Share a story about your best learning experience (could be a formal course or something more personal). Why did you enjoy it?
One of the best learning experiences I have encountered in my life occurred in grade 4, and it has led to my success and love for the sport of Ringette. After learning about the constructivism learning theory, I now understand why it was challenging to integrate new knowledge into older knowledge. It is important to note that before grade 4, I had predominantly played hockey and was relatively skillful.
In gym class, my classmates and I had a substitute teacher who taught us about the game of Ringette. Before that day, I had never heard or seen the sport and was unaware of the passion I would gain for the sport in the future. The substitute teacher began the class by explaining the rules of the game like usual. Ringette, as a sport that replicates the rules of hockey closely, most students grasped the rules quickly. The main difference between hockey and Ringette is the composition of the stick and ‘puck’. Ringette players use a straight stick without a blade and a donut-sized ring.
With that being said, like any sport, Ringette requires skillful actions to be successful in the game setting. More specifically, Ringette requires the players to use a stick and stab and a small ring to complete and receive a pass. Like the video of Destin Sandlin learning to ride a bike, the skill was difficult and frustrating to learn initially as I was used to using a stick with a blade and a puck in hockey. Frustration can be attributed to the fact that stabbing a small ring flying across the gym floor very fast is an activity I had never participated in prior and closely resembled skills from hockey but slightly different. The slight difference in skill caused me to experience difficulty picking up Ringette. Before, in hockey, I had to catch the puck with the blade of my stick.
However, after many attempts and positive reinforcement from the substitute teacher, I could catch a few passes from my classmates. I was motivated to learn and play Ringette after this gym class that I quit hockey and pursued Ringette. My motivation and enjoyment of learning Ringette encourage me to five years of playing Ringette, I am much more skillful at stabbing the ring. With that being said, whenever I play hockey, I have difficulty handling the puck and shooting, which is interesting as I was skillful at the sport for years until I practiced Ringette. The constructivist theory can explain the initial difficulty I had learning ringette and the difficulty I have playing hockey after five years of being a Ringette player.