So now that we know all about the learning theories and what implications they have for teaching, it is important to note how we can put these theories to use when creating lesson plans and activities for the classroom. There are so many different factors to consider when creating lesson plans, but most importantly, teachers have to take a look at how their students learn in order for the lesson plan to be successful. Sometimes, it may even take sacrificing some content in order to teach students how to learn. In the long run, this will fall naturally into a lesson and the content that may have been skimmed over because of it will be made up for when students learn the content more deeply in their future learning.
Something that I think is essential to lesson planning is engaging students in the content. By posing an interesting question, challenging students to investigate a problem, or by giving them some sort of puzzle to solve, they will be actively mentally engaged in the learning right off the bat. This comes from constructivist learning theory (CLT). Through formative assessment, the teacher must figure out what students already know about a particular topic so that they will be challenged in further investigations. Active mental engagement contributes to a student's zone of proximal development (ZPD), coming from social learning theory (SLT), because students will not be actively mentally engaged if the material they are being taught is too easy. Students will also get frustrated and stop engaging in the material if it is too difficult for them to grasp. Teachers need to take into account how to scaffold students based on where their ZPD is so that they can be successful.
Also beneficial in planning a lesson are the implications that developmental learning theory (DLT) offers. As students continue along in their cognitive development, they will become more and more capable of using abstract thought; however, it is still important to make a lesson concrete to help students create an understanding. Once students are capable of more abstract thoughts, teachers can create the link between abstract ideas and concrete experiences in order to create a deeper understanding of material. An example of this would be a lesson on gravity. The concept of gravity is very abstract, but through a concrete experience, the teacher can allow their students to grasp the concept in a more hands on way. By having students drop things from different heights, they can see the affect that gravity has on an object so that when they discuss the concept as a whole, the students know what gravity might look like.
Another implication from SLT is that students learn from others, so lesson planning should include a group component where students are allowed to discuss with their peers what they are learning, and to share ideas with the class. Along with that, interaction with the teacher is also important in case students have questions. The teacher should facilitate discussion, but also let students learn from each other. Because of this, lecturing is not always the best approach when planning a lesson.
These are just a few ways that learning theory should be taken into account when planning a lesson. Of course behaviorist learning theory will always play a part because it is how students will react to the lesson. As I continue to develop my understanding of the learning theories, I hope to be able to naturally link learning theory to my lesson planning so that I am creating the most effective lessons for my students' learning.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Sorting out Learning Theory
I thought that I would take time to sort out my thoughts here pertaining to each of the learning theories so as to have a more concise description of each upon trying to write my learning theory paper. I am aware that each learning theory cannot be treated completely independently because all the learning theories offer implications for other learning theories. Here I am simply interested in classifying which things fall under each category so that connections can be made clearer later on.
Constructivist Learning Theory - The main idea of constructivist learning theory is that students use their prior knowledge and experiences to learn. They apply newly presented information into their current schemas. When their old ideas are inaccurate, it is up to the teacher to present the new information. This may create cognitive dissonance and cause the students to wrestle with the conflict of ideas further, which will, eventually, lead to a deeper understanding of the new material. As the student is processing the information they are receiving, he or she is actively mentally engaged. Another way to encourage active mental engagement is by having students make predictions so they are investigating the topic at hand. If content is approached as a puzzle, the students will remember the content more vividly than if they were to do something less engaging, such as reading about it. With constructivist learning theory, the big ideas are the most important and letting students explore things doesn't mean they will necessarily understand what is at hand; however, exploration will allow students to construct new ideas based off of their old experiences first. After this, the teacher can step in and offer new explanations and assist with directing the puzzle at hand so that the student can understand material at a more complete and complex level.
Social Learning Theory - The idea here is that students will learn from one another, whether it is through interaction, observation, or imitation. Students essentially rely on other people to help them learn or to encourage their learning. That being said, a very important part of social learning theory is that of zone of proximal development. This is a range between what the student is capable of learning on his or her own, without any help from others, and the point where a student can do something with the help of another person. Zone of proximal development (ZPD) has many different implications for learning because ZPD identifies what material the students are capable of learning and, as a result, what kind of thoughts students are capable of. From here there are implications in developmental learning theory with making lessons more concrete, and constructivist learning theory in regards to active mental engagement. School is a social environment so it is important that teachers encourage group work and allow students to bounce ideas off of one another because it helps them to learn. Often times, working with peers allows students to hear things in a different language than they hear it from the teacher which may make a concept easier to grasp. Overall, teachers should encourage collaboration and peer interaction in the classroom because it is a way in which students learn.
