Learning and Instruction: Didactic Approaches - Assignment Example

 Learning and Instruction Part I – Didactic Approaches Part I Q.1 Many focus on "organization" as one of the keys of effective teaching. Within the context of learning theory, why is organization important? What are some things that you can do to help learners organize material? Can you "over organize" for them? Organization within the context of learning theory is important since this strategy provides the teacher the opportunity to design learning organization that will enable the learners improve their learning ability. In most cases, the mentor considers both the internal and external environment combined with the learner’s preferences and interests in learning when designing and adopting with a specific learning organization. The ways learners organize knowledge significantly affect their ability to learn and apply what they have learned in real life (Carnegie Mellon, 2010). To help learners organize materials, it is best to enable the students to understand that organizational learning theory is a model that is grounded on the learner’s cognitive and social psychology which enables the learner cope with changes that will take place in the learning process (Fauske & Raybould, 2005). It means that the learner could store, retrieve, transform, and apply what he/she has learned based on reading or personal experience through interaction with other people. Since human mind can store limited information, the learners could easily organize learning materials based on its importance. Q.2 In the Forsyth chapter, he outlined specific components of "effective lecturing." Given what you have read about how students learn, what makes each of these effective? Do they all lead to increased learning, or do some of them just lead to increased student happiness? Forsyth discussed that components of effective learning includes the importance of building rapport with the students, being enthusiastic, clear and having sufficient knowledge about the subject matter when lecturing to a group of students (Forsyth D. , 2002). Specifically building rapport with the students is necessary since winning their trust will enable the teacher to have easier time in persuading the learners to listen when the teacher is lecturing. Other than inspiring the students to listen to class discussion, the knowledge of the teacher with regards to the subject matter together with her ability to lecture the subject matter in a clear and precise way increases the students’ ability to comprehend and learn the topic. Therefore, Forsyth’s idea of an effective learning does not only increase the students’ happiness but also improve their learning performance. .Q.3 Students come into you class with all kinds of prior knowledge, some of which may facilitate learning and some of which may impede it. Thinking about a class you either currently teach or hope to teach some day, what are some strategies that you might use to help determine students' level of prior knowledge. There are many ways to accurately determine the students’ level of prior knowledge. In line with this, the use of post-test strategy like a multiple-choice objective test (Sutton, 1977), requesting the students to write down what they know about the subject matter, using K-W-L strategy, or allowing a small group of students to brainstorm about what they have written on paper before starting the class lecture (David Cooper, Kiger, & Au, 2009, p. 76) will enable the teacher to have an idea about the students’ prior knowledge on a specific subject. Q.4 How does the reading on "learning" tie to that on "stereotype threat?" In other words, what specific psychological processes might be involved in creating the negative effects of stereotype threat? Given this, what strategies might teachers use to try to reduce this threat? Stereotype threats based on gender or the use of unrealistic test method could negatively affect the students’ learning process. In order to reduce stereotype threat in learning, it is best for teachers to make use of gender-fair types of test and different types of learning activities like simulations, demonstrations, debates, games, problem-solving, writing exercises, and interactive lectures other than the typical class discussion (Forsyth, Chapter 3. Guiding: Student-Centered Approaches to Teaching, 2003). Basically, the use of the proposed strategy will not only remove stereotype threats in leaning but also increase their enthusiasm in participating the learning process. Q.5 Given this week's reading and your own experiences with different technological supports for teaching, what are some specific ways you see technology as being a support and impediment to learning? Based on my own experience, the use of Web-based learning strategy is an effective lecturing technique since the use of this teaching-learning strategy provides the students will opportunity to interact with one another concerning the subject matter (Ralph, 1998, p. 145; Forsyth, 1996). In general, the use of online learning technique can motivate the students to be actively engaged in the learning process. This can be achieved by attracting the learners’ attention and enhancing the relevance of the subject-matter to real-life scenario (Ralph, 1998, pp. 2 – 6). Since the use of Web-based learning environment enables the students to receive immediate feedback, students’ desire to reach learning goal increases (Ralph, 1998, pp. 5 – 6). The use of online technology can impede the students’ learning probably because of the absence of feedback option or student interaction forum. Not providing an immediate feedback to students could make the students lose interest in learning. The same is true when the students are not given the opportunity to interact with one another. Once the student encounters a problem understanding the subject matter, there is a strong chance that the student would just simply choose to quit learning. References Carnegie Mellon. (2010). Retrieved June 28, 2010, from Theory and Research-based Principles of Learning: http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/principles/learning.html. David