1. Which teacher in the scenario demonstrates vicarious reinforcement? Justify your response with definitions and an example from the case study.
Ms. Yamashita and Mr. Kessinger are demonstrating vicarious reinforcement. Vicarious reinforcement is the process of learning by observing the consequences of anothers actions and adjusting behavior accordingly. Ms. Yamashita is using vicarious reinforcement by complementing Robin and encouraging the other students to do what she did because she is receiving positive attention, they are learning from the consequences of Robin's actions. Mr. Kessinger is using vicarious reinforcement in the opposite way. He is disciplining Robin for using a concept map and thus the other students are learning that this in unacceptable in his class so they should not do that.
2. Is Mr. Kessinger considering reciprocal causation in his class? Explain your response, including all aspects of reciprocal causation in your reasoning.
I don't believe that Mr. Kessinger is considering reciprocal causation in his class because he is not paying attention to the students environment, their personal beliefs, or their behavior. He doesn't realize that the students are worried about what their peers think of their and thus their environment is intimidating to them. Mr. Kessinger was not paying attention to Robin's behavior either because clearly she was frustrated after being yelled at and was unable to focus for the rest of the class. He also was not considering her personal beliefs about concept maps being acceptable because he tore her map to shreds.
3. Which self-regulated learning process is Robin engaging in when she creates her concept maps? Explain your reasoning.
When Robin is creating her concept maps she is in the forethought phase. She is analyzing the task that she has in front of her and then coming up with a way to handle it. She knows that she is going to be quizzed on the topics and wants to know the information to avoid embarrassment, so she makes the concept maps to help her retain the information and retrieve it on cue.
4. How do you think Robin's self-efficacy has been affected by this experience. Be specific about which self-efficacies have been affected and justify your response with examples from the case study.
Robin's self-efficacy has definitely been lowered! She no longer has a strong belief in her capability to perform or achieve certain goals. She has been put down by Mr. Kessinger when he embarrassed her in front of her entire class. She feels silly because she was unable to come up with the answer on her own. Even though she went through the effort of making a concept map, she was reprimanded for doing so and will most likely not choose to do that again. She has a lower view of her learning possibilities and isn't putting in as much effort as she was before she was humiliated.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Personal Learning Theory
My emerging theory results were B: 40 C: 36 H: 36, they were all very close but I definitely see myself as a behavioral learner and teacher.
Piaget's Cognitive Development: Like - I really liked Piaget's idea about assimilation and accommodation. I liked the idea that kids either make their new learning fit into an old category, or makes a new category for the information. Dislike - I didn't really like Piaget's idea that learning occurs individually. He thought that people learn from their own experiences and such, rather than learning from other people.
Vygotsky's Cognitive Development: Like - I really liked his theory about social learning. They people learn from others experiences and from more capable others. His idea of apprenticeship goes along with this. Dislike - There were parts of the Zone of Proximal Development that I didn't necessarily like, such as, the fact that in the ZPD it is with the teachers help that the student can accomplish the task. I felt like maybe the student should be in their ZPD when they are able to figure it out on their own but still feel challenged.
Erikson's Psychosocial Development: Like - I agree with all of Erikson's stages and I really like the order that he placed them in. Dislike - I don't really like that the stages seem to occur individually and not necessarily mixed together. I feel like a lot of the stages could be occurring at the same time.
Kohlberg's Moral Development: Like - I like the three general categories that Kohlberg divided his stages into (Preconventional, Conventional and Postconventional Reasoning) because it seems to be fitting for moral development. Dislike: I do not like the individual categories that Kohlberg divides the elements into though because I find it hard to distinguish what a persons true motives are in doing right or wrong.
Goleman's Emotional Intelligence: Like - I like the idea that we can handle our emotions and find ways to control them. Dislike - I don't like that emotions seem to be somewhat a of a determination of your intelligence though, that doesn't seem to relate.
