Educational Psychology - Theories of Learning Versus Theories of Development - Lab Report Example

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY LEARNING JOURNALS AUTHOR AUTHOR AFFILIATIONS TABLE OF CONTENTS TOPIC 1: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY AND LEARNING THEORY 3 TOPIC 2: ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY 4 TOPIC 3: THEORIES OF LEARNING VERSUS THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT 5 TOPIC 4: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN LEARNING 6 TOPIC 5: BEHAVIORAL VIEWS OF LEARNING 7 TOPIC 6: COGNITIVE VIEWS OF LEARNING 9 TOPIC 7: CONSTRUCTIVIST VIEWS OF LEARNING 10 TOPIC 8: HUMANISTIC VIEWS AND MOTIVATION TO LEARN 11 WEEK 1: 2ND JUNE TOPIC 1: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY AND LEARNING THEORY Under each of the above subtopics, I learnt the following 1. Learning and Teaching today The dramatic diversity of students today and high expectations from learning with no child left behind. 2. What is Good Teaching I was able to identify the features of an expert teacher based on content, subject-specific knowledge, general teaching strategies, and curriculum, settings and goals and purposes of teaching. 3. The Role of Educational Psychology What people think and do as they teach and learn Understanding and improvement of instruction Solving the everyday problems of education Adequate knowledge of educational psychology is indispensable for any effective teaching. I have a special urge to venture into this area. WEEK 2: 9TH JUNE TOPIC 2: ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY During this week, we have learnt how a child’s environment (surrounding) affects their cognitive development process. We studied this using the Brofenbrenner’s Bioecological model which describes the nested social and cultural contexts that shape development (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013). I learnt that every individual develops under a chronosystem that is made up of a microsystem that is inside a mesosystem that is embedded in an exosystem. The individual’s sex, age, health and other characteristics develop within the microsystem that is defined as the activities, roles and relations in a defined setting where the individual interacts directly with the others, for example, the family, health services, church group and peers. This microsystem is inside a mesosystem that is an interconnection between two or more microsysytems such as the interactions between family members and the teachers. The exosystem comprises distal systems that influence the individual indirectly through their impact on the micro and mesosystems, for example, educational policies. The chronosystem represents the changes in systems over time via a process of mutual accommodation (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013). The study on today’s multicultural classrooms, with a case study of Australia, helped me understand the Brofenbrenner’s Bioecological model of development better. Also, the study of the family context equipped me with guidelines on helping children of divorce. Divorce alters the normal learning of the students. They may blame themselves for the breakup of their family or hold unrealistic hopes for reconciliation (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013). I will use this knowledge in helping my divorced neighbor’s children. We also studied the effects of gender differences in the classroom. Woolfolk & Margetts (2013) note that socio-economic advantages enjoyed by high-status boys allow them to trump girls, just as is the case for girls. It is therefore dangerous to generalize the differences in cognitive ability. WEEK 3: 16TH JUNE TOPIC 3: THEORIES OF LEARNING VERSUS THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT We have studied this topic under two theories of development: the Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development and the Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Perspective. The Piaget’s Theory of cognitive development comprises of two main aspects: the process of coming to know and the stages an individual moves through as they gradually develop this ability (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013). The tutor took us through the four stages suggested in this theory. As a teacher, the implication of this theory was an important learning point. In particular, the theory implies that a student should neither be bored by work that is too simple nor be left behind by teaching they cannot understand (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013). The Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Perspective equipped me with invaluable insights into assisted learning, Scaffolding learning and the value of play. We have also studied the development of language in a child. The role played by reward and correction in helping children learn correct language was an important insight. I will commit myself to further research about this topic. The study on personal, emotional, social and moral development has helped me identify the character traits of a child at different levels of development as proposed by Erikson. I have also come to understand myself and others and learnt how the school should encourage students’ self- esteem. The Kohlberg’s theory of moral development provided an excellent guideline for my actions in case of a moral dilemma, despite its criticism (Good & Brophy, 1990). We also got an explanation for students who bully and how to handle such cases. The area of greatest learning for me in this topic was the study of resilience and coping, especially teaching young people to cope. With the many psychological problems facing the young people, the knowledge I have acquired in this topic will enable me to practice good teaching as learnt in the first week. WEEK 4: 23RD JUNE TOPIC 4: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN LEARNING This week we learnt about exceptional learners who are defined as those who have learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, physical disabilities or special abilities and talents (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013). The tutor helped us to understand the complexity of labeling students. We also learnt how to measure intelligence and the interpretation of IQ. That was a very enjoyable class, and each of us was able to measure their intelligence according to guidelines given. I was particularly astounded by how much encouraging creativity can do to a student. I will employ this knowledge. I also came to appreciate the negative side of ability grouping (streaming), as practiced in our school, due to its effect on slow learners. The study on cognitive styles and learning preferences came in handy in helping me to understand the reason students react differently to the same piece of information. I particularly understood the concepts of field dependence and independence, impulsivity and reflectiveness. I grouped myself as field independent and impulsive. I would prefer to learn using pictures as opposed to text, to learn in a group as opposed to individually and in an unstructured setup as opposed to a structured one. I have also obtained very important