building on prior knowledge develops the joy of learning
“It is important for the students to have the joy of learning because the spirit of learning will be with them even after they leave the formal school system.”
— Mrs Chua-Lim Yen Ching (Ministry of Education, Singapore, 2017)
When students experience the joy of learning, they will be intrinsically motivated to learn. Students look for teachers who can meet their needs and interests and who can create interesting and challenging lessons that are relevant to their lives (Wang, n.d.).
The irony is learning is itself joyful (Brower, 2021) if done correctly. How often have we seen our students happy after becoming better at skills? Almost all the time, right? We feel delighted when we improve our running time, learn to use a forehand throw to pass the frisbee or become more accurate in basketball shots.
However, the point to note is the students must feel they have learned before they can be happy. Just because we are teaching doesn’t mean the students are learning (Sklar, 2017). Many learning theories, such as constructivism, suggest that learners construct knowledge by building their representations and incorporating new information into their pre-existing knowledge (schemas) (Constructivism, 2023).
Simply put, learning happens when we help students to make new meaning based on prior knowledge or experience. An analogy of constructivism would be if we want to build a tower using Lego bricks, we connect a brick (new knowledge) on top of another brick (prior knowledge) until we complete the Lego tower. As such, if we want the lesson to be enjoyable, we need to design the lesson so that every task is a development of their prior knowledge.
In this article, I will discuss five ways to use prior knowledge as the foundation for the following task to maintain the students’ interest throughout the module.
1. Build knowledge using stories
“As a comedian, you learn the three most important things in comedy are connection, connection, and connection.”
(Marcie, 2020)
A teacher I know, N, would always start the year by sharing with the class things about himself. He would share stories the students have also experienced, like stories about what he does or his family. N also shares his challenges and successes in learning the skills he is going to teach because he wants to show students that he understands the difficulties of learning any skills.
All students have personal stories about their lives and learning experiences. Teachers can build connections when they share similar experiences with the students (Rhodes, 2024). Telling stories to illustrate the game concepts can make the information more relevant and relatable to the students. As such, it helps students to remember the concepts longer (Bromley, 2023).
2. Build knowledge using experiential learning
To start a badminton module, I would ask students to cooperate with their partners to hit to each other continuously. I often get them to discuss the targets they want to achieve. I will also make sure I emphasise the importance of seeing themselves progress.
After about ten minutes of practice, I will ask them to do a short 1–2-minute discussion to build on their experiences. A question I would ask is, “What can you do to achieve higher success rates?” Then, I will ask them to try their strategies while I assess if they are getting more success.
Students who feel competent at the task would be motivated to practice and become more interested in understanding the concepts of the skills (Patall et al., 2014).
During the rallies, students repeatedly get feedback about their actions. For example, if they see their shots going to the right all the time, they might adjust their hitting action or body position. As such, the students slowly acquire knowledge and skills, using the procedural learning system (Morton, 2021).
3. Build knowledge co-constructing concepts
The best way to learn is to use both declarative and procedural learning systems (Oakley et al., 2021). Simply put, we need both understanding the concepts (declarative) and lots of practice (procedural) to be good at the skill. Hence, beside practices, it is important for the students to understand the concepts, such as how certain cues can increase the success rate of the task.
In the example of the badminton module, after the students have seen some success in badminton rallies, they would have more understanding of how to make them longer. It would be time for me to tell the class to co-construct learning cues. I often ask, “What makes the rallies successful and why?”.
I often use Think-Pair-Share as an approach for the students to think of the learning cues because students feel safer and more relaxed when talking in small groups rather than in front of the entire class. The Think-Pair-Share activity allows them to feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts (Cowling, n.d.).
Depending on our assessment of the discussion, we can decide whether to get every pair to share or just a couple of pairs to share. For example, if everyone can explain learning cues to their partners, we may only need one or two pairs to share. If the skills are too complex, we might have to get all the pairs to write on the whiteboard or in Padlet.
There are two benefits of using this approach. Firstly, empowering students to co-construct knowledge is a social constructivist approach in which the social interaction allows students to construct new meaning over their prior knowledge (Vygotsky, 1978). Secondly, having the shared goal of working together to brainstorm learning cues, the students would have greater motivation to learn (Reusser, 2001).
4. Build knowledge by using demonstration
Asking a pair to demonstrate and illustrate a particular concept helps the students see the application of the concepts in real life (Yousafzai, 2023). It works as a visual scaffold for the students if they find it difficult to explain certain concepts. For example, explaining to students why staying low can help in badminton can be challenging. But once they see their classmates being able to move quickly when they stay low, it is easier for them to articulate the concept during the discussion.
5. Build knowledge by playing the games
After students have some prior knowledge of fundamental skills such as overhead clear and badminton serves, they would be motivated to play the game.
Using a game-based approach increases the student’s interest in a few ways. Firstly, the students have the autonomy to make decisions, solve problems and demonstrate leadership (Metzler, 2011). Secondly, the release of endorphins during the game helps to relieve the stress of learning new skills (Robinson, 2023), especially if the student has poor learning experiences in PE. Thirdly, being part of a team increases individual student’s motivation to work on challenging tasks (Carr & Walton, 2014).
When we design games, we should be mindful of the readiness of the students to play the game. The challenge of the game should build on the student’s prior knowledge. We could kill the students’ interest if they win easily or lose badly.
We can ask the students to discuss and modify the rules to make the game playable. The short discussion helps the students recognise their abilities and decide how the game should be played to keep their motivation high.
In badminton lessons, I have seen students setting rules such as the better player can only hit a particular area of the court, the weaker side can add one more player, or the stronger side must win two consecutive rallies before winning one point. We can set rules for them if they have not sure what modifications they can make to make the games playable.
Continuing the knowledge construction cycle
We must remember that whatever we plan next should link to their prior knowledge so that new knowledge is built on what they have developed so far. The next step is going back to one of the five ways to build knowledge, depending on our assessment of the students.
For example, if we assess that the students need more game practice, we can get them to do a team talk before they play another game. We can ask them to discuss questions such as, “What can you do to increase the chance of winning the rally (think of new strategies)?”; “What can you do to hit the shuttlecock further so you can attack the front (Think about the learning cues they have learned before)?”; or “What works for you (to develop self-awareness)?”.
Another way is to gather the students to do a Think-Pair-Share together as a class. Usually, I do this when I notice the students are tired and need a break. The Think-Pair-Share can be combined with water breaks, where students discuss and drink simultaneously (go to point no. 3).
If we assess that the students need to practice the skills more, we can ask them to practice them again or allow them to reflect on their game and decide what skills they want to practice (go to point no. 2).
Suppose we see some students not seeing any success in the game. We can modify the rules and ask their peers to help them. We can also tell perseverance stories to motivate them not to give up and continue trying (go to point no. 1).
Conclusion
Constant assessment of the student’s understanding of the skills is essential to design activities that will suit their abilities. If students are not seeing success in skills development or playing the games or are unsure what to say during discussion, chances are they do not have the prior knowledge.
As facilitators of learning, we should decide whether to go to the next step or go back to previous steps so that students can have more time to build their competencies. Good lesson planning is not combining “fun” activities into one lesson but designing tasks that could build on the students’ prior knowledge to form new prior knowledge for the next task, just like building a Lego tower.
References
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