1. By providing examples explain how the following two theories apply to the classroom.
a. Operant conditioning
Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning uses both positive and negative reinforcements to encourage good and wanted behavior while discouraging bad and unwanted behavior. Psychologists have observed that we every action has a consequence, and if this is good, the person is more likely to do it again in the future. However, if the consequence isn’t so great, it is likely the individual will avoid doing it in a similar situation next time round. It is through this process that we develop our behaviors and begin to understand what is appropriate and useful, and what isn’t.
Example: Ahmed was a primary child of average intelligence who was a “behavior problem. He continually told other children what to do, and enforced his demands with aggressive behavior.
Positive reinforcement: Whenever he is being good, cooperative, solves things non-aggressively, immediately reward those behaviors with praise, attention, goodies.
Negative reinforcement: One way would be to couple negative reinforcement with ‘time out’ (separating him from other students), after some period of time in which he has acted cooperatively or calmly while in the absence of others, can bring him back with others. Thus, taking away the isolation should reinforce the desired behavior (being cooperative).
b. Classical conditioning
Classical conditioning is a type of learning that had a major influence on the school of thought in psychology known as behaviorism. Discovered by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.
Behaviorism is based on the assumption that learning occurs through interactions with the environment. Two other assumptions of this theory are that the environment shapes behavior and that taking internal mental states such as thoughts, feelings, and emotions into consideration is useless in explaining behavior.
Students who have learned to associate threatening or fearful situations with classroom experiences can have a more difficult time. For instance, students often pair mathematical exams with test anxiety and pressure. This conditioned response may be based on early experiences in grade school, where a child was, for instance, given a high-pressure, timed exam. Even when she is older, the student may have autonomic responses, such as sweating and increased heart rate, when simply thinking about taking an exam or when faced with difficult math problems. In the classroom, teachers can be cognizant of the effects of classical conditioning on test anxiety and create learning and test environment that reinforces a feel of calm and focus. When a student takes tests in a low pressure, positive environment over time, the classically conditioned response will become “extinguished,” or disappear.
2. Provide an example for each, Assimilation and Accommodation.
Assimilation and Accommodation are processes of adaptation that we use to internalize the outside world. In Assimilation, the outside world is incorporated into the inside world while in Accommodation the internal world has to accommodate itself to the outside. The theory of Assimilation and Accommodation was developed by a child psychologist, Jean Piajet.
Example:
Assimilation
Two years old Shixy has learned the schema (four legged and furry) for cat when she sees cats in her backyard. Once her mother took her to a friend’s house where she saw a goat and said “mom, there is a cat.” She assimilates this new animal into an existing schema.
Accommodation
Shixy’s mother tells her “No, it is a goat.” She accommodates her schema for four legged furry animals and continues to modify that schema to include goat, horse etc.
3. List 6 scaffolding strategies that you can use in a lesson.
Teaching effectively is not an easy task; teachers are mandated by their respective curricula to achieve certain outcomes, but how those outcomes are achieved is up to the teachers. It is difficult for teachers to organize the subject matter in a comprehensible way which would allow the students to be able to understand and work with it. The technique of scaffolding provides a rational and clear approach to organizing the course material.
Scaffolding is the teaching technique that involves providing students with the supports needed to complete a task or facilitate their learning of new concepts. It provides an ideal opportunity to use the students’ prior knowledge of that area. This prior knowledge should be used to support for the new material. Ideally the new information should be placed at a level just above the knowledge the students already possess, as proposed in Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. The purpose of scaffolding is to promote student success!
So here are some scaffolding strategies we can use in a lesson.
1. Show and Tell
Modeling for students is a cornerstone of scaffolding in my experience. Every chance you have, show or demonstrate to students exactly what they are expected to do. Always show students the outcome or product before they do it. If a teacher assigns a persuasive essay or inquiry-based science project, a model should be presented side-by-side with a criteria chart or rubric. You can guide students through each step of the process, model in-hand of the finished product.
2. Tap into Prior Knowledge
Ask students to share their own experiences, hunches, and ideas about the content or concept of study and have them relate and connect it to their own lives. Sometimes you may have to offer hints and suggestions, leading them to the connections a bit, but once they get there, they will grasp it as their own.
3. Give Time to Talk
All learners need time to process new ideas and information. They also need time to verbally make sense of and articulate their learning with the community of learners who are also engaged in the same experience and journey. As we all know, structured discussions really work best with children regardless of their level of maturation. If you aren’t weaving in think-pair-share, turn-and-talk, and triad teams or some other structured talking time throughout the lesson, you should begin including this crucial strategy on a regular basis.
4. Pre-Teach Vocabulary
Sometimes referred to as frontloading vocabulary, this is a strategy that we teachers don’t use enough. Many teachers are guilty of sending students all alone down the bumpy, muddy path known as Challenging Text – a road booby trapped with difficult vocabulary. We send them ill prepared and then we are often shocked when they: a) lose interest b) create a ruckus c) fall asleep.
5. Use Visual Aids
Graphic organizers, pictures, and charts can all serve as scaffolding tools. Graphic organizers are very specific in that they help kids visually represent their ideas, organize information, and grasp concepts such as sequencing and cause and effect.
6. Pause, Ask Questions, Pause, Review
This is a wonderful way to check for understanding while students read a chunk of difficult text or learn a new concept or content. A new idea from discussion or the reading is shared, then pause (providing think time), then ask a strategic question, pausing again. By strategic, you need to design them ahead of time, make sure they are specific, guiding and open-ended questions. (Great questions fail without giving think time for responses so hold out during that Uncomfortable Silence.) Keep kids engaged as active listeners by calling on someone to “give the gist” of what was just discussed / discovered / questioned. If the class seems stuck by the questions, provide an opportunity for students to discuss it with a neighbor.
4. Discuss how the teachers can use blooms Taxonomy in to help students construct knowledge.
Bloom’s Taxonomy is a classification system developed in 1956 by education psychologist Benjamin Bloom to categorize intellectual skills and behavior important to learning. Bloom identified six cognitive levels: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, with sophistication growing from basic knowledge-recall skills to the highest level, evaluation.
As a teacher, we should attempt to move students up the taxonomy as they progress in their knowledge. Tests that are written solely to assess knowledge are unfortunately very common. However, to create thinkers as opposed to students who simply recall information, we must incorporate the higher levels into lesson plans and tests. Bloom’s Taxonomy can be used across grade levels and content areas. By using Bloom’s Taxonomy in the classroom, teachers can assess students on multiple learning outcomes that are aligned to local, state, and national standards and objectives. Within each level of the taxonomy, there are various tasks that move students through the thought process. This interactive activity demonstrates how all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy can be achieved with one image.
Example: Here is a lesson objective based upon the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears is presented for each of the six levels of the Cognitive Process as shown on the Revised Taxonomy Table.
Remember: Describe where Goldilocks lived.
Understand: Summarize what the Goldilocks story was about.
Apply: Construct a theory as to why Goldilocks went into the house.
Analyze: Differentiate between how Goldilocks reacted and how you would react in each story event.
Evaluate: Assess whether or not you think this really happened to Goldilocks.
Create: Compose a song, skit, poem, or rap to convey the Goldilocks story in a new form.
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