Information Processing: Like - I really like this whole theory pretty much. I like the idea that through teaching information in many different ways, increases the likelihood that the student will remember the information because they are relating to it on several different levels. Dislike - I don't like the idea that once several memories make it to your long-term memory they are lost after not using them for a while. I think that they are just harder to recall, but not necessarily lost.
Knowledge Construction and Higher-order thinking: Like - I really like the idea of challenging the students and getting them to reach their full potential which encourages higher-order thinking skills. I think that all teachers should encourage this type of behavior. Dislike - I know that meta cognition is important, but I just don't like the way it works. It seems like students are learning how to learn versus actually learning something.
Behaviorism: Like - The idea that we pair stimuli with responses is an idea that I really like. I see this conditioning all of the time and I know that it truly happens. Dislike - I don't really like the idea that this should be encouraged as a method of teaching. I think that at times it causes motivation to be for the wrong reasons. When used properly and in moderation, I think it can be good, but not as a main source of motivation and encouragement.
Social Cognitivism: Like - Like I mentioned earlier about Vygotsky's theory, I love the idea of social learning. I think that all people learn from the experiences of others and things that happen in their atmosphere. If my sister were to run into a wall and get hurt, I would learn from that experience to not run into walls. Dislike - I don't necessarily like the idea of disinhibitory effects. First of all, because it is a very confusing idea, second of all, because I think that this isn't always true in the positive aspect. Even if a student sees a positive outcome occur when they expected a negative outcome, they won't necessarily believe that it will happen to them.
Group and Individual Differences: Like - We didn't learn about this topic. Dislike - We didn't learn about this topic.
Motivation: Like - Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one of my favorite theories! I agree with all aspects of the pyramid. I think that motivation begins with the lowest level of meeting basic survival needs and then gradually moves up to doing service for others. Dislike - I don't like the idea that even if some students don't have the motivation to do assignments, they aren't intelligent students.
I personally think that people learn mostly from their own personal experiences, and the experiences of others. If an individual is to go through a situation first hand, they will learn a great deal because they will be involved socially, emotionally and intellectually. They are involving several different learning aspects so they are more likely to relate it to themselves and retain more knowledge. I also think that people can learn through the experiences of others so that they don't have to suffer the consequences on their own, or they can benefit from the consequences because they have seen someone else do the same.
My emerging theory appears to be behaviorism. I think that this will influence my teaching style because I will have a lot of group activities so that the students can learn from each others experiences as well as their own. I will also probably use several different reinforcement methods in order the encourage the students to work hard in my class. I can also see myself using some classical conditioning in my teaching in order to achieve and maintain classroom management. I will encourage the students to do certain things when they come in the classroom and make it a routine.
When it comes to educational psychology I know that I need to improve in learning more about cognitive learners. That area seems to get me a little bit confused. If I can work hard on learning what exactly this theory is, then I could possibly teach that way better to my students that will prefer that style of teaching and learning. I will better understand where they are coming from and why it applies to them.
Piaget's Cognitive Development: Like - I really liked Piaget's idea about assimilation and accommodation. I liked the idea that kids either make their new learning fit into an old category, or makes a new category for the information. Dislike - I didn't really like Piaget's idea that learning occurs individually. He thought that people learn from their own experiences and such, rather than learning from other people.
Vygotsky's Cognitive Development: Like - I really liked his theory about social learning. They people learn from others experiences and from more capable others. His idea of apprenticeship goes along with this. Dislike - There were parts of the Zone of Proximal Development that I didn't necessarily like, such as, the fact that in the ZPD it is with the teachers help that the student can accomplish the task. I felt like maybe the student should be in their ZPD when they are able to figure it out on their own but still feel challenged.
Erikson's Psychosocial Development: Like - I agree with all of Erikson's stages and I really like the order that he placed them in. Dislike - I don't really like that the stages seem to occur individually and not necessarily mixed together. I feel like a lot of the stages could be occurring at the same time.
