EDUC 275 – January 21, 2010

1. EDUC 275 – January 21, 2010 AGENDA: 1. Volunteer Podcasts. 2. Learning Theory. 3. Inspiration Activity.

2. Learning Theory EDUC 275Winthrop University Lisa Harris, Marshall Jones, Suzanne Sprouse

3. How do you like to learn … • How to use a new piece of software? • How to play a new card game? • New vocabulary in a foreign language?

4. WHY? Why do we study learning theory in a class about technology?

5. WHY? • Helps explain… • how learning occurs. • factors that influence learning. • the role of memory. • how students transfer information to other contexts. • how instruction should be structured to facilitate learning.

6. HOW? • Provides a foundation for planning, application, and assessment. • Explains relationships among instructional strategies and instructional contexts. • Allow teachers to select strategies that are the most likely to work. • PRINCIPLEPRACTICE

7. Three Major Branches • Behaviorism/ Direct Instruction • Cognitivism • Constructivism

8. Three Ways of Knowing Learning must include a change in behavior. Behavior occurs due to experiences in the environment. Learning must include an association between a stimulus and a response. (Bohlin, Durwin, Reese-Weber,2009, p. 161) Meaningful learning is the active creation of knowledge structures (i.e. concepts, associations, rules) from personal experience. Each learner builds a personal view of the world by using existing knowledge, interests, attitudes, and goals, to select and interpret information. One person’s knowledge can never be totally transferred to another person. (Snowman & Biehler, 200, p. 294) Learning results from an interaction between the information being learned and the learner. The learner processes and transforms the information using existing knowledge schemes. (Snowman & Biehler, 200, p. 251) Also known as information processing.

9. Three Ways of Learning Learning must include a change in behavior. Behavior occurs due to experiences in the environment. Learning must include an association between a stimulus and a response. (Bohlin, Durwin, Reese-Weber,2009, p. 161) Meaningful learning is the active creation of knowledge structures (i.e. concepts, associations, rules) from personal experience. Each learner builds a personal view of the world by using existing knowledge, interests, attitudes, and goals, to select and interpret information. One person’s knowledge can never be totally transferred to another person. (Snowman & Biehler, 200, p. 294) COGNITIVIST Learning results from an interaction between the information being learned and the learner. The learner processes and transforms the information using existing knowledge schemes. (Snowman & Biehler, 200, p. 251) Also known as information processing. BEHAVIORIST CONSTRUCTIVIST

10. Behaviorism • Teacher role: Transmitter of knowledge/expert source • Student role: Receive information; demonstrate competence • Curriculum: Skills are taught in a set sequence, use of instructional cues, reinforcement and practice. • Types of activities: Lecture, demonstration, seatwork, practice, testing • Assessment strategies: Written tests, demonstration of skills

11. Examples of Content Taught using Behaviorism • Multiplication Tables • Branches of Government • Procedural tasks • Driving a stick shift • Listing State Capitals

12. Constructivist Instruction Cont. • Teacher role: Acts as a guide and facilitator; collaborative resource as students explore topics • Student role: Collaborate; develop competence; may learn different material • Curriculum: Based on projects that foster higher level and lower level skills at the same time • Types of Activities: Group projects, hand-on exploration; product development, problem solving • Assessment: Performance tests and products (ex. Portfolios)

13. Examples of Constructivist Content • Causes of WWII • The strengths and weaknesses of Democracy • How technology fosters collaboration • The effects of global warming

14. Cognitivism Continued • Teacher role: Construct appropriate learning environments and materials, scaffold the learning process • Student role: Actively involved in the learning process through self-planning, monitoring, revising, constructing relationships • Curriculum: Relationships among information is stressed • Types of activities: using graphic organizers, demonstration/ think aloud, matrices, advanced organizers • Assessment strategies: performance assessment, essay questions (i. e. summarize, compare and contrast)

15. Examples of Cognitivist Content • Compare and contrast two characters in a novel. • Draw the stages of the water cycle. • The writing process (drafts and revision). • Graphic organizers:

16. Which theory is better? • Let’s revisit the questions at the beginning of class …

17. How do you like to learn … • How to use a new piece of software? • How to play a new card game? • New vocabulary in a foreign language?

18. Which theory is better? • One isn’t inherently better than the others. • Depends on your needs • Depends on your content • Depends on your environment • Depends on your students

19. So … • When making decisions about teaching and learning in terms of driving theoretical foundation(e.g., “Do I want to do this in a behaviorist, cognitivist, or constructivist way?”) what should you, as a teacher, keep in mind?

20. Why are these theories important? • Gets to the notion of HOW you learn • How you LIKE to learn • How to manage favorite and least favorite environments • Provides us variety in pedagogy

21. Summary • Good teaching is all about examples and options for learning • Don’t forget the rationale for using technology in education like UDL, motivation, unique instructional capabilities

22. Summary • Learning Theory Continuum BEHAVIORIST COGNITIVIST CONSTRUCTIVIST How do these theories illustrate a “continuum of learning” in terms of learner control and engagement?