Ramps and Pathways is a modern education method for young students. It is described by Guernsey in 2013 in the article To Develop Tomorrow’s Engineers, Start before They Can Tie Their Shoes, which about preschool and elementary school students who study engineering. The approach was started in Waterloo, in the late 1990s (Guernsey). The concept is important for pupils to learn the craft and science before they enter a university.
The author wrote the article to encourage schools to start schoolchildren’s engineering education before they become enrollees in a college or university. Guernsey proved that many young people who are not students of a university are still fascinated with the idea and tried their best to test the marbles. People of young age want to try themselves in different kinds of work, and this enables them to choose a future job properly so that it is exciting for them during all their life. The information presented in the article may be useful for historians; Ramps and Pathways is a successful way of teaching young preschool and elementary school pupils. Thus, the method can be used these days to encourage youngsters’ interest in science and enable to develop an understanding of what profession they would like to have in the future.
The important idea of the article is that children learn to use materials before learning physics and craft. In the study, the pupils were fascinated with idea to try themselves in the role of scientists. In addition, the method fosters students’ teamwork and allows them to learn how to work together and make relationships with other members of community. Moreover, Ramps and Pathways allows pupils to find important connections between events and conditions. The approach also enables them to practice their reading and writing skills since teachers ask them to write reports about the work that they have done. Therefore, Ramps and Pathways develops their communication skills, which is crucial in modern society.
At the time of writing the article, the constructivism learning theory prevailed among education theories; it implies learning based on a person’s own experience and by interaction between with other members of a community. The theory facilitated the implementation of the constructivism learning approach, which suggests youngsters studying science by manufacturing frameworks with their own hands and then testing them (Fernando and Marikar 115). The introduction of constructivism caused the emergence of the Ramps and Pathways method as it suggested pupils working with their hands.
An important outcome of the program is that it developed the ability in the young people to think like engineers before they begin learning the subject. According to Guernsey, Ramps and Pathways has enabled to develop future engineers starting from childhood and provided children with an environment that allows them to learn effectively such science subjects as physics (Fernando and Marikar 120). Thus, the method has impacted the development of modern science.
In conclusion, the article by Guernsey sheds light on the Ramps and Pathways educational approach. It enables the youth to understand science subjects better and realize how the theory can be put into practice. It also develops their physical skills and abilities to work with tools, which will be very useful for them in the future. Hence, historians can use the article to create and develop new education methods and approaches in the future.
Works Cited
Guernsey, Lisa. “To Develop Tomorrow’s Engineers, Start before They Can Tie Their Shoes.” Smithonian Magazine. Web.
Fernando, Sithara, and Faiz Marikar. “Constructivist Teaching/Learning Theory and Participatory Teaching Methods.” Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, vol. 6, no. 1, 2017, pp. 110-122.