Kohlberg's Moral Development: Like - I like the three general categories that Kohlberg divided his stages into (Preconventional, Conventional and Postconventional Reasoning) because it seems to be fitting for moral development. Dislike: I do not like the individual categories that Kohlberg divides the elements into though because I find it hard to distinguish what a persons true motives are in doing right or wrong.
Goleman's Emotional Intelligence: Like - I like the idea that we can handle our emotions and find ways to control them. Dislike - I don't like that emotions seem to be somewhat a of a determination of your intelligence though, that doesn't seem to relate.
Information Processing: Like - I really like this whole theory pretty much. I like the idea that through teaching information in many different ways, increases the likelihood that the student will remember the information because they are relating to it on several different levels. Dislike - I don't like the idea that once several memories make it to your long-term memory they are lost after not using them for a while. I think that they are just harder to recall, but not necessarily lost.
Knowledge Construction and Higher-order thinking: Like - I really like the idea of challenging the students and getting them to reach their full potential which encourages higher-order thinking skills. I think that all teachers should encourage this type of behavior. Dislike - I know that meta cognition is important, but I just don't like the way it works. It seems like students are learning how to learn versus actually learning something.
Behaviorism: Like - The idea that we pair stimuli with responses is an idea that I really like. I see this conditioning all of the time and I know that it truly happens. Dislike - I don't really like the idea that this should be encouraged as a method of teaching. I think that at times it causes motivation to be for the wrong reasons. When used properly and in moderation, I think it can be good, but not as a main source of motivation and encouragement.
Social Cognitivism: Like - Like I mentioned earlier about Vygotsky's theory, I love the idea of social learning. I think that all people learn from the experiences of others and things that happen in their atmosphere. If my sister were to run into a wall and get hurt, I would learn from that experience to not run into walls. Dislike - I don't necessarily like the idea of disinhibitory effects. First of all, because it is a very confusing idea, second of all, because I think that this isn't always true in the positive aspect. Even if a student sees a positive outcome occur when they expected a negative outcome, they won't necessarily believe that it will happen to them.
Group and Individual Differences: Like - We didn't learn about this topic. Dislike - We didn't learn about this topic.
Motivation: Like - Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one of my favorite theories! I agree with all aspects of the pyramid. I think that motivation begins with the lowest level of meeting basic survival needs and then gradually moves up to doing service for others. Dislike - I don't like the idea that even if some students don't have the motivation to do assignments, they aren't intelligent students.
I personally think that people learn mostly from their own personal experiences, and the experiences of others. If an individual is to go through a situation first hand, they will learn a great deal because they will be involved socially, emotionally and intellectually. They are involving several different learning aspects so they are more likely to relate it to themselves and retain more knowledge. I also think that people can learn through the experiences of others so that they don't have to suffer the consequences on their own, or they can benefit from the consequences because they have seen someone else do the same.
My emerging theory appears to be behaviorism. I think that this will influence my teaching style because I will have a lot of group activities so that the students can learn from each others experiences as well as their own. I will also probably use several different reinforcement methods in order the encourage the students to work hard in my class. I can also see myself using some classical conditioning in my teaching in order to achieve and maintain classroom management. I will encourage the students to do certain things when they come in the classroom and make it a routine.
When it comes to educational psychology I know that I need to improve in learning more about cognitive learners. That area seems to get me a little bit confused. If I can work hard on learning what exactly this theory is, then I could possibly teach that way better to my students that will prefer that style of teaching and learning. I will better understand where they are coming from and why it applies to them.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Behaviorism Case Study (Ch. 5)
1. Does Mr. Kessinger's class represent a community of learners as defined in Constructivist theory? Why or why not?
I don't believe that Mr. Kessinger's class represents a community of learners as defined by constructivist theory because the students are not working together to get to an end goal. The students are on their own and the teacher is just firing questions at them and not encouraging them to learn from each other in a group setting. They may learn from the students right answers, but i don't feel as though the students are sharing knowledge necessarily.
