Module Seven Reflection

Summary of Articles: Module 7

Article #1: Constructionism as a High-Tech Intervention Strategy for At-Risk Learners
by: Gary S. Stager

Summary/Reflection: This article immediately caught my attention by the mentioning Governor Angus King Jr. the Governor of Maine in 1999. I had the opportunity to hear Governor Angus speak concerning the importance of integrating technology in secondary schools. As Governor he passed a bill that allowed all 7-8 grade students in the state to have a personal lap-top, which would be used in all school subjects and assignments. The speech was one of the most inspirational and motivational speeches on technology I've ever heard. The article in interesting because it's explains the beginning of this idea. Governor Angus asked Seymour Papert to develop a model of what learning might look like in the future. The research that Papert discovered helped implement the constructionism theory into the learning environment. The research begins with 230 students ranging between the ages of 11-21 from different ethic background and cultures but all students were poor in academics and at 'high risk'. Each students was then given a personal computer. The project connected with students insterests from the beginning and gave them powerful experiences. The article mentioned that students enjoyed the interaction with technology and soon applied their knowledge immediately to the technology given to them. The student learned to implement programs such as film editing, publishing, document learning and sharing via the computer. The articles continues to mention how constructionism is associated with this kind of interaction. While constructivism defines learning as the building of knowledge structures inside of one's head, constructionism suggests that the best way to ensure that such intellectual structures form through the active construction of something outside of one's head, that is something tangible, something shareable. As teachers and students interacted with this technology, educators created situations in which students 'discovered' a particular concept, rule, fact, and context. Teachers now found themselves as 'project leaders' rather than givers of knowledge.

Article#2: Designing, Developing, and Implementing a Course on LEGO Robotics for Technology Teacher Education
by. Joan M. Chambers and Mike Carbonaro

Summary/Reflection: The first thing that came to my mind was, why? Why integrate technology in the form of robotics,into the teacher education process? Is it possible in a high school setting? Jonassen (2000) makes an argument for using computer technologies as 'mindtools' in education as a vehicle to deliver instructional material. He mentions that 'mindtools' are computer applications that require students to think in meaningful ways in order to use the application to represent what they know. Jonassen continues by explaining the distinction between learning from a computer as opposed to learning with a computer. This is a good argument however, I think that computers cannot produce 'good' learning but children can do 'good' learning with computers. 'Mindtools' is just another fancy way to say computers are important in classrooms in the form of robotics. The article mentions how constructionists approach knowledge with the emphasis on concrete information rather that the abstract. Consequently, robots, fit naturally with the constructionist perspective. Students engage in the designing and construction of robots are are actively engaged in their own learning, developing skills, solving problems, and creating a higher level of thinking. Students have the opportunity to manipulate and control computers within their own, real world. I thought the article was more interesting when it mentioned using robotic LEGO kits as a starter for student motivation and interest. Honestly, that's a brilliant idea that teachers can implement quickly and cheaply into science, engineering, or into a auto mechanics curriculum. The study continued to mention that students learned designing skills, building, programming, and problem solved during test trials. Students were also cognizant of the realities of a robotics program. However, several students commented that while they believed robotics to be highly valuable they could not foresee using it in a regular class setting but rather it would be more successful as a school club.

Article #3: The Myth of Catering to Learning Styles
by: Joanne K. Olson

Summary/Reflection: Does teaching to individual learning styles increase learning? This study discovered that when students received instruction specifically tailored to their preferred learning style, they performed poorly on test. On the contrast, the comparison group that received instruction in formats different than their preferred style scored significantly better on the same test. This really surprised me as I read this material I would think that it would be the other way around. Salomon discovered that students became overconfident in their ability to learn the information and invested less effort in learning the content. The article mentioned the idea of concrete representations meaning that a verbal explanation may be difficult for a child to understand, but when a more concrete representation such as a picture or a real object is used along with the explanation the child has a greater likelihood of understanding. This reminded of the importance of applying the multimedia principles in presentations and how placement of images, text, and sound all have a specific place. In conclusion, teaching towards student's preferred learning styles does not have a solid basis in research and students may learn to decreased effort and performance in the classroom. Using appropriate representations that carefully consider how to best convey the content is the key. When teachers carefully select how we represent concepts and take into account student's thinking we optimize learning opportunities for all of our students.

