Week 4

So this weeks resources talked about constructivist and constructionist ideas. Pretty much... that's engaging students by making artifacts. Dr. Orey (way to represent UGA!) says that using technology to make those artifacts helps students to see the difference between what they think and what is real. The book "Using Technology With Classroom Instruction that Works" recommends making something and using it to test a hypothesis. This matches constructivist-ness by making something, and the constructionist-ness by the students understanding what is going on around them by what was tested. I like the idea of using more technology to make things to help students remember information. Making things has always been a lot of fun for me and the students (exploding volcanoes, cells made of cake and candy, cardboard robot man, etc), and adding the awesome coolness of technology will make class even better and more fun and memorable.

-Mary Beth-

Cognitiveness

When I taught in elementary school, we used content maps all the time. Only now do I fully grasp how awesome these tools are for the students. The content maps are a great example of cognitive learning making visual representations of ideas. Dr. Orey suggests this visual to allow integration of several senses. Using the content maps along with power points with awesome pictures or the virtual field trip will help make those "episode" memories that Dr. Orey talked about. Similarly with note taking, summarizing, etc., providing students with several ways to remember things so to not "forget" the information makes it easier for them to make connections and store the information into long-term memory. After all, that is what cognitive learning focuses on: getting things into long-term memory.

Until next time...

Behaviorist-ness

"I'm so tired of homework!"

I hear my nieces say that when I visit them, and I hear students say it in my classroom on occasion. Personally, I rarely give homework, but when I do, it is very necessary. For example, when I taught fifth grade, it was nightly homework to work on multiplication facts. A five-minute quiz was given every Friday, and once students got all the answers right, they got a spacial prize and got to do an alternate activity during the quiz time the following week. In addition to that external reward, they also knew on the inside that they know all of their multiplication facts and no longer had to stress.

Dr. Pat Wolfe says that learning essentially by rote is the best way to learn what she calls "procedural" things. I learned my multiplication facts by rote, I learned the Pledge of Allegiance by rote, I learned how to bake brownies by rote, etc. A good example of how homework and practice are important in learning how to solve more complicated math problems. For example, we will solve the area of a compound figure composed of a rectangle, half of a circle, and a triangle. No matter what the shape of the figure, the students have to know that they break the figure into shapes that they already have an area formula for, find the area of each shape, then add them together. This takes a great deal of practice, repetition, and rote learning to get the hang of, so giving extra practice for homework is good for students to do.

Reinforcing effort gives students something to be proud of. My former fifth grade students would have a student-led conference with their parents once a year where they got to show off some of the work they had done and present goals that the parents can help them achieve at home. They get to keep record of the successes they have in class, and get a new sense of pride and accomplishment when they are able to show themselves off to their parents. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski say that this reinforcing effort "enhances students' understanding of the relationship between effort and achievement by addressing their attitudes and beliefs about learning" (YEAR). I think having that student-led conference is a great way to keep students accountable for their grades, success, areas which need improvement, and their behavior. This conference gives them something to work toward and an incentive to do their best. No student wants to show a bunch of bad grades, write-up slips, and other negative things to their parents.

So in my humble opinion, giving appropriate homework and practice is good to help students learn procedural elements, and allowing students to keep track of their own success and reinforcing their efforts are great ways to incorporate behaviorist techniques in class.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASC