Professor Brian Bernards

[Monica Munguia]

I am not a fan of science fiction books but after Professor Bernards presentation, I figured both plots would appeal to my 8^th grade students.  The existence of an unrealistic world or problem seemed to resemble video games.  The only difference being instead of mastering levels, students are exposed to realistic themes.  Themes leading students to research parallel incidents in the 21^st century.  These could be as broad as global issues or as specific as school problems.  Projects in class could infuse student centered collaborative solutions using technology for peer presentations.  Then students are learning from peers and would be more prone to retaining information.  A comparison would have to be included from the books to support learning of themes.  In addition, if the science is fictional, it could be disproved by students.  Then we could use these skills to tackle relevant teenage topics such as issues with cyber bullying or social media.  The themes Professor Bernards mentioned could lead discussions or research projects in the reliability of posts among students their age or information students tend to believe on the internet.