Customized Learning Theory Elements - Assignment Example

? Customized Learning Theory Institute Introduction A teacher working with within the same age group quickly realizesthat all students are unique based on personal interests, personalities, ability to learn and skills. Teachers have to understand these differences in order to decide wisely on educating methods and content that best suits all groups within the classroom. The debate on how best to cater for gifted children has existed for several years now. Gifted children are grouped in the same category as special needs children but due to the nature of their problem, characterized by high levels of intelligence, little attention has been paid to their needs. The aim of this study is to examine the characteristics of gifted children in the school environment. The study will also look at the various elements of learning theories that relate to this group of children and further combine these elements to develop a hybrid theory that caters to the needs of gifted children. Characteristics of Gifted Children Gifted children learn faster, broadly and deeply meaning their intellectual ability is higher compared to their peers. Intellectual ability is believed to be innate and is not acquired through personal effort. Further, intellectual ability can be specific or general. An intellectually gifted individual for example maybe strikingly gifted in mathematics but lack the same strong skills in humanities or language. A combination of an adequately challenging curriculum and the necessary diligence to master learned skills often leads to academic success for the intellectually gifted (Eakin, 2007). Although intellectually gifted children are unique, they share some common characteristics within the academic environment. First, they have certain cognitive characteristics including, faster learning of materials, curiosity, widely diverse interest, reasoning ability, creativity, an excellent memory and a large pool of vocabulary. In addition, intellectually gifted students are perfectionists and often fear failure. Their intellectual capability makes them feel different and their superior vocabulary makes it hard to communicate with their peers hence they will have trouble forming social relations with their classmates. Further, gifted children are highly introspective and introverted and hold very high expectations for themselves and for others. Gifted children are also highly sensitive to their environment in terms of emotional and mental over-awareness (Eakin, 2007). The learning environment for gifted children is important as with other special needs students. Gifted students should be provided with opportunities to attempt new learning and develop their strengths in a psychologically safe environment. A modified learning environment provides gifted students with the opportunity for development and optimum growth. The social environment should also be supportive making sure that no one feels out of place and the students can establish trust with the teacher without the fear of being sanctioned. Moreover, gifted students should be provided with an opportunity to function at advanced levels of depth and complexity and their interests tied in with schoolwork. Gifted students tend to decline in performance if not challenged with abstract concepts, or presented with opportunities to go beyond what is offered in the regular classrooms. Gifted students that are rarely challenged lack confidence in their ability to perform well when presented with challenging learning tasks (Eakin, 2007). Learning Theories and Gifted Students Theories dealing with gifted children focus on the ability to adapt successfully to the environment and the ability to solve problems related to particular situations. Under the cognitive trait theories, Galton emphasizes two inherited traits whose abundance makes one intellectually gifted. The first trait is sufficient energy, which increases the capacity for labor. The second trait is sensitivity making the intellectually gifted more perceptive than their peers do. This means the intellectually gifted take in more sensory data through their eyes, ears, touch, taste and smell providing them with a wider range of information. A broader information base translates to a superior basis for intelligent action (Cohen & Ambrose, 2000). Piaget’s developmental theory depicts intelligence as adaptation. According to this theory, intelligence develops as the child interacts with the environment both physically and mentally initially prompted by chance and reflex. As the child grows, his or her actions are more purposeful with understanding and assimilation shifting from the physical to abstract (Cohen & Ambrose, 2000). Development is divided into four stages starting with sensorimotor in which a child learns through his or her physical interaction and experience with the environment. At this stage, the child’s awareness of an object ends once it is withdrawn. The second stage is preoperational presented in toddlers and children under seven years old. Children at this stage cannot think abstractly and will require props for learning or concrete physical situations. The third stage is concrete operational lasting between 7 and 11 years in which the child starts to think abstractly though he or she may still require concrete situations. Accumulated interaction with the environment leads to logical thinking that the child can conceptualize his or her surrounding. Formal operations is the last stage reaching the highest developmental level. At this level, individuals can use conceptual abstraction and reasoning. The individuals are in their adolescents’ years and can process and perceive information like adults. He or she can consider hypothetical situations as well as deal with broad and overarching theories and issues. In relation to gifted children, giftedness may include higher stages that go beyond formal operational thinking, different or faster movement through the development stages or a different construction of structures (Cohen & Ambrose, 2000). Gardner developed the multiple inelegancies theory that he stipulates that intelligence is multifaceted. This theory indicates that regardless of the fact that people may display all the intelligences, no two individuals have them in the exact combination. As a result, while each student reveals strengths in multiple intelligences, he or she will also reveal weaknesses (Eakin, 2007). Gardner lists these intelligences as 1)linguistics meaning writing, reading, talking and listening skills, 2) logical-mathematical involved in computing and deriving proofs, 3) spatial visual used to discern orientation in space, 4) musical, 5) interpersonal, 6) bodily-kinesthetic and finally 5)intrapersonal involved in understanding the self. Each of these intelligences can be developed as each occupies a locus in the brain; each has a symbol system and its specific transmittable cultural history. The multiple intelligences notion has been used to expand concepts of giftedness as it emphasizes that intelligence is demonstrated in different modes of thought (Cohen & Ambrose, 2000). The motivational theory as develop by Keller is a four-factor theory that aims to promote and sustain motivation in the classroom. Keller includes four factors that teachers should observe in teaching. These include attention when the teacher has to arouse and sustain student’s attention. This category also relates to sensation seeking and curiosity. A teacher can gain students attention in two ways; perceptual arousal through uncertainty and surprise or inquiry arousal in which the teacher stimulates curiosity through challenging problems and questions to be solved. The second factor is relevance under which the teacher has to ensure the content will be helpful in accomplishing tasks. This way the teacher is likely to maintain motivation of his or her students. Relevance can be achieved by using examples and concrete language which learners are familiar with (Cohen & Ambrose, 2000). Thirdly, teachers should also inspire confidence in students such that they are confident that they can accomplish the task even before they start. While it is important to challenge students, teachers should make sure it is not too difficult that it would lower self-esteem. Finally, satisfaction is important to maintain motivation. This is achieved when the outcome matches the learner’s efforts and expectations hence they feel good with the result and remain motivated. Motivation among gifted students is important otherwise, they are likely to decline in their performance (Cohen & Ambrose, 2000). Hybrid learning theory The information presented in the above theories could be overwhelming to regular classroom teachers. Demands to motivate, challenge, identify stage of growth; strengths and weakness of gifted students creates significant expectations and pressure. However, the fact remains that many gifted students spend a lot of time in regular classrooms where their needs are not met. Gifted students will remain ignored unless teachers are made aware of this group’s special needs. Gifted children possess unique characteristics and personal needs and it would be hard generalizing them. As a group, however, they are quick to comprehend complex ideas, they learn in greater depth, rapidly compared to their peers, and demonstrate greater interest than their peers demonstrate. They are able to manipulate ideas, draw generalizations, require more time for in-depth exploration and ask provocative questions (Eakin, 2007). I recommend social constructivism theory when dealing with gifted students. Social constructivism emphasizes on real life materials and tasks with a socially interactive learning environment. This theory postulates that authentic learning occurs when students are able to build on what they already know and is of importance to them. Social constructivism utilizes project based learning, cooperative learning, reader response theory and divergent questions. The units offered in classrooms for gifted children should be easy to follow, highly detailed and at a pace that suits the gifted learners. This theory also encourages assessment by both the teachers and self-assessment for the students when summative and formative assessment is used to gauge the learning process. Social constructivism requires gifted children be offered a different curriculum from that taught in regular classrooms. The curriculum under this theory will require modification of content, the learning environment, teaching processes and the products used for assessment (Eakin, 2007). Social constructivism involves modifying content. Content comprises of descriptive information, ideas, concepts and facts. Learning experiences and content should be modified through compacting, variety and reorganization, flexible pacing, using more complex or advanced concepts, materials or abstractions and acceleration. Students should be encouraged to go through the content at the pace comfortable to them. If they master a certain unit faster, the teacher should provide them with advanced and complex learning activities instead of increasing the same activities. Gifted student also benefit from a curriculum that extends beyond the traditional content areas especially when they are required to acquire an incorporated understanding of the structure and knowledge of the disciplines (Eakin, 2007). Social constructivism also