Module Six Reflection

Summary and Reflections of Articles:

#1: Constructivism in Teacher Education: Considerations
for Those Who Would Link Practice to Theory

ERIC Identifier: ED426986
Publication Date: 1998-12-00
Author: Abdal-Haqq, Ismat
Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education Washington DC.

Summary: Abdal-haqq, Ismat argues that "constructivism is an epistemology that offers an explanation of the nature of knowledge and how human being learn." The article states that individuals create their own knowledge through prior knowledge, experiences, events, and activities that have had influence in their lives. I agree with the article in that knowledge is acquired through involvement rather than through a series of repeated events. Knowledge in gained through involving students in different productive activities and not through a repetitive sequence of same old same old events. Furthermore, constructivism is applied in the classroom by problem solving, collaboration, and active engagement with other classmates. The teacher is not giver of information but rather a guide, facilitator, co-explorer "who encourages the learners to question, challenge, and formulate their own ideas". They become independent thinkers and problem solvers. The students and the teacher become the learners and both equality become part of the learning process together. The article states that their are two constructivism approaches to learning; the psychological constructivism and the social constructivism. The psychological constructivism or "Piagetian constructivists" believe that education should support the child's needs and interests. Rather than group interaction the psychological constructivists believe that learning is individualistic. Instruction is practiced through 'discovery learning' and hands on activities which probes students beliefs and encourage debating and testing of those opinions. The social constructivism or "Vygotskian" approach stresses the importance of sociocultural interactions. Instruction is given through cultural and environmental changes both by historical and current changes. This idea focuses on reading, writing, and math and how they are 'cultural tools' that should be utilized as much as possible. The challenges that constructivism presents are the what students value as 'right' answers. Students can interpret a concept many different ways all of which are not completely correct.


#2: Objectivism versus Constructivism; Do We Need a New Philophical Paradigam?
Author: David H. Jonassen

Summary: The idea that learning is equated with behavioral outcomes, behavioral laws (e.g., the work of Skinner) have provided the foundation of technology efforts in Instructional Systems Design (ISD). According to these behavioral laws, learning can be shaped through selective reinforcement.( The idea of 'selective reinforcement' reminded me of how we (as educators) need to pick and choose how often students need to hear our positive verbal praises. If we give the praises to often students will not believe in the positive reinforcement and yet if not given enough the confidence of the students will decrease.) Behaviorists, such as Skinner, were unwilling to acknowledge the existence of covert mental operations or "the act of knowing" because these were not observable. Unlike behaviorists, who are only concerned with what learners "do", cognitive psychologists were interested in what learners "know" and how they come to acquire it. Fodor suggested that cognitive activity was embodied in mental states that enable humans to construct mental representations and manipulate them through the use of symbols.
The article then compares the objectivism and constructivists approaches in the learning process. The constructivist perspective describes learning as a change in meaning constructed from experience. Constructivists believe that knowledge and truth are constructed by people and therefore do not exist outside the human mind. This is radically different from what objectivism conceives learning to be. To the objectivists, knowledge and truth exist outside the mind of the individual and are therefore objective. Learners are told about the world and are expected to replicate its content and structure in their thinking. The role of education in the objectivist view is therefore to help students learn about the real world. It is asserted that there is a particular body of knowledge that needs to be transmitted to a learner. Learning is then viewed as the acquisition and accumulation of a finite set of skills and facts.