2. Does Mr. Kessinger utilize presentation punishment or removal punishment with Robin? Justify your response using definitions and evidence from the case.
I believe that Mr. Kessinger uses presentation punishment because he is presenting aversive stimulus when an undesirable behavior is dispalyed. Mr. Kessinger yells and screams when he doesn't get the answer that he is looking for. He is punishing the students by having a bad attitude so that they no longer want to give a wrong answer. I don't agree with the way that Mr. Kessinger handles this situation, and I think that very little parents or teachers would agree.
3. Explain Robin's reaction in Ms. Yamashita's class from the perspective of classical conditioning. Which stimuli are paired and how does that condition her response?
Robin just expects Ms. Yamashita to get angry with her because Mr. Kessinger got angry with her in the exact same situation. Having a concept map and the teacher getting mad are paired. Through Robin's experience with Mr. Kessinger she has been conditioned to believe that all teachers are going to get mad when you take notes in class and when you answer a question wrong.
4. How might Ms. Yamashita encourage Robin to create concept maps in the future? Include behavioral concepts such as shaping, reinforcement, etc., in your response.
I think that Ms. Yamashita can encourage Robin to create concept maps in the future by positively reinforcing her. She can use words of affirmation that compliment her hard work on the concept maps, I also think that she did a great job by showing it to the class and wanting to use her work for the class. It is showing Robin that she truly appreciates her work and she hopes that she continues this behavior in the future. She can correct misconceptions and conditioned responses that she may have learned from other teachers by explaining that she appreciates that type of stuff in her class.
I don't believe that Mr. Kessinger's class represents a community of learners as defined by constructivist theory because the students are not working together to get to an end goal. The students are on their own and the teacher is just firing questions at them and not encouraging them to learn from each other in a group setting. They may learn from the students right answers, but i don't feel as though the students are sharing knowledge necessarily.
2. Does Mr. Kessinger utilize presentation punishment or removal punishment with Robin? Justify your response using definitions and evidence from the case.
I believe that Mr. Kessinger uses presentation punishment because he is presenting aversive stimulus when an undesirable behavior is dispalyed. Mr. Kessinger yells and screams when he doesn't get the answer that he is looking for. He is punishing the students by having a bad attitude so that they no longer want to give a wrong answer. I don't agree with the way that Mr. Kessinger handles this situation, and I think that very little parents or teachers would agree.
3. Explain Robin's reaction in Ms. Yamashita's class from the perspective of classical conditioning. Which stimuli are paired and how does that condition her response?
Robin just expects Ms. Yamashita to get angry with her because Mr. Kessinger got angry with her in the exact same situation. Having a concept map and the teacher getting mad are paired. Through Robin's experience with Mr. Kessinger she has been conditioned to believe that all teachers are going to get mad when you take notes in class and when you answer a question wrong.
4. How might Ms. Yamashita encourage Robin to create concept maps in the future? Include behavioral concepts such as shaping, reinforcement, etc., in your response.
I think that Ms. Yamashita can encourage Robin to create concept maps in the future by positively reinforcing her. She can use words of affirmation that compliment her hard work on the concept maps, I also think that she did a great job by showing it to the class and wanting to use her work for the class. It is showing Robin that she truly appreciates her work and she hopes that she continues this behavior in the future. She can correct misconceptions and conditioned responses that she may have learned from other teachers by explaining that she appreciates that type of stuff in her class.
Willy Wood Extra Credit
I listened to Willy Wood's podcast on attention. I really enjoyed the podcast and learned a great deal about things I can do to get my students attention and keep their attention well. One particular thing I learned that really interested me was that there are several students now that don't necessarily have ADHD, but they show symptoms of it because of how distracting our environment is. The educational environment holds so many distractions such as other students, technology, sounds, outdoor activities, and etc. It is such a struggle for teachers to be the most important thing going on in the students life in order to get them to learn the material they are teaching.
