The Practical Use of Advanced Organizers and Their relatted Use to Instructional Media

Advance organizers seem natural to me. Many of the topics I will need to discuss in my (math and Chemistry) classes took men many years to realize intuitively. Ausubel states as the last sentence of our reading, “…some entirely new topics are introduced at the higher levels, since many advanced topics are too complex and abstract to be taught successfully on an intuitive basis.” (1978) Can you imagine trying to get a class full of students to intuitively arrive at the quadratic formula? 

x = (-b+- (b^2-4ac)^1/2 )/ 2a

The quadratic formula is used on a quadratic equation that you don’t intuitively see its roots. For example, the quadratic equation x^2+3x+2=0 factors to (x +1)(x+2)=0,  yielding the roots x= -1 or -2. Now if the equation is x^2+3x+3=0, then you have to use the quadratic formula, as it doesn’t factor nicely. Furthermore, the formula comes out with a negative square root. (It’s okay to scream!) If you recall, negative square roots are the beginning of the abstract concept of imaginary numbers (a human convention to handle the negative root messiness). Using an advance organizer that builds on the student’s prior knowledge of quadratics and presents the abstract concept of imaginary numbers and quadratic formula would be preferable to just bumbling into the concepts intuitively or by a structured lecture. This is just one example of how I can find practical use for advance organizers. Many of my high school math and science classes were structured with them.

“The web is full of short video clips and interactive media that engage students and help to introduce new content.” (Dean et.al., 2012, p.61) Khan Academy is my favorite site for all things math for all ages. Vihart on Youtube links math to science, cooking, music, art and about everything else. Bozeman Science and Tyler DeWitt are YouTube channels for chemistry though they are more on the content/lecture side of things. CrashCourse on Youtube has little videos, often in cartoon form, that would be good as advance organizers. CrashCourse not only has chemistry, but history, philosophy, and others. Check them out. I expect to use these in my classroom to give my content more appeal, depth, and memorability to today’s media-connected youth.  

Ausubel, D. (1978). Instructional Materials Retrieved from https://spu.instructure.com/courses/20801/files/415635?module_item_id=121144

Dean, C., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom instruction that works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.