Constructionism in Action!

“You mean we get to make something in class?”  Wow, I remember saying that when I was a student.  To be able to create something in class was such an event, that I can remember many of the large projects I did 20+ years ago.  Maps of the explorers that discovered Canada, Olympic Villages of my design, a diorama of the northern Tundra and an anatomically correct knee joint with a removable patella bone.  How is it I can remember making these projects from so long ago? Oh wait, I know…Constructionism!

Dr. Orey states that Constructionism is the theory of learning where people learn best when they get to create something that they can share (Laureate Education, 2010). Apparently the ability to share a creating engages students, and gives them a greater capacity to learn.

I was blown away by Voicethreads this week ) http://www.personal.psu.edu/jun3/blogs/webresume/VoiceThread-WP(2).pdf) .  How can you possibly share your work with the world in a better way?  People can give their opinions/thoughts/collaborative ideas on your creation through video, text or voice.

Even the use of data collection tools and spreadsheets (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007) give our students a chance to create something they can share and interpret with others.  It was said so well in our text, such tools illustrate how technological applications help teachers to combine the instructional strategies that affect student achievement (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007).  If I am still able to remember my projects, which were made of clay, paper browned with tea bags, markers and glue sticks, will all of this technology that’s everyday available allow students to remember more of their work down the line?

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). Behaviorist learning theory. Baltimore, MD: Dr. Michael Orey.

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

Cognitivism in Practice

Dr. Orey explains that it is important to make connections between the old and new information we have stored in our brains (Laureate Education, 2007). Retrieving and activating this background knowledge will give our students an appropriate platform to link, and in turn recall, new information that they will be given. 

The Concept Mapping Tool’s explained by Novak (2006) visually depicts the relationships between concepts, by indicating a connecting line that links the new concepts.  You can take original background knowledge, and physically draw in the links that connect your old knowledge, to new concepts.  This form of Elaboration is an integral part of retaining long-term memory (Laureate Education, 2007).

Paivio’s (Laureate Education, 2007) dual coding hypothesis predicts that students will retain information better if it is stored as an image and text.  By using appropriate organizers provided in our book; Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007) we can help our students create an associative connection using informational images and rich vocabulary.

Behaviorism in Practice  

Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski (2007) state that people attribute success to a variety of sources.  They believe that effort has the greatest impact on success, because it is the only one that can be controlled by the individual.  I think that behaviorism influences effort.  Michael Orey (2010) said that behaviorism is the idea that a student learns a task by repeated exposure to the task and receiving feedback on that task via positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, or punishment.  If a student is giving a lot of effort, and is positively praised, they will continue to give that type of effort; especially if that effort reaps rewards.  Pitler et. al (2007) clarified that students may not see the correlation between how well they understand something, and how much time was put into learning it. 

The author of the book ‘Outliers’, Malcolm Gladwell, stated that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours.  Pitler et. al (2007) say students need about 24 practice sessions with a skill in order to achieve 80-percent competency.  I know homework may provide the operant conditioning needed to become competent to learn a skill, but in the case of a competitive school, like mine, as teachers we are sometimes unsure if the students even do their own homework.  If they are going home, and getting a lot of help with their work, does that count towards the 10,000 hours Gladwell, or 24 practice sessions Pitler et. al (2007) believe?

As I stated in this weeks discussion, I do believe in Behaviorism activities like stimulus-response tutorial programs for students.  I have found these to be extremely powerful tools for the comprehension, decoding, critical thinking and inferring skills needed to become a good reader.

I believe that Behaviorism has, and will continue to have, a deep hold on educational practices in education throughout the world.  It will provide the reinforcement and repetitive work needed to promote success, correct behavior and solidify concepts in the minds and actions of students across the globe.

Resources

Gladwell, Malcolm. (2008). Outliers. New York : Little, Brown and Co.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). Behaviorist learning theory. Baltimore, MD: Dr. Michael Orey. 

  

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