Another thing about the podcast that I really enjoyed and learned a lot about, is that two main things that take precedence before whatever it is that we may have to say are the basic needs; such as eating, sleeping, breathing, etc. and sexual desires; such as who is in their class that they may have a crush on. Competing with those two strong attention grabbers can be really difficult.
I also learned that attention grabbers can't remain the same throughout the whole school year because students will grow immune to them. They will get bored of whatever the signal or sound may be, and they will begin to ignore it. They may react to it just out of habit, but they may not truly be paying attention any longer.
Willy also discussed several different ways to get the students attention and maintain the students attention. It is very important to get them moving around, relating the information to them personally, using technology, using novelty, incorporating music, having individual work time, and several others. It is important to remember not to lecture for the entire time, but rather to give the students time to be active and work on things on their own because they definitely can not keep their attention focused on you for the entire class period.
Several things that Willy mentioned were in the book as well. He mentioned that it is very important to encode the information in a variety of ways so that the students can recall the information more easily. It is also very important to make the information relate to them emotionally as well because those are some of the things that we remember the most easily.
One of the last things that Willy mentioned that I really thought was interesting was that you should not have the students multitask on tasks that are very important to you. You need to be aware that the important information is being interrupted by the other things that you are asking them to do as well. The students will feel overloaded and lose focus on each particular item.
In conclusion, I was very happy that I listened to this podcast because I learned several techniques that I would like to apply in my classroom. I know that I have got to get the students attention and maintain their attention throughout my class period because that is the most important aspect of student learning. The student won't even begin to remember the information if it isn't something that interests them and grabs their attention.
Another thing about the podcast that I really enjoyed and learned a lot about, is that two main things that take precedence before whatever it is that we may have to say are the basic needs; such as eating, sleeping, breathing, etc. and sexual desires; such as who is in their class that they may have a crush on. Competing with those two strong attention grabbers can be really difficult.
I also learned that attention grabbers can't remain the same throughout the whole school year because students will grow immune to them. They will get bored of whatever the signal or sound may be, and they will begin to ignore it. They may react to it just out of habit, but they may not truly be paying attention any longer.
Willy also discussed several different ways to get the students attention and maintain the students attention. It is very important to get them moving around, relating the information to them personally, using technology, using novelty, incorporating music, having individual work time, and several others. It is important to remember not to lecture for the entire time, but rather to give the students time to be active and work on things on their own because they definitely can not keep their attention focused on you for the entire class period.
Several things that Willy mentioned were in the book as well. He mentioned that it is very important to encode the information in a variety of ways so that the students can recall the information more easily. It is also very important to make the information relate to them emotionally as well because those are some of the things that we remember the most easily.
One of the last things that Willy mentioned that I really thought was interesting was that you should not have the students multitask on tasks that are very important to you. You need to be aware that the important information is being interrupted by the other things that you are asking them to do as well. The students will feel overloaded and lose focus on each particular item.
In conclusion, I was very happy that I listened to this podcast because I learned several techniques that I would like to apply in my classroom. I know that I have got to get the students attention and maintain their attention throughout my class period because that is the most important aspect of student learning. The student won't even begin to remember the information if it isn't something that interests them and grabs their attention.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Constructivism and Higher-order Thinking Case Study Analysis
1. Describe two similarities between the traditional lesson and the constructivist one as described above. What are two differences?
One similarity was that they were both learning about measurements. Another similarity was that the students were confused in both lessons plans at one point or another. In the traditional lesson plan the students were confused at the end of the lesson and in the constructivist lesson the students were confused throughout the process. Some differences are that the constructivist theory required the students to figure out all of the measurements without the teachers help, whereas the traditional lesson plan had the teacher there and helping at all times. Another difference is that the constructivist lesson took much longer than the traditional lesson plan.
2. What are two benefits and two drawbacks of the constructivist approach as described above? Why? In your opinion, are the benefits worth the costs? Explain your response.
