Little did I know that there was a distinction between constructivism and constructionism. While they are both related, I guess I have always mentally just grouped them together and didn’t really think about the difference. Constructivism is the theory that each individual constructs their own meaning for things. Constructionism is the theory of learning that people learn best when they build something that can be shared with others.
I think that the main idea behind instruction when using a constructivist or constructionist approach is that the students should have the responsibility to discover the information on their own and produce something to demonstrate their knowledge, as well as be able to share that with others. Technology is a great aid for constructivist and constructionist instructional strategies. One way that technology could be used in my classroom on a daily basis is by posting a discussion question on the class blog and having students comment on the posts during the week. This allows them to share their thoughts with the other students, creates discussion outside of the classroom, and allows them to think at a higher level and share that. Other types of technology that I use with my students are PowerPoint, Excel, research on the internet, and virtual field trips. I will send emails home to parents with websites for review. Many of these websites are applet sights and provide immediate feedback to the student.
A project that I will be starting with my students soon is a roller coaster project where they have to decide on the most thrilling roller coaster, but it has to be based on data. The students have to research 10 roller coasters and compare data on those 10 roller coasters such as the maximum speed, maximum height, and length of ride. This information will be inserted into Excel where they will find the mean, median, and mode for each category. Then they will create a graph for each. Lastly, they will create a PowerPoint describing their data and presenting which roller coaster they think is the most thrilling with their supporting reasons. This is a great project that integrates many concepts that we have learned this year and because it’s about roller coasters, the kids love it. Then, when they go on a roller coaster this summer, they will think about it in a whole new way!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Cognitive Learning Theory
The principles of cognitive learning theory basically explain how information is processed. The information is inputted to the brain and then it goes to the short-term memory. From there, the information is filtered and the “important” information is sent to the long-term memory. As a teacher, you want to incorporate as many senses as possible when presenting the information. Therefore, students should be involved in and creating the learning as much as possible. The information should be presented orally and visually while asking questions that require students to think critically.
One of the biggest challenges for students is to sort the information. Dr. Orey explained that the short-term memory can only process approximately 7 pieces of information at one time. If we are overloading our students with information, there is no way to expect them to be able to remember it and make sense of it. That is why we have to assist our students in organizing the information. Some of the strategies discussed in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works are to create a concept map, create a template for notes in a word processor or spreadsheet software, and incorporate multimedia software (2007). These strategies allow the students to break down the information so it is more manageable to learn. It also allows them to organize it in a way that would make sense. Adding pictures where possible would also help to create more connections with the information.
In teaching Math it can be difficult to come up with meaningful pictures. Therefore, I try to have my students work with the information as much as possible. Excel software is a great way for students to create graphs and manipulate data. For example, students could input an equation such as y = 2x + 1 into Excel along with possible values for x. From that they could calculate the values of y and see the results graphed. From there they could change the equation to y = -2x + 1 and see what happens to the graph with the one minor change.
The main idea with integrating technology is to ensure we are creating the meaningful connections that allow our students to recall information more readily.
References:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
One of the biggest challenges for students is to sort the information. Dr. Orey explained that the short-term memory can only process approximately 7 pieces of information at one time. If we are overloading our students with information, there is no way to expect them to be able to remember it and make sense of it. That is why we have to assist our students in organizing the information. Some of the strategies discussed in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works are to create a concept map, create a template for notes in a word processor or spreadsheet software, and incorporate multimedia software (2007). These strategies allow the students to break down the information so it is more manageable to learn. It also allows them to organize it in a way that would make sense. Adding pictures where possible would also help to create more connections with the information.
In teaching Math it can be difficult to come up with meaningful pictures. Therefore, I try to have my students work with the information as much as possible. Excel software is a great way for students to create graphs and manipulate data. For example, students could input an equation such as y = 2x + 1 into Excel along with possible values for x. From that they could calculate the values of y and see the results graphed. From there they could change the equation to y = -2x + 1 and see what happens to the graph with the one minor change.
The main idea with integrating technology is to ensure we are creating the meaningful connections that allow our students to recall information more readily.
References:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Thoughts on Using Behaviorist Strategies
The basic premise of behaviorism revolves around reinforcements and punishments. These days we condition our students, but not like they have been conditioned in the past. Today we reinforce effort and use homework and other practice to help our students to be successful students.
