Constructivism and Constructionist Learning Theories

Dr. Orey explains that we as teacher must prepare ourselves and our students for technology. He also talks about specific mechanisms that help the learners to get involved in this process. The first one he talks about is the assimilation, which he states is external reality that is made to fit current beliefs. The second mechanism is accommodation, which suggests that the meaning is fit externally to connect with reality. And the last one is equilibration, which explains how balance is achieved. When we as teachers can get students actively engaged in using their creativity they will create something that is unique and makes sense to them. I believe we are responsible for teaching students what they is expected and the knowledge so they can create their own project which allows for them to be creative and construct the assignment. I think allowing a student to learn on their own will help the student to understand the process and they will remember the information. This will also help the students to engage in higher learning. The idea of having the students to create spreadsheets and power points that will help them to understand information they have learned as well as past experiences.

Trenton

COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORIES

Cognitive learning theorists believe learning is a process that begins with information entering through our senses!! After this information enters it is processed and then storied in short-term or long-term memory. As educators, it should be our goal to ensure that information that we teach reaches long-term memory. The best way we can ensure that it reaches this stage is to directly relate the information to that of existing information. The better connection we can make with that student, the more likely they are going to retain the information!!
During this week’s resources they gave several examples that help me to better understand the principles of the cognitive learning theory.

The first example that I really like was the use of brainstorming with inspiration rapid fire tool. This could really help with our school because they are really encouraging all subjects to focus on writing. When using this tool students will really be able to use visual representation of their main ideas in the form of a web. This would be a very valuable lesson to use concept maps in my Health classes to help the students to remember and visualize the information.

The second example given in our text is the AutoSummarize tool by Word. This tool helps the students to reduce the amount of information and chunks it together into a manageable summarization. After they have chosen the key words they will need to summarize the information that the computer automatically summarized.

The last example that I am going to give is virtual field trips. I myself find this to be the most interesting because this is a powerful tool that can create a superb learning environment. This tool is great because the field trips allow the students to develop great long –term memory for the information. All of the above are great examples of cognitive-based tools that will help the students to will expand their knowledge, increase their cognitive thinking, and increase their abilities to recall and apply the information from the their long-term memory.

Tkeller

Behaviorism

Behaviorism I believe still has its place in the classroom. Whether it is by way of classroom management and getting desirable behaviors from students, or technology such as tutorials, we want students to understand there are expectations that directly correlate with learning. We as teachers have set an understanding of what we require the behavior to be if the students don’t follow the behavior plan they understand what the consequences will be. This will create a superior classroom environment that is safe, organized, and enjoyable for the students and my self.

One strategy that correlates with the behaviorist learning theory is reinforcing effort. Reinforcing effort as stated by Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski in Using technology with classroom instruction that works, “The instructional strategy of reinforcing effort enhances students understanding of the relationship between effort and achievement by addressing their attitudes and beliefs about learning” (2007, p. 155). This is important because students need to understand how the effort of studying directly correlates with the grade that they are receiving. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski also state two generalization that “not all students realize the importance of believing in effort and students can learn to operate from a belief that effort pays off even if they do not initially have this belief” (p. 155). As I stated above we have to help our students to understand how this works. Also we need to evaluate whether the students are putting forth the effort. This will allow use to talk to the students about the assignment and come to an understanding about why they got the grade they did. Some of the things we will be able to discuss with them are, are they taking notes, do we have there attention, are they doing there homework, ect..

According to Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski, “as an extension of the classroom, homework provides opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of the content and to gain proficiency with their skills” (p. 187). I believe that assigning homework is a reasonable way for students to practice what is being taught in class. However, there are some teacher that choose to give a student busy work for homework. I disagree with this. Students should be required to do homework that is going to benefit them. Another good quote I found that supports this is again from Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski. They stated that “Having students practice a skill or concept enhances their ability to reach the expected level of proficiency. This shows that students gaining knowledge for the work. Also, students will understand that they will be reinforced for good behavior and punished for undesirable behaviors. Both the instructional strategies of reinforcing effort and homework and practice have a positive association that relates to the behaviorist theory.


Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.