This week I learned about Learning By Design and Project-Based Learning. These correlate to the principles of constructivist/constructionist learning theories because they require the creation of a learner-centered, inquiry-based environment in which the instructor becomes a facilitator rather than the figure who imparts knowledge. In both cases, tasks are authentic: they stem from real interests on the part of the learner and are designed to be presented to a real world audience of peers or otherwise, not just the teacher/facilitator. Whereas Learning By Design can be a short-term project, Project-Based learning more often is extended over a period of weeks, so there is more emphasis for the learner on time management. In the end, I really did not see a great difference between the two; perhaps since I am more familiar with the term and practice of project-based learning, Learning By Design seems very similar. Both are built on a certain amount of prior knowledge, which needs to be activated through open-ended questioning, and on collaboration among learners and with the facilitator; both these aspects correlate to constructivist/constructionist theory. According to Orey, project-based learning does not necessarily involve the building of an artifact as does learning By Design, where the learner designs an artifact to present to a specific audience, but should be integrated with the curriculum and "be based on standards, to have clearly articulated goals, and to support and demonstrate content learning both in process and product" (Orey, 2001). Also in Learning By Design, the rich and varied feedback, as well as the reflection that is a part of the strategy allows learners to revise their own thinking and learning, which is an essential part of the process, and one of the principles of constructionist theory.
The videos I saw on the PBL website also involved careful planning on the part of the instructors, which is a major part of the teacher's role in constructionist theory. They were also based on authentic instruction, as they built on the interests and the prior knowledge of the students. In an area such as Language Arts, where much of the assessment is subjective, especially if it is literature based, rubrics which clearly define the expectations and the goals of the project are an essential part of the piece.
Constructionist learning can result in students being "inspired to pursue a career or engage in activism that relates to the project they developed" because students are motivated by their own interests to engage in inquiry and exploration in the first place, rather than being simply confined to narrow subject matter in the text or according to the interests of the teacher (George Lucas Educational Foundation, 2008). Thus the real-world application can continue long after students have left the classroom and moved on to adulthood. This thought is reiterated in one of the PBL videos, in which a teacher reflected on the long-range effects of a project that explored gender roles in a middle school.
George Lucas Educational Foundation. (2008) Why teach with project learning?: Providing students with a well-rounded classroom. Edutopia: What Works in Education. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/project-learning-introduction
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
PBL Online Video Library. retrieved from http://pbl-online.org/video/video.htm
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Cognitive Learning Theory and Instructional Strategies
As Dr. Orey explains in the video the connections between language, the senses, and the role of the elaboration process in the development of memories, it becomes very clear to me the reason that advance organizers are such powerful tools for student learning. When I have used video, images, songs, and other media to prepare students for reading a new text, not only are they more open to exploring the text, they are making connections between earlier memories and experiences and the text.
Virtual Field Trips take this concept many steps further by offering students the possibility of experiencing learning holistically and through making a rich tapestry of connections between experience and subject matter, rather than through merely listening or reading. This accords with the situated learning principles of Lave and Wegner, that "Knowledge needs to be presented in an authentic context" and that "Learning requires social interaction and collaboration." Wikis also follow these principles, since their are many contributors to the learning, who are creating experiences and new knowledge together.
Concept mapping can be used either individually or collaboratively; the technology in programs like C-maps, Inspiration or its online version, Webspiration that permits links, images, sound files and video to become a part of the map, also corresponds to Paivio's dual coding hypothesis explained by Orey as information being stored as images and text.
I never knew about the tracked changes and auto-summarizing tools in Microsoft Word, however I am definitely going to provide my students with the opportunity of learning how to summarize information through this tool. I wish I had known about it this year, because it would have helped me to avoid a couple of instances of plagiarization during research projects.
In my student blogs, I have been the one to set up the questions primarily, but I think the idea of students summarizing information and then prompting the discussion with questions would be highly successful, because according to Piaget, students think differently from adults and so the questions they pose would be more relevant to how they are processing the information; although my questions do strike a chord fairly often, I would like to experiment with the response rate that student questions would stimulate.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Situated learning Overview. Retrieved from http://tip.psychology.org/lave.html on May 19, 2010.
Virtual Field Trips take this concept many steps further by offering students the possibility of experiencing learning holistically and through making a rich tapestry of connections between experience and subject matter, rather than through merely listening or reading. This accords with the situated learning principles of Lave and Wegner, that "Knowledge needs to be presented in an authentic context" and that "Learning requires social interaction and collaboration." Wikis also follow these principles, since their are many contributors to the learning, who are creating experiences and new knowledge together.
Concept mapping can be used either individually or collaboratively; the technology in programs like C-maps, Inspiration or its online version, Webspiration that permits links, images, sound files and video to become a part of the map, also corresponds to Paivio's dual coding hypothesis explained by Orey as information being stored as images and text.
