Constructivism in Practice

            The practice of constructivism in education revolves around two major components.  It implies that students are going to actively generate their own knowledge on particular concepts through experimentation and experience and that they will test informed ideas to arrive at the proper conclusions (Pitler, 2007).  There are a couple of strategies highlighted in these week’s readings that use technology to support the realm of constructivism.  In Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, they highlighted using spreadsheet programs and data collection tools (Pitler, 2007).  Spreadsheet programs can be used to allow students to make connections with information in the proper circumstances.  For example, if students were working with large amounts of data they can use spreadsheets to create data tables and graphs so that they can find connections in the data.  Probing hardware can also be used to allow students to take valid data and find correlations between their measurements.  I have used this type of software in the past with a system of probes under Logger Pro.  Several activities that are in conjunction with constructivist practices and use Logger Pro technology come from Enhanced PRISMS (Cooney, 2005).  These activities cover a variety of physics based real life scenarios that can be used as problem based activities for students.

References:

Cooney, T.M. Ed. D., Escalada, L.T. Ph. D., Unruh, R.D. Ed. D.  (2005)  Enhanced PRISMS.      Cincinnati, OH: Centre Pointe Learning Inc.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom    instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum           Development.

Cognitive Approaches in Education

Cognitive Approaches in Education

The cognitive side of the learning focuses more on how an individual process information internally (Smith, 1999).  “Instead of acquiring habits, learners acquire plans and strategies, and prior knowledge is important” (Smith, 1999).  Basically the theory revolves around how the brain processes and stores information.  In finding the most efficient way to process information will allow the learner to store information in a network that will allow better memory retention.  In allowing students to make multiple connections via audio and visual students are more likely to remember information by linking sensory inputs together.  There are several strategies that support the cognitive approach to learning.  In this week’s readings, Using technology with classroom instruction that works covered different strategies using advanced cues, organizers, summarizing, and note taking (Pilter, 2007).

            Advanced cues can help students make connections to material by presenting multiple forms of sensory input.  Making use of cues and questioning techniques prep students for learning and allow them to access points of their memory where the necessary information is stored.  These cues should focus on the general information (Pilter, 2007).   An example that I have used in the past about the study of inertia is to ask students to describe the ideal offensive line for a football team (Cooney, Escalada, and Unruh, 2005).  In other words, “If you were a quarterback, describe the physical features of the players you would choose for your offensive line.”  Having this discussion about the way certain traits are in important leads solid connections between our study of inertia and things they experience in real life.

            Advanced organizers allow students to link information and store it more effectively in their memory.  A program that was discussed in this week’s reading was Inspiration (Pilter, 2007).  It is an advanced organizer that allows students to quickly create web diagrams with text and images.  It allows students to find connections in concepts and link them together in a format that will relate to how they learn.

References:

Cooney, T.M. Ed. D., Escalada, L.T. Ph. D., Unruh, R.D. Ed. D.  (2005)  Enhanced PRISMS.      Cincinnati, OH: Centre Pointe Learning Inc.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom    instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum           Development.

Smith, M. K. (1999). The cognitive orientation to learning. In The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-cognitive.htm

Behaviorism in Education

Behaviorism in Education

            Even though Behaviorism has been negatively view in education it has and continues to be used in a variety of positive ways.  The premise of the behaviorist approach is to identify behaviors for a specific stimulus and given the appropriate reinforcement for the action (Smith, 1999).  A major component of the approach is to give clear, concise, and immediate feedback to exhibited behaviors.  I basically equate this educational style to the same way I would train a dog.  When appropriate behaviors are shown I give positive reinforcement to promote the continued use of the behavior.  In this week’s readings there were to strategies that support a behaviorist approach, they are reinforcing effort, homework, and practice (Pitler, 2007).  The practice of reinforcing effort is a major portion of behaviorism.  If properly managed, using this technique can change students’ perspectives on learning and give them courage to try harder (Pitler, 2007).  Students often lack to see the importance of effort and can learn to understand how it plays a large role in education (Pilter, 2007).  Homework and practice also support behaviorism in that students need to practice skills more than twenty times to be proficient in the skill (Pitler, 2007).  Practice gives students the ability to continually work out skills that are carefully reinforced falls under the Behaviorism paradigm.

            There are many forms of technology that can help these two strategies promote learning under the Behaviorist approach.  Examples of how technology can be used are word processor applications, spreadsheets, multimedia, and other web resources (Pitler, 2007).  If students need to practice skills in typing there are many applications that can foster growth in accuracy and speed.  These programs challenge students achieve a higher proficiency as well as give immediate feedback on performance.  Spreadsheets can also be used to practice mathematical and graphing skills.  The practice of using this technology can give students more confidence in their abilities to manipulate numbers.  Multimedia, in its various forms, can also promote learning under Behaviorism.  Interactive programs can promote growth and positive attitudes by rewarding students in the form of learning games.  With proper implementation, these technologies will allow students to become proficient in many skills and lead toward a positive outlook on learning.

References:

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

Smith, K. (1999). The behaviourist orientation to learning. In The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm