I understand what discovery learning is, but I'm a bit confused about practical ways to use it in a classroom setting. Guided discovery makes a lot of sense, but if a teacher wanted to use discovery learning, how would they encourage students without helping them at all?
Mastery learning is definitely influenced by the behaviorism, specifically operant conditioning. Operant conditioning involves the pairing of two voluntary events: mastery learning uses this as a tool. Essentially, mastery learning is giving objectives to students, breaking them into smaller tasks, and then presenting the content. Students then are asked to behave by answering questions, doing the homework, taking the tests, etc. Feedback is given, so students are receiving consequences if they act poorly. Mastery learning, to be more specific, suggests that al students can learn the material if they're given enough time. Students work independently to finish the tasks given to them, and teachers reinforce their learning by giving them specific feedback. In other words, the students do one action - say, their homework - and receive good (or bad) feedback, and this affects how they do it the next time. The operant conditioning theory is in play.
Guided discovery is influenced by Vygotsky. Guided discovery is essentially when a teacher provides guidance for a student to discover information. This goes along with the zone of proximal development: Vygostky's theory states that working or spending time with someone older than you influences and enhances your ZPD. This theory is basically utilizing this information: it's saying that having someone older and wiser help a younger student to discover information helps them to learn.
So discovery learning focuses on active, hands-on opportunities for students to learn within the classroom. In discovery learning, learning is active, rather than passive. Teachers need to create activities that are student driven and encourage students to integrate their previous knowledge into the discovery of something new. I think that teachers are going to need to create an activity which will engage and interest the students, and also create an activity in which the students can follow along with. I think that teachers can still play a role in discovery learning, but perhaps I am mistaken. There are some downsides to discovery learning, which include students who may need more direction and guidance becoming lost. Furthermore, teachers may not be able to gauge when the students aren't understanding something or there may be a misunderstanding because the teacher wasn't present to correct a hypothesis or something. Perhaps only certain teachers and classrooms can successfully utilize the practice of discovery learning. Teachers need to be sure that they are still involved enough in the process to see when the students may be off track.
ReplyDeleteThis probably doesn't answer the question. It's some interesting information on discovery learning, though. Perhaps there are only certain situations in which discovery learning would be beneficial and the right choice.
I think discovery learning does need some teacher interaction, but this may not be direct contact during the activity. If the teacher makes the activity structured enough, they are giving the students all they need to succeed without simply telling them the information the students are intended to "discover". If you think about a science lab, a teacher doesn't need to be standing over a students shoulder to help them with it. But by giving a detailed procedure, the teacher is already helping all the students without "giving away" the answer.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher could give the student a prompt to research either an assigned prompt or a prompt based off something. The student would research the project and learn about what interests them.
ReplyDeleteI think that discovery learning is difficult to think about implementing, but not too difficult to execute. It's just a matter of finding an "application exercise" one finds at the bottom of worksheets, (usually done after having learned the concept), and doing it BEFORE learning the concept. It's just like working backwards.
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