One benefit is that the students are relating to the lesson much more. They are experiencing the lesson hands on and having experience with it so that they will remember it more deeply. Another benefit is that the students are creating their own way of learning and teaching themselves how to learn in the future. They are reasoning their way through a problem which is helping them to practice doing this in the future. One drawback of this approach is that it takes a very long time and you may not know going into it how long it is going to take. The students may catch on quickly or they might not, so you never know how to plan for this type of lesson. Another problem with this idea is that students often times will get frustrated and just choose to give up. They will not be receiving help from the teacher and just think that they are never going to get the answer and give up! In my opinion the benefits are not worth the costs. I feel like we would lose too many students in the process of finding the answer and some subjects could not be covered because of the amount of time this lesson will take. I think there are better ways of helping the student relate to the material.
3. How does the constructivist lesson described above promote critical thinking? Give specific examples of critical thinking from the case study and include a definition of critical thinking to support your response.
The definition of critical thinking is the process of systematically examining available information and coming up with conclusions that are based on evidence. Critical thinking is encouraged in this type of lesson because students are learning it on their own and thinking of several different solution to a problem. They are using their environment and available resources such as students bodies, hands, feet and etc. in order to come up with an answer to their problem. The students are working their way through the problem by looking at it from a variety of different ways with a variety of different solutions.
4. Would the constructivist activity be considered an authentic activity? Why or why not?
This is an authentic activity because it is measuring the students success by whether they come up with a solution or not. They are relevant to life outside of school as well because it is teaching students how to measure items as well as how to solve problems on their own. The students are learning what to do when they are faced with a dilemma and have to outside sources of help except for their environment and the resources given to them.
One similarity was that they were both learning about measurements. Another similarity was that the students were confused in both lessons plans at one point or another. In the traditional lesson plan the students were confused at the end of the lesson and in the constructivist lesson the students were confused throughout the process. Some differences are that the constructivist theory required the students to figure out all of the measurements without the teachers help, whereas the traditional lesson plan had the teacher there and helping at all times. Another difference is that the constructivist lesson took much longer than the traditional lesson plan.
2. What are two benefits and two drawbacks of the constructivist approach as described above? Why? In your opinion, are the benefits worth the costs? Explain your response.
One benefit is that the students are relating to the lesson much more. They are experiencing the lesson hands on and having experience with it so that they will remember it more deeply. Another benefit is that the students are creating their own way of learning and teaching themselves how to learn in the future. They are reasoning their way through a problem which is helping them to practice doing this in the future. One drawback of this approach is that it takes a very long time and you may not know going into it how long it is going to take. The students may catch on quickly or they might not, so you never know how to plan for this type of lesson. Another problem with this idea is that students often times will get frustrated and just choose to give up. They will not be receiving help from the teacher and just think that they are never going to get the answer and give up! In my opinion the benefits are not worth the costs. I feel like we would lose too many students in the process of finding the answer and some subjects could not be covered because of the amount of time this lesson will take. I think there are better ways of helping the student relate to the material.
3. How does the constructivist lesson described above promote critical thinking? Give specific examples of critical thinking from the case study and include a definition of critical thinking to support your response.
The definition of critical thinking is the process of systematically examining available information and coming up with conclusions that are based on evidence. Critical thinking is encouraged in this type of lesson because students are learning it on their own and thinking of several different solution to a problem. They are using their environment and available resources such as students bodies, hands, feet and etc. in order to come up with an answer to their problem. The students are working their way through the problem by looking at it from a variety of different ways with a variety of different solutions.
4. Would the constructivist activity be considered an authentic activity? Why or why not?
This is an authentic activity because it is measuring the students success by whether they come up with a solution or not. They are relevant to life outside of school as well because it is teaching students how to measure items as well as how to solve problems on their own. The students are learning what to do when they are faced with a dilemma and have to outside sources of help except for their environment and the resources given to them.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)