As outlined in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, the general belief is that students do not realize how important their effort is in their success but they are able to learn that the effort they put in will pay off (p. 155). Therefore, it is the responsibility of the teachers to teach the importance of effort and one way to do that is by keeping track of their effort. Teaching effort is not like teaching how to punctuate sentences. You cannot force a student to study every night or to do their homework at home instead of on the bus. They have to be shown what the benefit would be. One of the suggestions made by Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) is to create a spreadsheet where the students record their effort for each week of a unit. This is a great way for students to see the correlation between what they are doing inside and outside of school compared to the grade they receive in that area. It does not take students long to see that there is usually a positive correlation between putting in time and effort and receiving better grades. Along these same lines, I liked the idea of creating a survey on Survey Monkey. This is something that I would like to do at the end of a unit and then show the results to students the following year. For example, after teaching an Algebra unit, I could have students rank the difficulty level of specific concepts. When I show this to students the following year, they can see what former 8th graders thought and would then know where they might have to increase their effort so they don’t fall behind.
The other aspect of the behaviorist learning theory is repetitive practice in the form of homework or other tutorials. Homework is dreaded by all students because it is boring, monotonous, and time-consuming (if they put in the effort). Teachers know why they give homework, but do the students understand it? Homework, and any other activity that involves independent practice, must allow for feedback and a time to learn from mistakes. The math homework I give my students consists of 3 or 4 problems about each concept we talked about that day. I explain that I want them to go home and try it on their own after being in school to see if they remembered it. I always encourage them to put something on their paper and try something. The next day homework is checked only for completion. The reason for this is that not everyone will understand something right away and the purpose is to see if the students can complete the task on their own. We go over the homework in class and this is where I clear up confusions.
Technology and internet resources are becoming more and more helpful for providing activities that students can do on their own to practice a concept. These tutorial programs, like homework, provide the instant feedback. There are also a plethora of websites that are instructional and give students another explanation of a topic that they might not have heard in class or seen in the textbook. Technology is also good for expanding on the tutorials and providing more enrichment-type activities. One example that I really liked (because I’m a math teacher) was the use of Excel to create a spreadsheet and graphs representing equations (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 191). This is a great way for students to see how the numbers in an equation change how the graph looks without having to hand-draw each graph.
There is certainly a place for behaviorist theory in today's classroom. It is not the same as what we may have experienced as students, but it is still there in a different form. I think the biggest thing we have to remember though is to use these strategies in moderation.
Because I am curious I will pose these questions: What are your thoughts on grading homework? Would you ever use the score of an online tutorial as a grade?
References:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
As outlined in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, the general belief is that students do not realize how important their effort is in their success but they are able to learn that the effort they put in will pay off (p. 155). Therefore, it is the responsibility of the teachers to teach the importance of effort and one way to do that is by keeping track of their effort. Teaching effort is not like teaching how to punctuate sentences. You cannot force a student to study every night or to do their homework at home instead of on the bus. They have to be shown what the benefit would be. One of the suggestions made by Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) is to create a spreadsheet where the students record their effort for each week of a unit. This is a great way for students to see the correlation between what they are doing inside and outside of school compared to the grade they receive in that area. It does not take students long to see that there is usually a positive correlation between putting in time and effort and receiving better grades. Along these same lines, I liked the idea of creating a survey on Survey Monkey. This is something that I would like to do at the end of a unit and then show the results to students the following year. For example, after teaching an Algebra unit, I could have students rank the difficulty level of specific concepts. When I show this to students the following year, they can see what former 8th graders thought and would then know where they might have to increase their effort so they don’t fall behind.
The other aspect of the behaviorist learning theory is repetitive practice in the form of homework or other tutorials. Homework is dreaded by all students because it is boring, monotonous, and time-consuming (if they put in the effort). Teachers know why they give homework, but do the students understand it? Homework, and any other activity that involves independent practice, must allow for feedback and a time to learn from mistakes. The math homework I give my students consists of 3 or 4 problems about each concept we talked about that day. I explain that I want them to go home and try it on their own after being in school to see if they remembered it. I always encourage them to put something on their paper and try something. The next day homework is checked only for completion. The reason for this is that not everyone will understand something right away and the purpose is to see if the students can complete the task on their own. We go over the homework in class and this is where I clear up confusions.
Technology and internet resources are becoming more and more helpful for providing activities that students can do on their own to practice a concept. These tutorial programs, like homework, provide the instant feedback. There are also a plethora of websites that are instructional and give students another explanation of a topic that they might not have heard in class or seen in the textbook. Technology is also good for expanding on the tutorials and providing more enrichment-type activities. One example that I really liked (because I’m a math teacher) was the use of Excel to create a spreadsheet and graphs representing equations (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 191). This is a great way for students to see how the numbers in an equation change how the graph looks without having to hand-draw each graph.
There is certainly a place for behaviorist theory in today's classroom. It is not the same as what we may have experienced as students, but it is still there in a different form. I think the biggest thing we have to remember though is to use these strategies in moderation.
Because I am curious I will pose these questions: What are your thoughts on grading homework? Would you ever use the score of an online tutorial as a grade?
References:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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