insights into integration and inclusion of all students in the class, their level of intelligence notwithstanding. I was especially fascinated by the study on exceptional learners, particularly special gifted students. The effectiveness of acceleration for these learners was an important learning point. Woolfolk & Margetts (2013) note that skipping year levels may not be the best solution for a particular student, but for students who are extremely advanced intellectually. WEEK 5 : 30TH JUNsE TOPIC 5: BEHAVIORAL VIEWS OF LEARNING This topic has been one of my most favorite in this subject. Am fascinated by how simple and practical it is to shape the conduct of an individual using behavioral approaches. Good & Brophy (1990) note that the interaction between contiguity and classical conditioning produces a wholesomely new individual. I will use this on my hard-headed younger sister. She cannot help this. To prepare a new teacher to handle an unruly class, I would supply him with adequate information on the history of the institution and the background of the students. The information would help him to identify learner differences and appreciate the effect on their development from the microsystem, mesosystem and exosysytem. I would also recommend behavioral approaches to teaching and class management in handling the situation. WEEK 6: 7TH JULY TOPIC 6: COGNITIVE VIEWS OF LEARNING The discussion with two of my classmates made me remember how in 5th grade, Mr. Murray helped me to learn how to calculate the surface area of a cylinder from the area of a circle and the area of a rectangle, concepts I had learnt in 4th grade. Indeed, the cognitive view of learning underscores the position of knowledge in learning. While in the behavioral view new behaviors are learned, in the cognitive view knowledge is learned, and the changes in this knowledge make changes in behaviors possible (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013). Since in the cognitive view knowledge is a key component of learning, I will seek to acquire prior knowledge of every concept before we discuss them in class. I have also learnt the interaction between declarative, procedural and conditional knowledge. From this study, I have learnt that the latter depends on the former two. As such, I will arm myself with declarative and procedural knowledge in my study including in this subject. The role of perception in learning has also had a large impact on my attitude towards tutors, fellow students and certain subjects. In groups of five, we have discussed the dichotomy between Bruner’s discovery learning and Ausubel’s expository teaching. While Bruner advocates inductive learning, Ausubel proposes deductive reasoning. Most psychologists buy Bruner’s idea based on the cognitive view of learning. It is easier to proceed from a specific point of knowledge to more complex general one (Good & Brophy, 1990). However, Woolfolk & Margetts (2013) felt that Ausubel’s proposition was better than Bruner’s. They argued that a general case was simpler than a specific one. They believe that it does not require much effort and concentration to acquire general knowledge about an issue. On the contrary, a lot of deliberate effort has to be put to learn the specific details of the issue. WEEK 7: 14TH JULY TOPIC 7: CONSTRUCTIVIST VIEWS OF LEARNING In this chapter, we learnt the role played by other people in an individual’s learning and the context of culture in learning. I learnt that there exists mutual learning whenever two or more people engage in problem solving together, no matter their cognitive or otherwise characteristics. From the tenets of constructivist views of learning such as enactive versus vicarious learning, and observational learning, I was able to group the theories learnt in topic three as either psychological (Piaget’s theory) or social (Vygotsky’s theory) based on what they are concerned with. In addition, I have learnt how I can apply these views in teaching. I can distinguish between an inquiry and problem-based learning and am able to employ instructional conversations in teaching and learning. I have also learnt how to apply Piaget’s theory (creation and resolution of disequiliabration) and Vygotsky’s theory (scaffolding of higher mental processes) in group work, cooperation and collaborative learning (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013). After studying the topic, the collaborative learning task I came up with was a crossword puzzle. Each middle-year student is presented with a link to an online site that contains more information needed to answer the posed question. However, the password to that site is given to a different student. Hence the students have to work together to complete the puzzle. The major strategy to be used is surfing on the internet. WEEK 8: 21ST JULY TOPIC 8: HUMANISTIC VIEWS AND MOTIVATION TO LEARN I make reference to Mr. Murray again, my 5th grade Mathematics teacher. Even though our school did not have audio visual facilities for learning and that Mathematics was not our best subject, he ensured that we got the best out the old textbooks we had. He would always ensure that we were curious to learn at the start of every lesson. He used three-column activators to make sure we were always motivated to learn. Every class would start with brainstorming WHAT WE KNOW about the topic to be learnt and then we would move to WHAT WE WANT TO KNOW and at the end of the topic we would appraise WHAT WE HAVE LEARNT. In addition, he had divided us into groups of ten with each group having a perfect mix of academic abilities. He would from time to time create play games for us, and he would participate in them enthusiastically. We used to long for the Mathematics lessons. He was an expert teacher. At the end of studying this topic, I now can identify with Mr. Murray’s way of teaching. The secret to learning lies in motivation, both intrinsic and extrinsic. The five general approaches to motivation, whether behavioral, humanist, cognitive, social-cognitive or socio­-cultural, can and should be used by teachers to motivate students. Maslow’s theory and self-determination theory have given me a platform to create intrinsic motivation to students. I also have acquired guidelines in effective goal setting in the classroom. Weiner’s theory has also come in handy in providing insights to ensure that my students are not resigned to failure, depression and helplessness – what is generally called “unmotivated” (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013, p. 367).Lastly, I have learnt the conditions that must exist in the classroom for the success of any motivational strategies. Concerning how I would motivate my students, I would settle for Mr. Murray’s strategy. His is a perfect example of what good teaching is. In addition, I would propose topical revision questions as the best learning strategy to ensure that students are motivated to learn a new topic, having gauged how well they understood the previous one. REFERENCES Good, T. & Brophy, J. (1990). Educational Psychology: A Realistic Approach (4th ed.). New York, USA: Longman Woolfolk, A. & Margetts, K. (2013). Educational Psychology (3rd ed.). French Forest, NSW: Pearson Read More