involves modifying the teaching processes such that they are more intellectually demanding. Students for example can be challenged using questions that demand higher-level response or through open-ended questions that foster active exploration, discovery and inquiry. Although instructional strategies adopted by teachers are determined by nature of the discipline taught and the age of the students, the aim is always to encourage students to think in more complex and abstract ways about the subjects. The activities chosen should promote self-directed learning and should match student interests. Teachers should come up with various activities that will encourage and stimulate high level thinking skills. Simulations, group interactions, guided self-management and flexible pacing are some of the methods used to manage class activities and in turn support process modification (Eakin, 2007). The learning environment under social constructivism should also be modified. Gifted students thrive in a nonjudgmental, receptive and student centered environment that encourages independence. Inquiry makes use of a wide range of materials, provides for some physical movement, connects school experience with the external world and is generally complex. Gifted students require an environment that allows them to use their creativity; question and exercise independence in order to realize their potential (Eakin, 2007). Social constructivism requires modification of student response and product expectation. Students can demonstrate what they learn in class in various ways that reflect their ability to organize ideas and acquired knowledge. Instead of an oral or written book report for example, students would rather design a game based on a character or theme in the book. Products used should match student’s preferred style of learning and address real problems, audiences and concerns. They should also synthesize and not just summarize information learnt and provide self-evaluation processes (Eakin, 2007). Why social constructivism is better than the stock theories Social constructivism responds to the various characteristics of gifted children in three ways. First, it accelerates basic skills mastery by reorganizing the curriculum to match higher-level concepts and skills and testing-out procedures through projects in class. Secondly, it engages learners in active problem-identification and problem-solving research and activities. Lastly, the theory provides students with an opportunity to make connections across and within knowledge systems by focusing on themes, ideas and issues. Curriculum development under social constructivism is dynamic and an ongoing process. Attention should be paid to scope, articulation and sequence to prevent repetition and gaps through grade levels. The curriculum will also ensure that learners are equipped with skills and knowledge they will use in the future (Eakin, 2007). Social constructivism is better than the stock theories as it emphasizes on individual learning processes that learners can actively construct knowledge instead of passively receiving it from teachers. Social constructiveness puts into consideration the characteristics of gifted learners such as the need for challenge, motivation, independence, broad and deep information, creativity and faster mastery of concepts. Project based learning and evaluation processes used under social constructivism provide gifted students with a challenging task compared to multiple-choice tests, oral or written tests. Projects provide an opportunity for students to synthesize the acquired knowledge and put it into practice. This way, they can connect this knowledge to the real world and to real situations. Further, social constructivism ensures that gifted learners live to discover their potential and excel academically. This is because they remain motivated. The activities and materials taught are relevant to the world, to their level of intelligence and their interests. In addition, allowing students to exercise guided independence and ask questions fosters confidence in students, as they believe in their abilities more and hence they are more satisfied with their time in classrooms. Moreover, social constructivism recognizes that students are gifted in different areas. Some are better at language while others are gifted in mathematics, music or in various forms of art. Social constructivism requires differentiation in which teachers identify student capabilities, interests and background and tailor teaching and learning processes to address this variation. Conclusion Researchers over the years have studied gifted students and identified them as a special needs group. The cognitive theory notes that gifted children need broader and deeper information while the multiple intelligence theory identifies intelligence as multifaceted. Piaget in his development theory postulates that intelligence increases with age and moves from the physical to the abstract. John Keller in his motivation theory recognizes the importance of motivation through attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction. However, these theories do not address the needs of gifted children individually hence the need for a unifying and hybrid theory. Social constructivism is suitable for gifted children as it caters for their needs as well as ensuring that they academically excel. References Cohen, L. M, & Ambrose, D. C. (2000). Theories and practices for differentiated learning for the gifted and talented. In F. J. K. A. Heller, International Handbook of Giftedness and Talent (pp. 339-363). Amsterdam: Elsevier. Eakin, J. R. (2007). How Regular Classroom Teachers View the Teaching of Gifted Students. Minneapolis: ProQuest. Read More