-I understand all of the different learning theories but how do you know when it is appropriate to apply them to your classroom? As a teacher is it hard to choose effective methods and change depending on the students you are teaching?
-The two teaching methods used to achieve “meaningful learning”, which is a concept in the cognitive learning theory that actively forms new structure of knowledge, are discovery and expository learning. The two methods compliment one another and teachers are able to use both discovery and expository learning because each of them is appropriate for the encouragement of meaningful learning. Discovery learning is all about having the student discover and absorb concepts, principles and rules without any type of structure on how to learn certain information. Expository learning is quite the opposite of discovery learning because the teachers goal is not to have students discover information independently but rather make sure that any new content will be integrated in the student’s mind in a meaningful way. Discovery learning was influenced by Piaget’s theory because number two out of his four factors of how children’s thinking evolves is active exploration of the physical environment. He believed that new knowledge is created when individuals actively engage in self-discovery while interacting with objects in their environment. When it comes to the constructivist theories it is believed that unguided self-discovery may be less effective than other teaching methods and that is where the influence of expository learning came from. They believe that learning may not occur if students are given too much freedom in the process of discovery.
That's a really good question that I don't think there's a definite answer for! I feel like a teacher chooses their method based off of what learning theory they truly believe in - and that theory is different for everyone. I do think that the kids you're teaching would affect what teaching method you use as well, but I think the main thing is just teaching what you're the most comfortable with and what you believe in the most. A combination of numerous methods might also be the best - I feel like it will take a little while to get used to teaching and what methods work the best for us personally.
ReplyDeleteThis is a difficult question, but I feel like you shouldn't feel confined to teach using a certain method for a certain topic. Teachers need to be versatile, so changing it up is important. I also think some students learn much better depending on the method you choose. If you have a class of twenty (or more) students, each is going to learn best by a different method. Obviously we can't cater to every single student, but we should probably constantly switch methods so as not to favor those that learn best by guided discovery, for example.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other two, but also I think a teacher knows when it is appropriate to apply a theory to their classroom based on the learners in the class. Some of the theories are best for high achievers or low achievers. I also think as a teacher gains more experience, one knows what methods/theories work for certain lessons and which do not work. Of course, this always changes depending upon the class and the students in the class, but teachers with experience know which methods are best for different types of classes.
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