I never knew about the tracked changes and auto-summarizing tools in Microsoft Word, however I am definitely going to provide my students with the opportunity of learning how to summarize information through this tool. I wish I had known about it this year, because it would have helped me to avoid a couple of instances of plagiarization during research projects.
In my student blogs, I have been the one to set up the questions primarily, but I think the idea of students summarizing information and then prompting the discussion with questions would be highly successful, because according to Piaget, students think differently from adults and so the questions they pose would be more relevant to how they are processing the information; although my questions do strike a chord fairly often, I would like to experiment with the response rate that student questions would stimulate.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Situated learning Overview. Retrieved from http://tip.psychology.org/lave.html on May 19, 2010.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Behaviorist Principles, Students, and Technology
Effort is sometimes a very difficult concept to explain with students, even in the wide range of types of students I teach, because they believe that either that are smart enough to get by with very little effort, or that they are not smart enough, and so effort is useless, because they will not "get it." I found the effort rubric therefore to be very interesting as a positive reinforcer, especially when used with the accompanying graph comparing their effort to their grades, because students who use it are required to face the fact that unless they apply enough effort, they cannot move forward.
One thing that surprised me about the resources shared in the text was the capabilities of Microsoft Word. I found out that along with providing instant feedback on spelling and grammar, a tool that I use frequently and encourage the use of in my classroom, this application actually assigns a grade level to the quality of writing. This capability sets achievement goals for students, and reinforces concepts taught as part of the writing process. Particularly useful for language arts activities is a site called Mr. Nussbaum: there is a game called Sentence Surgery that is wonderful and engaging for reinforcing proofreading skills that students at the middle school level are still learning. The Flashcard Exchange is an excellent school for reinforcing vocabulary; students can design their own, and thus learning could be reinforced according to different needs. All of these resources are reflective of reinforcement, because they focus in on areas in which students need the most practice; Pitler, et al. remind us that "Mastering a skill or process requires a fair amount of focused practice" (p. 188), and suggest that educational computer games facilitate the extension of learning outside the classroom, and are an attractive way for students to hone their skills. Smith (1999) references Hartley as emphasizing that "Activity is important. Learning is better when the learner is active rather than passive." When students are actively engaged in a pleasurable activity that is reinforcing a skill, they are therefore definitely working towards mastery.
In terms of the behavorist principle of modeling, Google Docs is an excellent resource for peer editing. Posts can be tracked, so there is a record of the assistance students can give to each other in terms of proofreading and editing. Blogging about specific topics also sets up models for students, as they can read their peers' responses and learn from them.
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Smith, M. K. (1999) 'The behaviourist orientation to learning', the encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm, Last update: September 03, 2009.
Effort is sometimes a very difficult concept to explain with students, even in the wide range of types of students I teach, because they believe that either that are smart enough to get by with very little effort, or that they are not smart enough, and so effort is useless, because they will not "get it." I found the effort rubric therefore to be very interesting as a positive reinforcer, especially when used with the accompanying graph comparing their effort to their grades, because students who use it are required to face the fact that unless they apply enough effort, they cannot move forward.
One thing that surprised me about the resources shared in the text was the capabilities of Microsoft Word. I found out that along with providing instant feedback on spelling and grammar, a tool that I use frequently and encourage the use of in my classroom, this application actually assigns a grade level to the quality of writing. This capability sets achievement goals for students, and reinforces concepts taught as part of the writing process. Particularly useful for language arts activities is a site called Mr. Nussbaum: there is a game called Sentence Surgery that is wonderful and engaging for reinforcing proofreading skills that students at the middle school level are still learning. The Flashcard Exchange is an excellent school for reinforcing vocabulary; students can design their own, and thus learning could be reinforced according to different needs. All of these resources are reflective of reinforcement, because they focus in on areas in which students need the most practice; Pitler, et al. remind us that "Mastering a skill or process requires a fair amount of focused practice" (p. 188), and suggest that educational computer games facilitate the extension of learning outside the classroom, and are an attractive way for students to hone their skills. Smith (1999) references Hartley as emphasizing that "Activity is important. Learning is better when the learner is active rather than passive." When students are actively engaged in a pleasurable activity that is reinforcing a skill, they are therefore definitely working towards mastery.
In terms of the behavorist principle of modeling, Google Docs is an excellent resource for peer editing. Posts can be tracked, so there is a record of the assistance students can give to each other in terms of proofreading and editing. Blogging about specific topics also sets up models for students, as they can read their peers' responses and learn from them.
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Smith, M. K. (1999) 'The behaviourist orientation to learning', the encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm, Last update: September 03, 2009.
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