Module 7 Reflection

In the early 1900's, psychologists wanted to prove and create psychology to be a field of science such as biology and chemistry. Currently, psychology is a legitimate field of science know for the study of mental processes. There have been many theorist along the way that believe mental processes or learning takes place in different ways. Some of the theorist that I have connected with or tend to relate to would be Pavlov, Skinner, Watson, and Thorndike. Ivan Pavlov's idea of classical conditioning can be altered to fit into a classroom if you get your students into a "habit" they tend to know what to expect. A lot of times, when kids know what to expect, they tend to relax. On the other hand, if you break routine it can cause confusion. I believe this is where class rules and expectations are learned-practicing over-and-over. B. F. Skinner's operant conditioning is a useful theory of learning because it deals with positive and negative reinforcement along with punishment. I frequently use these three aspects of Skinners learning theory while dealing with behavior in my class. If you can get a child's behavior under control, then they are in a place to learn. John Watson's theory of behaviorism incompasses Pavlov's and Skinners ideas on behaviors. Edward Thorndikes theory of connectionism is important because he feels a connection has to be made before learning can take place. Just as a rat must connect to the idea that if he pushes a bar, he can get to the food on the outside of the cage. One thing that struck me during this lesson was teaching kids to make connections during science. Thorndike suggests to let students work on labs or hands on activities before they read the lessons. This allows them time to make connections to the reading material, and then information becomes part of their knowledge. These aspects of the learning theories are my "take-aways" from some of the lessons.

Module 6 Reflection

In the article Advice about the Use of Learning Styles: A Major Myth in Education, there is a huge industry of books tapes, and consultants that have developed around learning styles in education. Some researchers felt that students who understand their learning styles improved their learning effectiveness in and outside of the class. Other researchers said that the better you know how you learn the more you should be able to concentrate on your study task. Based on researchers, there are several questions that need to be asked: First, are learning style instruments valid and reliable? Second, do students benefit when the type of learning matches their learning style. Third, is their evidence that learning styles improve concentration, memory, self-confidence and reduces anxiety? When answering whether or not instruments are valid, one must look at the "face validity" and "construct validity". A second battle, one must see if the instrument is reliable. As good as it sounds that teaching students in their learning style is good, there is no evidence to support this theory. This thought was based on the lack of well-designed investigations.
In the article The Myth of Catering to Learning Styles, the thought that children learn best when instruction is tailored to their learning style seems like it would be true, but, research has shown otherwise. Research has shown when students are taught according to their learning style they become overconfident in their ability to learn, and they put less effort into learning the content. On the other hand when students were taught in ways other than their learning styles, they felt the task was more difficult, thus putting more effort into actually learning.
Two ideas teachers should keep in mind when teaching lessons are that concrete representations should precede abstractions, and new information is always filtered through prior knowledge.
Teachers toward students' preferred learning styles has no solid research. Teachers need to scaffold between concrete and more abstract representations. Finally, when students struggle to understand a lesson, teachers need to look at both the nature of the content as well as the prior experiences of the student.
Both articles today present research that show when learning styles are used to teach, it does not benefit the student. On, the other hand, it may do more harm for the child than good. While reading the articles I was amazed at how much research was shown that teaching to specific learning styles does not benefit the child. After learning this fact and seeing the research I'm sure it will alter the way I teach my lesson in science. One of the articles mentioned you should do hands on activities prior to reading the text. It was also mentioned that a teacher should offer a wide array of teaching strategies. One valuable lesson I learned from the text is to try to vary my teaching strategies or styles and not limit myself to PowerPoints and quizzes.

