Communication and Humanities
 

Authors

Taylor Seymour

Files

Download

Download Full Text (1.7 MB)

Description

Taylor Seymour, Philosophy
Faculty Mentor: Professor John Torrey, Philosophy

The purpose of this project was to determine the potential benefits of pre-college philosophy and examine a method of teaching called the “learner-centered” approach. Over the course of my research project, a group of students were taught the basics of various elements of philosophy through a week-long philosophy summer camp designed to expose them to different tools, problems, and concepts in philosophy. For example, Day Two of the week-long philosophy summer camp was dedicated to ethics and friendship. The purpose of exposing the students to different views on ethics is to help them form their own beliefs and have a better understanding of others. These sessions use different techniques, such as reading aloud and visual representations, as described by the learner-centered approach. The students were given an activity to demonstrate their understanding of what they learned previously. At the beginning of the week, the students took a preliminary survey about their future goals and their justification for these goals. At the end of the week, the same survey was given to see whether their choices changed and if their justification for these choices changed as well. By the end of the week, students seemed more confident in their decision making and the answers they gave during discussion using the tools given to them earlier in the week. My project presents the effects the program seemed to have on the students, as well as the benefits and issues with the learner-centered approach.

Publication Date

2020

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities

The Lyceum Project
Off-campus Download

Share

COinS