This week, we studied constructionism in our class. The general idea is that people can grasp knowledge better if they can use it to create something meaningful to themselves. This is the core of generating and testing hypotheses. Personally, I learned much of my science and math through generating and testing hypotheses. Even if our teacher gave us the information, I would have to prove it to myself if I could. Often, if the subject interested me, I would then continue with the next question that my tests brought up until eventually I would no longer remember what had set me off on the path to start with.
Constructionism can be divided into three sections according to Constructionism, Learning by Design, and Project Based Learning. These three sections are planning, creating, and processing. Planning is determining what the question is and information about the topic. This is the same as generating a hypothesis to test. In creating, the student documents their experiences, prepares them for presentation, and develop an artifact that can be shared with others. This combines the second and part of the third step of hypothesis testing. In hypothesis testing, the second step is to gather data and record results. The third step of hypothesis testing is to compare the results with what was expected, determine the reason why the finding matched or didn't match the predictions, present your findings, and develop the next hypothesis. In constructionism, processing involves reflecting on your artifact, and determining where to go from there. Over all, the two techniques are the same, just separated slightly differently.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Cognitive Theory with Technology
This week, our focus is on cognitive theory. In simplified terms, cognitive theory is the idea that our brains are like computers. We have a few things in our short-term (RAM style) memory. If we feel that these things are important, we save them to our long-term (hard drive) memory. Then we can access this long-term memory through different connections that we have made to other memories. We can try to recall things directly (like going through directories on the computer), but it is much easier if we have a short-cut that we have connected to the intended memory (desktop icons).
Much of our current education system makes use of the cognitive learning style. We have our students look at topics from different angles and different examples in order to help make those connections stronger and more numerous. Technology can help us provide these different angles and examples.
For example, one strategy that is recommended in "Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works" is the use of "cues, questions, and advance organizers". This is largely a cognitive-style strategy because it focuses on getting students to think about what sort of connections they are going to be able to make to the new topics even before the information is presented. Graphic organizers are a great use of technology for this. Students can create a "thought tree" connecting the different things they know. As they go along in the lesson, they can continue to expand this tree with their new knowledge, and they will have a visual representation of the connections that they have made as well.
As they expand this tree, they move from the area of prior knowledge to the area of new knowledge. This falls into the strategy of summarizing and note-taking. Different students have different styles of note-taking that works best for them. All of these styles, from outlines to thought maps can be done on computers. And the best part, is that if they are done on a computer, they can be shared on a wiki or a blog or any of a variety of programs, so students can work together and decide whether they have the most important pieces of information. They can use their notes and the notes and summaries that their classmates have done to help study for their test. At the same time, the teacher can look over the notes and make sure that the students haven't understood something incorrectly and that they have retained the most important pieces of information.
Much of our current education system makes use of the cognitive learning style. We have our students look at topics from different angles and different examples in order to help make those connections stronger and more numerous. Technology can help us provide these different angles and examples.
For example, one strategy that is recommended in "Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works" is the use of "cues, questions, and advance organizers". This is largely a cognitive-style strategy because it focuses on getting students to think about what sort of connections they are going to be able to make to the new topics even before the information is presented. Graphic organizers are a great use of technology for this. Students can create a "thought tree" connecting the different things they know. As they go along in the lesson, they can continue to expand this tree with their new knowledge, and they will have a visual representation of the connections that they have made as well.
As they expand this tree, they move from the area of prior knowledge to the area of new knowledge. This falls into the strategy of summarizing and note-taking. Different students have different styles of note-taking that works best for them. All of these styles, from outlines to thought maps can be done on computers. And the best part, is that if they are done on a computer, they can be shared on a wiki or a blog or any of a variety of programs, so students can work together and decide whether they have the most important pieces of information. They can use their notes and the notes and summaries that their classmates have done to help study for their test. At the same time, the teacher can look over the notes and make sure that the students haven't understood something incorrectly and that they have retained the most important pieces of information.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Behaviorism in the Modern Classroom
There are many learning strategies that are currently being used in our classrooms. But sometimes the traditional strategies are still effective, even more so with current technologies. When B. F. Skinner was working on behaviorist theory, he created things like System80 to automate the tasks of reinforcing behavior. While we have updated the technology, there are many programs that are quite similar on the market today to teach us everything from typing to addition to foreign languages.
In my current class, we have been reading "Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works". While most of the techniques in the book do not work particularly well with behaviorism, some of them are excellent examples of how it can still be used in the modern classroom. For instance, one of the strategies that is discussed is reinforcing effort. Since that is what behaviorism is all about, it is obvious that behaviorist theory would be of use. However, the focus in the book is on the students understanding and being responsible for their own effort. The behaviorist strategy of rewarding desired behaviors, in this case effort, is only the first step. It is important to show how the effort is actually leads to its own rewards like improved test scores. This way, the student will be encouraged to continue to demonstrate these behaviors in the future.
The second strategy that we looked at is homework. The purpose of homework is to reinforce the learning that is done in the classroom. Students should be using it to deepen their understanding. There are ways that this can be encouraged using behaviorist theory. For instance, returning homework promptly with comments is an excellent tool for encouraging the students. There are also ways that technology can assist students while they are doing homework. For instance, Microsoft Word has a couple of features that can be used by students to improve their writing at home. The auto summarize and Flesch-Kincaid grade-level rating applications that are now standard can provide immediate feedback on a paper before it is even turned in.
While behaviorism has fallen out of favor in educational theory because it doesn't take into account the emotions or thoughts of the student, it is still useful in some aspects of teaching, specifically when it comes to quick feedback and motivation of our students.
In my current class, we have been reading "Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works". While most of the techniques in the book do not work particularly well with behaviorism, some of them are excellent examples of how it can still be used in the modern classroom. For instance, one of the strategies that is discussed is reinforcing effort. Since that is what behaviorism is all about, it is obvious that behaviorist theory would be of use. However, the focus in the book is on the students understanding and being responsible for their own effort. The behaviorist strategy of rewarding desired behaviors, in this case effort, is only the first step. It is important to show how the effort is actually leads to its own rewards like improved test scores. This way, the student will be encouraged to continue to demonstrate these behaviors in the future.
The second strategy that we looked at is homework. The purpose of homework is to reinforce the learning that is done in the classroom. Students should be using it to deepen their understanding. There are ways that this can be encouraged using behaviorist theory. For instance, returning homework promptly with comments is an excellent tool for encouraging the students. There are also ways that technology can assist students while they are doing homework. For instance, Microsoft Word has a couple of features that can be used by students to improve their writing at home. The auto summarize and Flesch-Kincaid grade-level rating applications that are now standard can provide immediate feedback on a paper before it is even turned in.
While behaviorism has fallen out of favor in educational theory because it doesn't take into account the emotions or thoughts of the student, it is still useful in some aspects of teaching, specifically when it comes to quick feedback and motivation of our students.
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