#3: Constructivist Research in Educational Technology: A Retrospective View and
Future Prospects
Authors: Inae Kang, Jeong-im Choi, and Kyungwon Chang

Summary: This article focuses on constructivism in Korea. In a country that stresses the importance of traditional educational methods, constructivism presents a dramatic challenge to Korea. Korea leans towards a more 'practical aspects' of teaching while other countries keep a more balanced approach between theory and practice. The main idea of the article is to present issues and trends related to constuctivism in educational technology made manifested over the last decade. The study employed four stages: 1. Problem formulation 2. Literature search, 3. Data evaluation and 4. Analysis and interpretation. The problem formulation examined the constructivist approach in Korean educational technology as compared to other countries. The Literature searched the very few constructivism approaches from representative Korean journals. The Data evaluation categorized, calculated, negotiating , and modified the journal research based on classification. The Analysis and interpretation removed and reduced the information into fewer classifications based on explicit rules. The research on constructivism clearly shows a slow transitional shift into the digital age. The articles predicts that constructivism is complex and unpredictable due to rapid development and changes in human activity. In conclusion, constructivism in Korea is yet to be perceived as a concrete teaching methodology but rather as a philosophy, or learning theory.

#4: The Evolution of Constructivism
Author: Jonathan D. Raskin
Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 21;1-24, 2008
ISSN: 1072-0537

Summary: This article argues that evolutionary theory can help constructivism in the following ways 1. realism 2. congnitivism 3. Relativism 4. dualism and 5. social constructionism. In this article, constructivism refers to personal construct psychology and not social constructionism. The author continues to explain Darwin's evolution theory and how it's compared with Donald Campbell's evolutionary epistemology or the selection theory. Evolution in all its
forms—whether biological, psychological, or social—constitutes a “knowledge process,” which serves to help people effectively make sense of and navigate their surroundings. Campbell believes that learners generate 'intelligence' by trial and error by using their surroundings as a test area. He explains the one's mental representations evolve as people successively experience events. Critiques argue that his ideas run the risk of falling into the 'anything goes' which will devalue science. Constructivists are encouraged to move forward and further explore some of the implications of an evolutionary constructivism. Despite the constructivism views nobody really knows the outcome of their ideas. For example the WWII American women in the workforce. This was a blind variation meaning know body could predict the outcome of this action. Who would have known that in less that 30 years the women's right movement and social constructions about gender roles evolved rapidly. The point that Raskin makes is that biological, psychological, and social systems influence one another over the course of their evolution. Applying the evolutionary theory into constuctivism has potential. Yet know one can predict where this explorations can lead.

Module Four Reflection

During this reflection I wanted to summarize the key points of one required module reading. I wanted first to highlight a few interesting findings in the paper by Mitchell Rabinowitz entitled "Psychology, Instructional Design and the Use of Technology: Behavioral, Cognitive, and Affordances Perspectives" then compare it to my own personal teaching style and methods. I was intrigued by the authors analogy that 'machines were useful as teachers' because, according to Skinner (1958,1989) "good instruction requires students to immediately know whether they are doing something correctly or not by rewards or recognition for right answers." Skinner also noted that the machine itself does not teach the student but their are features provided by the machine (hinting, prompting,and suggesting techniques) that help students arrive at the right answer. I believe the same theory is applied in the visual arts more specifically creating works of art. As an art educator I try to allow my students to explore their own individually and discover their own creativity. Recently, a lesson was introduced involving the representation of 'dreams'....what are dreams, why do we have them, and what they mean. The assignment involves illustrating a 'dream'. They choose the medium. They choose how they want it to look like, the colors, and techniques they think would be best. Sketches were drawn and ideas were shared. Students were engaged and interested because they were the main creators of this artwork. I wondered around the room hinting, prompting, and suggesting colors, placement of objects, drawing techniques that would look best, and gave words of encouragement and recognition to all that were showing progress. For those students showing advance skill I presented them with advanced concepts and techniques. For those students whom where struggling words of encouragement and easier suggestions were applied. I believe that giving the students the opportunity to choose,in a limited way, allows students to find, fix, and solve their own problems. In comparison to the behaviorist point of view these features shape the student's behavior and also hold the student's interest.

Module Three Reflection

In module three and interesting discussion topic was introduced. Will technology survive? As a husband to an anthropologist I have heard many concepts of evolution and the idea that only the fit survive. If we take Darwin's theory of evolution to be accurate then one can assume that the process of natural selection is correct. Natural selection meaning that certain species survive successfully because of heritable traits pass down from previous generations making it more likely to survive. These heritable traits help the species adapt quickly to a new environment and help the species survive. Also, the quality of 'fitness' is also important in this theory. One needs to be 'fit' to survive in order to out run, out manure, and out think any predators in the area.

