Constructivism and Constructionism in the Class

According to Dr. Orey, constructivism is the idea that individuals construct their own meaning. The constructionism approach is where individuals learn through building or creating and sharing with others. The authors of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, identified the strategies of generating and testing hypotheses, which correlates with the constructivist theory. Students who generate hypotheses are enhancing their understanding of the content by using a complex mental process.

I learn best through building and constructing things in order to grasp what is being taught. When someone is trying to lecture me I tend to zone out and not pay attention. However when I am able to construct something and bring meaning to the lesson I tend to grasp the concept much more. When students are able to build on the information that they are being taught their understandings of the material is better grasped.

Technology allows for students to be involved in the learning process. Students are able to create wikis, blogs, power points etc. These projects allows for the students to build projects that enhance their learning while working with others. When teachers have engaging interactive lessons students are more likely to be attentive and willing to participate and be engaged. For a field trip that my class recently went on I had my students use flip cameras to understand how we are helping the Chesapeake Bay. With the help of the flip cameras students were able to document what they learned on the field trip to make a movie. This now has not just become a lesson that they learned on a field trip but something they can keep with them.

Technology is a great way for students and teachers to create lessons that are meaningful. With technology lessons can be more meaningful and interactive. The constructionism theory allows for more participation and engagement in the classroom.

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

How Do The Instructional Strategies Tie Into The Cognitivist Perspective?

Using different instructional strategies that Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski suggest help to incorporate the cognitivist approach into the classroom. With these strategies teachers are able to use different strategies along with technology to make learning more meaningful. With the help of technology students are able to learn new concepts and understand that there are more than one way to learn something.

Cues, Questions, and Organizers are a great way to help students think at a higher level. By using questioning during a lesson students must now think instead of giving one word answers. One way to do this is to allow students to use and organizer. Many students may want to say more to the question being asked but may have a difficult time getting their thoughts out. With an organizer it will reduce the one word answers and allow the students to think more and lay their answers out so that they can see what they are answering. Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works suggest using United Streaming. They say "use this educational video collection to create an advance organizer at the onset of a learning activity (2007, p 83). This will allow visual learners to see what they are discussing through an organizer rather than trying to collect their thoughts in their head.

Summarizing as described by the authors of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works is where, "teachers work on helping students separate important information from extraneous information and state the information in their own words" (2007, p119). With this students will be able to get what is important out of the information rather than sit there and reiterate everything the teacher just stated. Using technology for summarizing and note taking is a great way for students to get the idea of keeping the important details. For instance on page 129 of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works a character trait note-taking template was created. This allowed for students to focus in on what they needed to know i.e. different traits and examples from the book, instead of having students write a lot of information that would not really be helpful. By having an organizer to take the notes their note taking would be more beneficial in the long run when the teachers ask them questions or they have to complete an assignment on it.

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

Behaviorist Learning Theories in Today's Classroom

Behavior learning theories are still with us as educators today. The behavior learning theory is where a reinforcement and punishment technique is used to get the desired outcome. Two strategies that Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski established were reinforcing effort and homework and practice.

Reinforcing effort strategy discusses student’s attitudes and beliefs about learning. If a student has the attitude that they do not want to be in school than their work is going to show that they do not want to be there. If their attitude is more of a positive manner than their work is going to show that they care about what they are learning. As Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski suggest, “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, pg 155). Although the student needs to place some effort in their learning the teacher as well needs to make the learning …… As teachers we need to understand what the students interest are so that we can incorporate that into our lessons. With this the students will be more interested in the material being taught and instead of thinking they are learning they will be having fun!

The other strategy is homework and practice. Homework is a tool for not only practice for the students on the lesson that was taught but reinforcement for the teacher that what was taught was understood by the student. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski state, “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” (2007, pg 187). Students are able to practice what they were taught in the classroom at home to reinforce the skill. But with that the teacher needs to make a conscious effort to keep track of what they students did at home in case the student has seemed to misunderstand how to complete the task. “Because it is easy for errors to slip in when students are practicing, teachers should give feedback as quickly as possible” (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007).

There are many ways for students and teachers to keep track of homework and progress throughout the year. Technology is a great way to have students keep track of their homework and test progress. With a spreadsheet students can calculate their averages. Students could also use blogs or websites for ways of communicating homework issues or questions to the teacher and or other students about concerns with topics discussed in the classroom. This would allow the teacher to reinforce those students who look not only to her for help but to others in the classroom and also to those students willing to help others out.

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