Cooper, J., Kiger, N. D., & Au, K. H. (2009). Chapter 3. Prior Knowledge: Activiating and Developing Concepts and Vocabulary. Literacy: Helping Students Construct Meaning. Houghton Mifflin Company. Fauske, J. R., & Raybould, R. (2005). Organizational learning theory in schools. Journal of Educational Administration , 43(1), 22 - 40. DOI 10.1108/09578230510577272. Forsyth, D. (2003). Chapter 3. Guiding: Student-Centered Approaches to Teaching. In The Professor's Guide to Teaching: Psychological Principles and Practices . APA. Forsyth, D. (2002). The Professor's Guide to Teaching: Psychological Principles and Practices. Washington, DC: APA. Forsyth, I. (1996). Teaching and learning materials and the Internet. London: Kogan Page. Ralph, E. (1998). Motivating teaching in higher education: A manual for faculty development. Still water. Oklahoma: New Forums Press Inc. Sutton, R. (1977). Diagnosing Prior Knowledge Levels of First-Year University Physics Students. Innovations in Education and Teaching International , 14(1), 92 - 95. DOI: 10.1080/1355800770140112. Part II The use of the Internet and other related media technologies has made a significant increase over the past ten years. (Lavooy & Palmer, 2003) In line with the progress in the development of Internet-based technology, changes in the educational approach has gone through a lot of major restructuring. Each year, a lot of colleges and universities around the world have been investing a lot of money in developing reliable and real-time web-based classes (Ewing-Taylor, 1999); especially for the purpose of studying the English language. A virtual classroom is a computer-based system used to deliver virtual teaching and learning. In general, the learning and teaching behavior between the students and the school teachers is an important factor that contributes to the success of using computer-based technology in education. Therefore, the design of a virtual classroom for English language has to be easily accessible, reliable, user-friendly, and interactive. As a result of the rapid development in the use of ICT and media technology, educational settings like the English classroom has been using digital technology in order to support the learning process of the students in secondary level. Today, the commonly used information technology within the classroom setting includes internet access, data projectors and interactive whiteboards (IWBs) – a computer that is connected to a projector which allows the teacher to maximize the use of the touch-sensitive board display to project some educational images (Schmid, 2008; Hennessy & Deaney, 2007). In some cases, the use of pocket PCs, video or film as an alternative method of reading text, recording the students’ speech for speaking and listening, and the use of computers in typing rather than hand writing can also be beneficial on the part of the students who are learning the English language (Ng & Nicholas, 2009). Similar to the research survey findings of TDA (2007), Ng and Nicholas (2009) examined the initial reaction of the secondary school teachers upon introducing the use of the pocket PCs for about 6 to 7 months in teaching the students the English language. The authors revealed that secondary school teachers showed a mixed reaction and uncertainty that the use of this particular technology could improve the learning experience of the students. Aside from the fact that not all secondary school teachers are willing to learn and explore the use of new media technology, the problem with the use of pocket PCs in teaching the English language has something to do with the required time for the secondary school teachers to prepare and develop a new lesson plan when shifting from the old teaching technique to the use of new media technology (Ng & Nicholas, 2009). In general, the integration of multimedia particularly the use of interactive whiteboard (IWB) technology in the learning of English language within the classroom setting could increase the cognitive learning of the students (Schmid, 2008). However, Moss et al. (2007) revealed that most of the English teachers are having difficulty in getting an access to related IWB resources (p. 21). Unless the secondary school teacher has a good source of educational materials related to the study of the English language, this type of teaching technology may not be the best option in terms of increasing the learning experiences of the students. *** End *** References Ewing-Taylor, J. (1999). Student Attitudes toward Web-Based Courses. Retrieved June 28, 2010, from http://wolfweb.unr.edu/homepage/jacque/research/student_attitudes.html Hennessy, S., & Deaney, R. (2007, September). Retrieved June 28, 2010, from Exploring teacher mediation of subject learning with ICT: A multimedia approach. T-MEDIA Project Final Report to ESRC: Executive Summary: http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/istl/T-MEDIA_Execsum.pdf Lavooy, M., & Palmer, S. (2003). Computer Mediated Communication Online Instruction and Interactivity. Journal of Interactive Learning Research , 14, 157 - 166. Moss, G., Jewitt, C., Levaaic, R., Armstrong, V., Cardini, A., & Castle, F. (2007). Education and Skills. Retrieved June 28, 2010, from The interactive whiteboards, pedagogy and pupil performance evaluation: An evaluation of the scools whiteboard expansion (SWE) project: London Challange. Research Report No. 816: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR816.pdf. Ng, W., & Nicholas, H. (2009). Introducing pocket PCs in schools: Attitudes and beliefs in the first year. Computers & Education , 52(2), 470 - 480. DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2008.10.001. Schmid, E. (2008). Potential pedagogical benefits and drawbacks of multimedia use in the English language classroom equipped with interactive whiteboard technology. Computers & Education , 51(4), 1553 - 1568. DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2008.02.005. TDA. (2007). Retrieved June 28, 2010, from Results of the newly qualified teacher survey 2007: http://www.tda.gov.uk/upload/resources/pdf/n/nqt_report_%202007.pdf Read More