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.