Developmental Learning Theory - Developmental learning theory is based on the idea that students have different capabilities based on where they are at in their development. As children get older, they are able to understand more complex ideas and abstract thoughts. Because of this, the biggest implication from developmental learning theory is that of teaching from concrete to abstract. If possible, instruction should begin with the most concrete representation of the information. If a students are not understanding a more abstract concept, then the teacher should go back to a more concrete example, eventually bridging the gap between the concrete and the abstract ideas. Also important is letting students do things on their own first in order to see what their capabilities and past experiences are. From this, there are implications in constructivist learning theory because prior knowledge is going to shape the individual's level of development, as well as from social learning theory because prior knowledge and development may be influenced by the interactions with peers.
Behaviorist Learning Theory - Of all the learning theories, we have spent the least amount of time on behaviorist learning theory, so I am just going to put down what I generally believe the theory to be saying in hopes that I can deepen my understanding of behaviorist learning theory later on. Generally speaking, behaviorist learning theory is based on the idea that people will respond to different stimuli in different ways. For example, if there is a task presented, the individual will react to that task in a way they deem to be appropriate. The big ideas here are those of reinforcement and how that reinforcement should be used in the classroom. Often times praise is dished out excessively to students so that they become trained to hear if their work is good or bad. Important to behaviorist learning theory is the idea of praising the process instead of the process so that students know that their learning experience is what is being valued, not necessarily the product they get from that experience. That being said, behaviorist learning theory has strong ties to classroom management because students will respond to a teacher in different ways. If the expectations are made clear in the classroom and there is a good relationship between the students and the teacher, students are more likely to behave appropriately during class and to participate more in their learning.
A final note to make about learning theories is that they are not teaching methods, but they have implications for teaching methods. Knowing how people learn is the most powerful tool that a teacher can have for their classroom because from that, they can identify so many other things. Taking into account if students are actively mentally engaged, where students' zone of proximal development are, and making material more concrete before bringing in the abstract will help the teacher to better facilitate learning. These learning theories also offer implications in classroom management and assessment, as a result of the learning processes.
Social Learning Theory - The idea here is that students will learn from one another, whether it is through interaction, observation, or imitation. Students essentially rely on other people to help them learn or to encourage their learning. That being said, a very important part of social learning theory is that of zone of proximal development. This is a range between what the student is capable of learning on his or her own, without any help from others, and the point where a student can do something with the help of another person. Zone of proximal development (ZPD) has many different implications for learning because ZPD identifies what material the students are capable of learning and, as a result, what kind of thoughts students are capable of. From here there are implications in developmental learning theory with making lessons more concrete, and constructivist learning theory in regards to active mental engagement. School is a social environment so it is important that teachers encourage group work and allow students to bounce ideas off of one another because it helps them to learn. Often times, working with peers allows students to hear things in a different language than they hear it from the teacher which may make a concept easier to grasp. Overall, teachers should encourage collaboration and peer interaction in the classroom because it is a way in which students learn.
Developmental Learning Theory - Developmental learning theory is based on the idea that students have different capabilities based on where they are at in their development. As children get older, they are able to understand more complex ideas and abstract thoughts. Because of this, the biggest implication from developmental learning theory is that of teaching from concrete to abstract. If possible, instruction should begin with the most concrete representation of the information. If a students are not understanding a more abstract concept, then the teacher should go back to a more concrete example, eventually bridging the gap between the concrete and the abstract ideas. Also important is letting students do things on their own first in order to see what their capabilities and past experiences are. From this, there are implications in constructivist learning theory because prior knowledge is going to shape the individual's level of development, as well as from social learning theory because prior knowledge and development may be influenced by the interactions with peers.
Behaviorist Learning Theory - Of all the learning theories, we have spent the least amount of time on behaviorist learning theory, so I am just going to put down what I generally believe the theory to be saying in hopes that I can deepen my understanding of behaviorist learning theory later on. Generally speaking, behaviorist learning theory is based on the idea that people will respond to different stimuli in different ways. For example, if there is a task presented, the individual will react to that task in a way they deem to be appropriate. The big ideas here are those of reinforcement and how that reinforcement should be used in the classroom. Often times praise is dished out excessively to students so that they become trained to hear if their work is good or bad. Important to behaviorist learning theory is the idea of praising the process instead of the process so that students know that their learning experience is what is being valued, not necessarily the product they get from that experience. That being said, behaviorist learning theory has strong ties to classroom management because students will respond to a teacher in different ways. If the expectations are made clear in the classroom and there is a good relationship between the students and the teacher, students are more likely to behave appropriately during class and to participate more in their learning.