Ed Tech 504 Module 5 Reflection

The purpose of this article (Using Constructivism in Technology) was to identify and categorize the different views of constructivism, how they relate to each other, and explain their position in the field of education. The major forms of constructivism can be divided into two major categories. The first defines the constructivist position as on one end of a line as being objective, and the other end of the line being subjective. In this instance, the educator will either focus on increasing the learners ability to understand an objective reality, or on the capacity to understand more deeply the perceptions and sense of reality. The second category of constructivism defines knowledge as either socially constructed or individually constructed. Even though both views of constructivism are different, they have one belief in common. Both views believe we construct knowledge based on what we already know and believe learning is an active process. There are several different positions of constructivism. First, cognitive constructivism (critical constructivism) views learning as an actively constructed individual thought process. This view focuses on the individual, but acknowledges that we interact with our environment or social settings. The next position is Radical Constructivism, or Extreme Constructivism. This views that knowledge is based on our environment and experiences. Similar to cognitive constructivist, educators need to view learning as an individual process. However, cognitive constructivism sees the role of the educator as a catalyst, the radical constructivist views the educator as the guide or coach to learners. This position feels educators should not impose on the learners particular way to learn. Two more positions are situated constructivism and co-constructivism. Co-constructivism is the most prevalent form. This is sometimes know as symbolic social interaction. This position feels we actively build meaning and knowledge socially through language. Although each position of constructivism has different beliefs, they all agree the educator is a guide or helper and content is secondary to the learning process. While writing this reflection I realized that constructivism is divided into two main sections. One being objective/subjective and the other is socially or individually constructed. This idea has brought made constructivism seem more clear. If I were to look around my classroom the majority of my students would be social constructivist because they work better in social settings.

In the article, The Real World on a Short Leash, Several theories of constructivism are discussed. For educational technologist, there are three important theories, collaborative learning, apprenticeship, and cognitive flexibility. Collaborative learning believes that knowledge takes place in social settings where students are encouraged to work with others. collaborative learners do not believe you learn in isolation. Apprenticeship views mental abilities and knowledge as deeply embedded in the social realms in which they are used, and that less experienced learners are taught or led by more experienced peers. It is a natural learner - tutor arrangement. The cognitive flexibility theory explains that a well structured problem is on in which we are given systematic ways to decide when a proposed solution is acceptable. As an educator I can see where these type of constructivism could be seen in the classroom. In my classroom I tend to have a lot of collaborative learning where students work in social settings and help each other. Along with this idea, apprenticeship is similar to peer tutoring because my lower functioning students learn from my higher functioning students.

Ed. Tech. 504 Module 4 Reflection

A popular question among researchers today is how does the brain work and how do thought processes develop. Two developments that have helped scientist in their studies are the PET and FMRI imaging machines. These technologies have helped researchers look directly at the human learning process. There seems to be separate areas of the brain that specializes in different things such as hearing words, seeing words (reading), speaking words, and generating works (thinking). Coordinating and practicing these skills encourages learners to move easily among speaking, writing, and listening. There are two types of memory processes, declarative and non-declarative. Declarative memory deals with facts and events in a persons life, whereas non-declarative deals with skills and other cognitive operations. Research has also shown that the mind is always at work storing and recalling information. When a series of events are presented to someone in a random order, that persons mind will reorder them into a sequence that makes sense to them when they recall the info. One thing researchers have found is that practice increases learning. There is growing evidence that the mature and developing brain are altered when learning occurs. The brain is an influential organ, that is shaped by experience and by what a person does and has done.
The new information I picked up from this article is that the different areas of the brain specialize in different things such as hearing, reading, speaking, etc. Another "take away" for me was that memory is broken into two categories declarative and non-declarative. One thing that I will become more aware of as an educator is that some students learn better by hearing and seeing words while others need to read or think. The more practice students have helps their minds work more efficiently. One piece of information that I received from the text is that the mind is always at work storing and recalling information.


(CLT) has a working memory with a limited capacity when dealing with novel information. Our long term memory has a unlimited amount of space to hold cognitive schemas that has a variety of complexity. The working memory in a person is made up of about seven elements for storing information and two to four elements for processing information. Cognitive schemas organize and store human knowledge and greatly reduce working memory load. There are three types of cognitive load, intrinsic, extraneous, and germane. Intrinsic cognitive load is the relationship between information being learned and the level of expertize of the learner. Extraneous cognitive load are not directly necessary for learning and can be altered by interventions. Germane cognitive load deal with processes directly associated with learning such as schemas.
New information I obtained from this article is that our cognitive schemas are held in our long term memory. I also learned that the working memory in a person is made up of about seven elements used to store information and two to four elements to process information.

