Social Cognitivism or Modern Constructivism TIPR

Modern Constructivism: How does the teacher use modern constructivist techniques (e.g., discovery learning, inquiry-based learning, problem-based learning, etc.) to promote student learning? Be thorough in your coverage of the theory, addressing multiple concepts to demonstrate your understanding. Cite specific examples and be sure to include a reference in your response.

Constructivism is a learning theory which explains how people might acquire knowledge and learn. The theory also says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. So it is an important application in education. Generally, it usually means encouraging students to use active techniques (experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is changing.

 In a constructivism classroom, the focus is shifted from the teacher to the students. The students are actively involved in their own learning process. The teacher functions more as a facilitator who coaches, mediates, prompts, and helps students develop and assess their understanding, and thereby their learning.

Project-based, problem-based. inquiry, and cooperative are examples of the different types of learning that takes place in a constructivist classroom.  For example, in the classroom I observed, the students participated in cooperative learning activities when learning about quadrilaterals and their properties. I feel cooperative learning in the math classroom is a big deal.  Math can be so confusing to so many students, but when put in small groups where students are teaching each other and learning from one another, great strides can be made in the understanding the students have of the content being taught.  The following video shows how cooperated learning can deepen students understanding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWEwv_qobpU.

Some examples of technology and constructivism in the classroom are, personal learning environments, simulations, interactives, and creating digital products.  For example, in the classroom I observed, the teacher had a review day where she used online interactives for students to practice the content they needed to know for the required summative testing.  

Information Processing TIPR

How does the teacher work with the students' information processing systems to promote learning? For example, how does the teacher focus students' attention, help them rehearse new information, and encourage them to encode and transfer information? Evaluate the teacher's use of wait time as part of this process. Cite specific examples and be sure to include a reference in your response.

At the very center of cognitive psychology is the idea of information processing. Cognitive psychology compares the human mind to a computer, suggesting that we are like information processors and our stimuli and response processes can be studied. Information processing consists of three key functions, the sensory memory, the working memory (otherwise known as the short term memory), and the long term memory.
Sensory memory allows environmental information to be retained, sometimes for as little as a fraction of a second, as it makes its way into our consciousness. Our sensory systems are constantly receiving and processing an incredible amount of information at any given moment. A teenagers brain can rapidly sense and perceive a host of information while our brains decide what is useful and what is not. So the key to getting students to take information from sensory memory into working memory (short term memory) is to focus on getting the students attention. For example, in the class I observed the teacher was teaching about the symmetry of shapes, instead of lecturing the whole lesson, she gave a brief overview of symmetry, and them handed out cutout material shapes. The students could actually fold and manipulate the shape to figure out its symmetry. This helped the students keep the basic cognitive arousal at attentive levels.
Working memory is more commonly known as short term memory. Working memory is an ability that allows us to work with information. It helps us learn and perform even basic tasks. It may then help to transfer it into long-term memory. Working memory is like a temporary sticky note in our brain. The example I used earlier of the the material shapes, helped the students transfer the information from sensory memory to working memory, and because is transferred to working memory, it will then have the ability to transfer to long term memory.
Long term memory is intended for storage over a long period of time. Students are more likely to remember information when it’s tied to an experience or an emotion. Once again, in the classroom I observed the teacher was helping the students transfer the information into their long term memory by providing the experience of being able to fold and manipulate the material shapes. It is so much better than staring at shapes on a piece of paper trying to use your mind to fold the shapes, especially since you want the students to transfer what they are learning in long term memory.
The following clip shares examples and tips of how teachers or future teachers can put the Information Processing Theory into practice in their classroom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaAQVdWbZRk.

Behaviorism TIPR

How does the teacher use behaviorist techniques (e.g., shaping, Premack Principle, token reinforcement systems, etc.) to help students learn? Cite specific examples and be sure to include a reference in your response. How do students respond to this instructional method? *Note: this question refers to learning rather than motivation.


Behaviorism is a learning theory that only focuses on observable behaviors and discounts any independent activities of the mind. Behavior theorists define learning as nothing more than the acquisition of new behavior based on environmental conditions. Behaviorism also operates on the principle of "stimulus-response". In behaviorism there occurs classical and operant conditioning. In classical conditioning, two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response.  Operant conditioning is a learning process that involves an increase or decrease in the likelihood of some behavior as the result of the consequences. Here is a brief explanation of what classical and operant conditioning is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTVQHhbhYbA. 

In the class that  I am observing one of the behaviorist techniques that I saw used by the teacher was Positive Practice.  In positive practice, rather than punish, the student(s) can try again, thus reinforcing the correct behavior. For example, there is a student that does not follow the class rule of sitting in his desk.  He walked into the classroom, went to his desk, and stood up on the top of his desk and was almost reaching the ceiling.  The teacher asked the student to go back out of the classroom, and to return to the classroom again sitting as he should.  She was reinforcing the correct way to enter the classroom.  He did respond as he should, but if he had not, if I were the teacher, I would come up with some sort of consequence using reinforcement or punishment to try to get him to perform the correct behavior.  

Another example of a behaviorist technique I saw in one of the classes was positive reinforcement.  As the students walked into class, there was a bell-ringer on the board that were two practice problems from the previous class lesson.  She gave them a few minutes, and then asked for volunteers to come up to the board and demonstrate how they solved the problem.  Whether they got the problem correct or not, she gave them some positive reinforcement....they were able to pick a treat out of a bucket. There was many students that raised their hand to come up to the board to demonstrate.  I could see that  the students were actually try to work out solving the problem because they wanted the positive reinforcement.  It makes me think there was probably some classical conditioning going on because the students knew beforehand there was going to be some sort of positive reinforcement.  The teacher was conditioning their response to want to work on the problems, so they would could come up to the board, and thus get their treat (positive reinforcement).