A final note to make about learning theories is that they are not teaching methods, but they have implications for teaching methods. Knowing how people learn is the most powerful tool that a teacher can have for their classroom because from that, they can identify so many other things. Taking into account if students are actively mentally engaged, where students' zone of proximal development are, and making material more concrete before bringing in the abstract will help the teacher to better facilitate learning. These learning theories also offer implications in classroom management and assessment, as a result of the learning processes.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Learning Styles and Classroom Management
There are many different factors that contribute to classroom management; however, after reading the "Classroom Management 101" blog, it really is as simple as fostering relationships and keeping your students engaged. Creating relationships with your students is pretty self-explanatory. Talking to them outside of class, getting to know what their interests are, and generally just being a friend instead of just the teacher can be an easy way to show students that you care. What becomes seemingly more complicated is all the different ways to engage students, or rather things that will prevent the students from becoming engaged in the material being presented.
Something we recently addressed in class, and that was addressed in Dr. Kruse's article "That's Not My Style: the Myths of Learning and Teaching", is the idea that students have different learning styles. Often times, teachers give their students tests to find out if they are audio, visual, or kinesthetic learners. I know that this was the case in not only my elementary, middle, and high school years, but even within the School of Education here at Drake. I have always had an issue with testing for these so called learning styles because I never really clearly fit under a particular category. Yes, over the years I noticed that I preferred to see things when learning them but that didn't mean that I couldn't take in and process information by hearing it, or by doing it. In fact, it was the combination of those things that really made the material click. So this is where I really connected with our discussion of "learning styles" in class.
Because these learning styles essentially label students, it allows the students to give an excuse for not learning something. If I am told to read a chapter in a text book, I can then go on to say that I won't learn the material that way because I am a kinesthetic learner. It is true that I may not remember everything that I read, but the reality is, text is often a reinforcer for the information being learned. That being said, developmental learning theory tells us that all students benefit from a more concrete, often a more hands-on, demonstration before building that bridge into abstract thinking about the topic. That means that everyone is essentially a kinesthetic learner.
The problem arises when students use their supposed learning as an excuse. If a student believes they are an auditory learner and knows that they are going to be listening to a lecture, they may pay less attention to the material because they believe they will acquire the information easily through just hearing it. This lowers their active mental engagement and when a student is not mentally engaged in the classroom, that is when classroom management issues start to arise.
When I have my own classroom, I will not support the idea of learning styles. I will encourage learning is a variety of different ways because that is what has been proved as effective. I want my students to get the most out of their school experience, at least while in my classroom, so I do plan to take the advice of the blog I mentioned earlier and foster deeper relationships with my students as well as provide them with diverse learning opportunities that with get them engaged. If students have previously been told they have a particular learning style, I will work to show them that it is simply a preference of how they acquire the information and that they really can learn in all different ways. Without learning styles inhibiting their thinking, I am hoping that small part of classroom management will be resolved. There are many other things that contribute to the aesthetics of the classroom like what policies are put into place and the personalities of the students themselves, but I am hoping that those things will become insignificant by putting these two practices into place.
Something we recently addressed in class, and that was addressed in Dr. Kruse's article "That's Not My Style: the Myths of Learning and Teaching", is the idea that students have different learning styles. Often times, teachers give their students tests to find out if they are audio, visual, or kinesthetic learners. I know that this was the case in not only my elementary, middle, and high school years, but even within the School of Education here at Drake. I have always had an issue with testing for these so called learning styles because I never really clearly fit under a particular category. Yes, over the years I noticed that I preferred to see things when learning them but that didn't mean that I couldn't take in and process information by hearing it, or by doing it. In fact, it was the combination of those things that really made the material click. So this is where I really connected with our discussion of "learning styles" in class.
Because these learning styles essentially label students, it allows the students to give an excuse for not learning something. If I am told to read a chapter in a text book, I can then go on to say that I won't learn the material that way because I am a kinesthetic learner. It is true that I may not remember everything that I read, but the reality is, text is often a reinforcer for the information being learned. That being said, developmental learning theory tells us that all students benefit from a more concrete, often a more hands-on, demonstration before building that bridge into abstract thinking about the topic. That means that everyone is essentially a kinesthetic learner.
The problem arises when students use their supposed learning as an excuse. If a student believes they are an auditory learner and knows that they are going to be listening to a lecture, they may pay less attention to the material because they believe they will acquire the information easily through just hearing it. This lowers their active mental engagement and when a student is not mentally engaged in the classroom, that is when classroom management issues start to arise.
When I have my own classroom, I will not support the idea of learning styles. I will encourage learning is a variety of different ways because that is what has been proved as effective. I want my students to get the most out of their school experience, at least while in my classroom, so I do plan to take the advice of the blog I mentioned earlier and foster deeper relationships with my students as well as provide them with diverse learning opportunities that with get them engaged. If students have previously been told they have a particular learning style, I will work to show them that it is simply a preference of how they acquire the information and that they really can learn in all different ways. Without learning styles inhibiting their thinking, I am hoping that small part of classroom management will be resolved. There are many other things that contribute to the aesthetics of the classroom like what policies are put into place and the personalities of the students themselves, but I am hoping that those things will become insignificant by putting these two practices into place.
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