Module 3 Reflections

Behaviorisms and the Beginning of Theories
John B. Watson was believed to be the first to use the term "behaviorism". Behaviorist believes learning focuses on observable behaviors and not mental activity. Learning is defined as new behavior. Behaviorism is built around the idea that a reaction being made is done so to a particular stimulus "dog salivates when he hears a bell". Behaviorist call this type of learning "conditioning". The two types of conditioning are classical and operate. Classical conditioning rewards a natural reflex or other behavior in response to a particular stimulus. Ivan Pavlov is best known for his work in this area. Pavlov used a dog and taught it to salivate anytime it heard a bell. The dog quickly learned when he heard a bell he would receive food. Pavlov created four stages in the process of classical conditioning. The first phase is acquisition. This is the initial phase of learning or when the dog salivates at the sound of the bell. Second phase, is extinction. This phase is used to describe the disappearance of a conditioned response such as food. The thirds stage is generalization. In this stage a child may not show fear to one dog but all dogs. The last stage is discrimination. In this phase a fear may be shown to one type of dog but not all dogs. The second type of conditioning was operate conditioning. This type of conditioning is the most important type in behaviorist learning. This type of conditioning reinforces a behavior by rewards or punishments. When a desired action is presented a child may be given treats or rewards. But on the other hand, if an undesirable action is presented punishments may be given or things may be taken away. The key aspects of operate conditioning are positive reinforcements, negative reinforcements, and shaping. In the classroom behaviorism can be used to reinforce good behaviors such as raising hands and lining up. Rewards for such actions can include praise, stickers, and charts. Critics of behaviorist make two main points while using this technique in the classroom. First, rewarding children for all learning is likely to cause the child to loose interest in learning for his own sake. Second, using a reward system or giving a child increased attention may have a detrimental effect on the class. Skinner found those who benefit most from behaviorist learning are those who were less motivated or had a history of learning.
While reading this article I realized just how much behaviorism is used in the school and classroom today. Many teachers including myself have used behavioristic techniques while enforcing classroom rules and policies. For example, I have had to condition my students to learn when the class bell rings they need to be in their seats with all of their materials and ready to begin class. On the other hand when the end of class bell rings the students are to stay in their seats until I dismiss them. Students are conditioned and know to bring their supplies with them to class. If a student has to leave the classroom they are given a negative reinforcement which is a tardy before they can exit.

Psychology, Instructional Design, and the Use of Technology: Behavioral, Cognitive, and Affordances Perspectives
This article attempts to make a connection between psychology, instructional design, and technology. Psychology is the scientific study of behavior. Instructional design is the methodology for analyzing information toward the goal of learning. Technology is the mechanism for presenting information. Computers, pictures and videos are all forms of technology. Some people say technology is a process and instructional design is a type of technology. Three aspects of psychological thought are the behavioral, cognitive, and affordances perspectives. The behavioral perspective emphasizes the role of the environment, it feels that a change in the environment will result in a change in behavior. Instructional designers who believe like behaviorist focus on controlling the environment to get a desired behavioral response. The cognitive perspective includes consideration of the learner and their performance by taking into account external influences combined with internal influences to determine behavior. The cognitive perspective guided the instructional design in the development of the Sherlock project. The Sherlock was a computer based learning environment and apprenticeship system. In Sherlock, the first phase helps students attempt to find the solution to a complex problem. In the second phase students were able to replay their problem solutions step by step. Students were also able to view what experts would do in each step. Then students were able to compare their performance with that of an expert. The affordance perspective was one that was a reaction to over emphasis of the mind and the under emphasis of the environment. In the affordance perspective environment is also stressed. The environment is available for the person to react to and receive feedback from. The environment does not necessarily restrain or determine a response, but gives the chance for an individual to respond. This article attempts to show how psychology and behaviorism helps direct instructional design. An understanding of psychology and behaviorism helps instructional designers better design instruction.

Module 2 Reflection:

One of my, "take away's" was from the article by Dede. I appreciated the fact that he noted a shift from the classical knowledge to the Web 2.0 view. This is more of a personal issue for me, because I didn't excel in high school and my first couple of years of college because of a classical approach to learning.
As an educator, I agree with Dede that many schools today still hang onto the classical view of knowledge. Many schools believe learning takes place by teaching with textbooks and multiple choice tests. If the student could pass a multiple choice test the teacher believes learning has taken place. Web 2.0 shows the weakness to that thought because many students that do well on multiple choices tests "Classical Learning" do not perform well in later life. Classical learning does not challenge the student to think for themselves or give them the chance to disagree with the author of the text. Presentation of truth in classical learning is when a student can regurgitate the facts they have learned from the text which, the classical educator believes is written by experts.
After reading about Web 2.0 and how it can benefit my students, I need to implement Web 2.0 more and back off of classical learning in my classroom. Classical educators tend to ask students to turn off all electronics during class. They see electronics as negative because they fear students will cheat. Web 2.0 educators realize electronics can enhance learning and discussion. They utilize electronics and use it to their advantage.

In the Jonassen article I found the applications of constructivism interesting. The point made is that learning most effectively occurs within context, and that context becomes part of the knowledge base. I find this interesting because obtained my teaching license through an alternative teaching program in Arkansas. I had to actually have a teaching job to be part of the program. I feel I learned much more about education by simply being in the context or the classroom everyday. What I learned in my alternative licensure program made more sense and the concepts could be immediately applied to a real life situation.
The two philosophical paradigms this article discussed was Objectivism and Constructivism. Three areas that have deep roots in objectivism are behavioral psychology, which believes behavior shapes your learning, cognitive psychology which deals with what learners know and how they acquire it, and IST. Objectivism acknowledges belief in the presence of a real world. As humans we strive to gain knowledge about the world that we live in. Objectivism believes the world is real, structured and it can be modeled for the learner. The role of education in objectivism is to learn about the world they live in. Learners are told about the world they live in and are encouraged to use this knowledge in their thinking. On the other hand, constructivism believes that the learner constructs or develops his knowledge based on the world around them. Constructivist believe that we construct our own knowledge by personal experiences in the world around us. As educators we should try to create real world settings where learning is relevant. Objectivist believe instruction should enforce a predetermined reality on the learner. Objectivist teach what reality should be learned and how it should be taught. Constructivist warn that the knowledge transmitted may not be the knowledge constructed by the learner. Constructivist believe instruction should allow the student to have tools and environments where they are allowed to construct their own ways of learning.
I believe as an educator that there are certain things that have to be taught and the students must acquire certain knowledge "objectivism". I can see where taking a constructivism approach would be beneficial because it requires the student to construct their belief about what is being taught.

Module 1 Reflection:

I found a few take away items from the article by Wilson. As we all know there all sorts of theories formal and informal, simple and detailed, etc, but all theories have one thing in common. Theories are meant to explain something or help us understand the way things work.
Wilson states that theory helps us envision new worlds. There are many ways to view the world and theories remind us of the many ways and the benefits of exploring the new ways. Theories help shape our world. Second, Wilson said that theories help us make things. When we see the world differently we begin to change things. Third, Theory keeps us honest. Theories can be self corrective in nature and help us see a need for change. Theories can be good or bad. They can be used to divide people, leave people out. In conclusion theories are just that-theories. They are designed to help us explain something.

After reading the Jonassen article I have to say I've taken away the idea that the quest for a unified theory of learning is very much vain. People learn in so many different ways due to their social status, economic status, demographic status, and parental influences. This is kinda like the nature vs. nurture issue. Jonassen says there are two theories of learning, objectivism and constructivism. The objectivist perspective of learning believes there are five aspect of learning that take place. First, learning is a biochemical activity in the brain. Different learning task take place in different parts of the brain. Second, learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior. Learning is evident by behavioral dispositions. Third, learning is processing, storage, and retrieval of information. Humans are like computers they take in information, hold it in short term memory until they can find a permanent place for the information. When the information is needed humans retrieve it from long term memory and place it back into the working zone. Fourth, learning is remembering and recalling. Objectivist believe that you must be able to remember the information if your going to learn it. Last, objectivist feel learning is critical thinking. There are many models of critical thinking such as logical thinking, critical thinking, and pragmatic thinking.
Constructivist have nine theories of learning. First learning is knowledge construction. Learners construct their own models of their own experiences. Second, learning is social negotiation. Learners tend to share their knowledge with others. Third, learning is conceptual change. Learners organize their models of the world by their experiences. Fourth, learning is contextual change. Learners gather new information in the context in which it was experienced. Fifth, learning is activity. Learning and activity are interactive. Sixth, learning is thick description. There is a large number of conceptual structures that work together as one. Seventh, learning is distributed. Communities of learners is a wide range of memories, each member stores part of the groups total memory. Eighth, learning is turning perceptions to environmental accordances. The environment around us provides evidence of learning. Ninth, learning is chaos. Different learning systems behave randomly, but people still learn. The two learning theories are very different but the both have good aspects. There will never be one universal learning theory and that is ok because there is not one right or wrong learning theory.

Tired

I'm in no way a quitter but I'm getting very weary at this point in my masters. 18 hrs down and 12 hrs plus the portfolio.