Behaviorism Blog Prompts (due September 22nd by 11pm, comments due September 25th by 11pm)
Behaviorism Blog Post 1 (Deep Reading of the Chapter)
- Discuss a question, confusion, or something you wonder about after reading the chapter (when commenting, look for these questions and answer them)
- (Choose one) A behaviorism learning theorist believes that everything can be learned through paired associations. CAN everything be learned in this way? Why or why not?
OR
A behaviorist believes that someone must first learn basic components of a concept and how are associated with one another before understanding it in its complexity (as opposed to seeing something complex and learning about it as a whole). What kind of scenario would contradict this? How would someone learn differently?
OR
A behaviorist believes that an object in the world (say, a yellow marker) is THE SAME for anyone (once they learn that the object is called a yellow marker). This conflicts with constructionism, which says that the yellow marker is the meaning we each constructed for ourselves. Which of these theories is more useful to teaching practice and why?
- Interpret and explain what is happening in the video. Be specific. What is being paired and how is it being reinforced or punished?
- Now, invent a scenario. Think about how you could teach some kind of content through paired association. Would it look very different? (Think about your language classes, pairing pictures with word meanings, etc). What would be paired and how would it be punished or reinforced to end up with the desired learning? (Describe the scenario)
Information Processing Blog Prompts
(due September 29th, 11pm, comments due October 2nd, 11pm)
Blog Post 1 (Deep Reading)
- Discuss one question or confusion that you have from the reading (you should comment on these within others' posts).
- According to Information Processing Theory, what is learning? From your definition, what are some implications for teaching?
- Refering to the model of memory below, describe a scenario of how a child might learn SOMETHING (as usual, you fill in this part) in detail. Make sure you trace through each stage and element of the model.
Blog Post 2 (Activity)
- Go to the webpage above and complete the activity (the first one, you don’t need to click Continue and do the second on the next page). Make sure to write down your story.
- Next, share your story with us as a blog entry (we should all be working from the same 20 objects, so it will be interesting to compare the different ways that we encoded).
- Describe your experience in trying this activity. Was it surprising? Difficult?
- Explain HOW this activity (or another form of elaboration) influences memory. How does it connect to working memory capacity? Will this storytelling strategy affect sensory or long term memory? Why?
Social Cognitive Theory/Sociocultural Theory
Social Cognitive Theory and Sociocultural Theory Blog Prompts
(Due October 6th, 11pm, comments due October 9th, 11pm)
Blog Post 1 (Deep Reading)
- Discuss one question or confusion that you have from reading the module (on social cognitive theory). You should comment on these within others' posts.The big idea of this week is that other PEOPLE (even on the large scale of culture and society) can affect the way that you learn, and also affect what counts as learning.
- Who or what can be a model? How do models support learning?
- What kind of models have affected your learning most significantly? OR, What kind of models are important in teaching your content area? Discuss this idea from the chapter and your own experiences.
Blog Post 2 (Activity on Sociocultural Theory)
- Read the Driscoll chapter in Resources. It gives an overview of various kinds of social and situated learning. Skim it if necessary....
- You will be teaching students who are from many different cultures and backgrounds, with different assumptions about learning. Some cultures value (as intelligence) good storytelling rather than logical or mathematical capability. What potential cultural differences must you be most sensitive in your content area? (Are there any which might conflict with the values you have for your students?)
- In your future teaching, you will be creating a classroom culture. This is a common culture among students (independent of all the of the other cultures in which they are a part). The culture which you create will determine what is valued as intelligence and learning within your classroom. What are the most important aspects of this culture to emphasize for your content area?