From a technological point of view Darwin's theory of evolution is succeeding. Technology is evolving and surviving. For example the horse drawn carriage evolved to a highly advanced car. The quill evolved to pens. The rock to the hammer and so on... Yet, there are a few big differences between the evolutions of the human race and that of technology. One major difference is the selection process: in normal evolution, the decider is nature but in technological evolution, the deciding factor is actually us. The human race decides which new advancement is 'fit' for our needs; the need for food, the need to communicate, the need comfort, and the need for better transportation.

Will technology survive? As long as human have needs technology will exist.

Modes of Learning--An Introduction

During the last couple of days I have been researching the concept of ‘modes of learning’. I have noticed that their has been a great deal of research on learning styles and modes of learning. For example: The educational theorist Dunn and Dunn focused on how our environment, building, and surrounding areas influences student achievement and student learning. Howard Garder work on identifying students individual talents in his Multiple Intelligences theories. A theory that can be helpful for teachers by recognizing that students have different skills and in different subjects. Based on the works of Jung, The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator theory focused on how people’s personalities affects the way they interact personally, and how this affects the way individuals respond to each other with the learning environment.
Each educational theorist has a different idea, and probably successful theory, on ‘how to better learn’. I agree that as educators we should recognize this new concepts and apply them in our teaching style when possible. But the real question is how does learning happen? And what is the most effective learning strategy ?
Thought my years of experience teaching high school I have come to the conclusion that students learn differently. Some students tend to focus on facts, data, and algorithms; others are more comfortable with theories and sciences. And some respond strongly to visual forms of information like pictures, photographs, and artwork. Some tend to like to work independently, others in groups, some like to write, others learn by drawing, and the list goes on and on. Even thought students learn differently I don’t think that students retain what was ‘learned’ effectively until that information was read, heard, seen, discussed, experienced, and given to someone else. Below is a table that shows how much information is retained by students if only one mode of learning was taught.


Modes of Learning

What we Read 10% --is remembered
What we Hear 20%
What we See 30%
What we both See and Hear 50%
What we Discuss with others 70%
What we Experience 80%
What we Teach someone else 95%


I think it’s interesting that not all of these modes are 100%. We need to apply them all when we teach.

My ideas of teaching and learning...

Theme: "My ideas about teaching and learning."

I have had many opportunities to experience traditional means of teaching and learning and more modern methods of teaching and learning. I believe that both traditional and modern methods have their place and both can be effective if used in the right circumstance. In 2005, I taught English at Gung Shan High School in Kaoushisung, Taiwan. That experience opened my eyes to how traditional methods were used. Most of the time the professors lectured in front of the class. Students were expected to take detailed notes and understand the subject immediately. Their is little interaction between the teacher and the students. In a culture emphasizing education and strict discipline, where memorization and text book learning was taught, I felt that more could be done. I do not agree that every teacher should teach the same nor do I agree that every teacher should have the same style of teaching. And from my point of view of memorization isn't learning. I wanted the students to participate in the own learning.

Most of the schools, where I taught, had little if no technology and I often found myself wishing for a projector, a computer, or a TV. These simple devices could have benefited my class tremendously in the learning process. However, because of the situation I was facing I had to rely on other methods of presenting the material. Mostly, I relied on my own theories of how education should be taught and learned....focusing mainly on the experience. I often had student interact with each other ( which at first was difficult and many argued..'can we really do that?'). We put on plays, had lip syncs contests, played survivor, and we cooked. The cooking lesson was the most effective in my opinion. Students were intrigued with my western food and preparation. Many students opened up and asked questions, interacted with me, and shared their own opinions about food preparation. The students were so involved in the experience that they forgot they were actually learning English. In return, they taught me how they lived, survived, and how they ate and prepared their meals.
If the students would have asked me that day who in the class learned most, virtually all of them would say, "The teacher." It is apparent to those who have taught that teaching is a better way to learn than being taught. Education is about experiences, diversity, opinions, interaction, relationships, and teaching each other. The true test of a good education is if one can teach what was taught. You don't know how little you know about a subject until you teach it.

Education is....