Constructivism

Constructivism holds that learning happens by classifying new knowledge based on what the student already knows. When faced with new information learners will assimilate the information fit into an existing experience. If assimilation is not possible, the learner will form a new schema to hold the new information. Through thought and research, student construction an understanding/relationship for a topic. In the classroom, students working under a constructionist model will be given an issue and then create a product as result of finding a solution. The course text suggests “generating and testing hypotheses” as a model for constructivist learning. Under this idea, students are given a set of circumstances where they have to come to a justified conclusion. Throughout the process students will gather and interpret data before ultimately making a decision. Students operating under this ideal become immersed in the learning process. They are active in the learning process thus it is more meaningful to the learner.   

Cognitivism in Practice

 The cognitive learning theory focuses on how learners take in information and store and use it. Learners take information into their short term memory, make meaning of it, and then can potentially store information into the long term memory where it can be later accessed. The instructional strategies presented this week are learning experiences teachers can set up to assist and guide students to make connections with new information. Students are able to better understand new information when they can connect it with something they already know. Advanced organizers, cues, questions, summaries, and note taking present a format for the student to manipulate information into meaningful information networks. Concept maps allow students to have a visual representation of the relationship between concepts. This instructional strategy allows students to organize their thoughts in a meaningful way. Virtual field trips allow student to encounter places that they are not able to visit. It assist in providing a visual image to accompany an idea/place.

Behaviorism in Practice

The key idea behind the behaviorist theory is eliciting a desired behavior through the use of rewards and punishments. The course text defines the instructional strategy of reinforcing effort is a method of illustrating the correlation between completion/effort and score. The completion/effort piece would be considered the behavior while the score is the reward/punishment. Students sometimes feel powerless in their educational world. Using technology such as Excel graphs allows them the opportunity to visually see the correlation between work ethic and success. The text homework and practice instructional strategy is a method used to to reinforce material presented in the classroom. The resources posted this week most fall under this category. The resources presented allow students to practice learned skills with reinforcement. While sometimes drill and practice gets a bad reputation, we learned from Dr. Wolfe's presentation on brain research that connections in the brain that are used more often form stronger pathways for recall.