LESSON 2: FEELINGS

I keep thinking:

Does the  Constructivist learning theory  delineate all the other learning theories or  is there a relationship among them?

 I will  compare with the Behaviourist and the cognitivist theories.

BEHAVIOURIST CONCEPTS

1.  Learners are not just passive entities who react to environmental stimuli. Learners  learn by doing, experiencing, and engaging in trial and error. 
2. What has been learned, under what conditions, and the consequences that support or maintain the learned behavior all work together, and must be observable and measurable.
3.  Learning is a change in behavior due to experience and a function of building associations between the occasion on which the behavior occurs (stimulus event) and the behavior itself (response event).
4.  Repeated continuous pairing of the stimulus with the response strengthens learning. To change behavior in an educational setting, learners must be assessed for their needs and capabilities so that instruction is appropriate and meaningful.
5.  Observable goals can then be written.
6.  Learning tasks are ordered logically according to a hierarchy. Learners' performance of tasks is measured against objective criteria for mastery and correctness.
7. Reinforcement, which is contingent on successful achievement at each stage, maintains previously learned behaviors (Burton et al., 1996).

COGNITIVE CONCEPTS

1. Prior knowledge and mental processes intervene between a stimulus and response that operate to reduce the predictability of human behavior (response) given a stimulus.
2.  Mechanisms, such as chunking or grouping like items and interactive mental imagery, intervene between a stimulus and response to promote memory.
3. People learn meaningful material by generating relationships among new information and knowledge already stored in long-term memory. 
4. Three kinds of learning based on  Norman's schema-based theory of long-term memory: Accretion, associated with memorization, involves acquisition of factual information. Schema creation occurs as a result of encountering examples, analogies, metaphors, and tutorial interactions. Tuning or schema evolution involves gradual refinement of existing schema as a result of task practice or concept use (Shuell, 1986). 

Behaviorists look at learning as an aspect of conditioning and will advocate a system of rewards and targets in education and that human behavior is predictable; cognitive approaches consider the role of unobservable mental states and introspection, which are part of human behavior (Winn & Snyder, 1996).

CONSTRUCTIVIST  CONCEPTS

1. Learning is a constructive process in which the learner is building an internal illustration of knowledge, a personal interpretation of experience.
2.  This representation is continually open to modification, its structure and linkages forming the ground to which other knowledge structures are attached. 
3.  Learning is an active process in which meaning is accomplished on the basis of experience. Reality places constrains on the concepts that are, but contends that all we know of the world are human interpretations of our experience of the world. 
4.  Conceptual growth comes from the sharing of various perspectives and the simultaneous changing of our internal representations in response to those perspectives as well as through cumulative experience (Bednar, Cunnigham, Duffy, Perry, 1999
5. The locus of  control over learning is the student not  the teacher. Objectives should be negotiated with students based on their own felt needs
6.  The nature of learning  is (situated, interactive) and  the nature of knowledge is (perspectival, conventional, tentative, evolutionary).  
7.  Programmed activities emerge from within the contexts of their lived worlds, that students should work together with peers in the social construction of personally significant meaning
8. Evaluation is a personalised ongoing, shared analysis of progress (Hanckbarth,S., 1996, p.11).
9.  Learning is placed in a rich context, reflective of real world context, for this constructive process to happen and transfer to environments beyond the school or training classroom (Scaffolding) . 
10.  Learning is through cognitive apprenticeship, mirroring the collaboration of real world problem solving, and using the tools available in problem solving situations.
11.   How effectual or instrumental the learner’s knowledge structure is in facilitating thinking in the content field is the measure of learning  (Bednar, Cunnigham, Duffy, Perry, 1995: 103-104.)

Need the teachers disregard the earlier approaches to learning?

No! There is a clear continuum of one theory as the building block of the other:

1. Constructivism builds upon behaviorism and cognitivism in the sense that it accepts multiple perspectives and maintains that learning is a personal interpretation of the world. Behavioral strategies can be part of a constructivist learning situation, if that learner choses and finds that type of learning suitable to their experiences and learning style.
2.  Cognitive approaches have a place in constructivism also, since constructivism recognises the concept of schema and building upon prior knowledge and experience.
3.  Behaviorist,cognitive and constructivist  approaches value meaningful learning and realistic contexts for application of knowledge and skills.
4. The  greatest difference is that of evaluation. In behaviorism and cognitivism, evaluation is based on meeting specific objectives, whereas in constructivism, evaluation is much more subjective. Of course, what if I, as a learner, negotiate my evaluation and wish to include objective evaluation? Then isn't behavioral and cognitive strategy a part of constructivism?

What does this mean to me as a teacher today?

1. I have to be open minded and conscientious  in my class especially regarding the emerging situations there in, keeping in mind that no one learning theory is inferior/superior  to the other and neither must i take one theory as the absolute thus risking stifling my learners.
2. I need to be flexible, creative and innovative in order to bring out the most conducive  learning environment which will make learning a scaffolding experience.
3. The focus should always be on the learner...in all respects.

These pictures are a summary of what I envision as what learning is. 

T        T

The teacher's role-modified  , the learner in charge of his/her learning                  

What about assessment in our Ugandan Education System?

Using my strength in my teaching

This quotation summarises the power of  using Multiple Intelligence

If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.

- Margaret Mead

I rank high in linguistic intelligence-I love poetry, reading,working with word games, telling stories journal writing.

All my teacher trainees are training to be teachers of English language and Literature.This makes it interesting because it is most likely that we have some intelligence in common.

I will incorporate both teacher centered and learner centered activities:

 I will  use my linguistic intelligence to explain the concepts surrounding poetry  clearly and use appropriate language to aid understanding.The lecture speaks into the teacher trainees' linguistic intelligence.

I will encourage general class discussions which will  provide an opportunity for students to exercise both areas of their personal intelligences, as well as to reinforce the subject matter.

Through my interpersonal intelligence I encourage  Cooperative learning (group and pair work) giving the trainees a chance to exercise their Interpersonal Intelligence;  simulations and role plays  prepared involve Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence, as well as Interpersonal and Verbal/Linguistic intelligences.

 By allowing  the trainees to read a poem, write about it and listen to one another's responses, I am fully exercising my linguistic intelligence.

Poetry is essentially song and is full of rhythm. Using my  musical intelligence I choose and use poetry that teach rhyme and rhythm.

I encourage them to use resources that will build their information seeking behaviour.

• Encyclopaedia
• Dictionary
• Thesaurus

This is of advantage to the students in that it keeps them working together, thinking, inquiring, and generating new ideas.

Getting to know  my students' intelligences better

This I can do by means of:

1.  Creating a student learner profile which I fill as I teach and observe the students undertake  various activities

 The questions are categorized under the five dimensions of learner identity.

1. Biological traits
   • In what ways might the child's gender be influencing learning in the classroom?
   • Is there anything in the child's medical records that indicates a condition that might impact classroom learning?
   • Does the child have a learning disability?
   • Has the student been identified as highly capable?
2. Cultural and societal influences
   • What is the child's dominant culture (or cultures), and how might it (they) be influencing learning?
   • How do you think the child perceives the role of the student?
   • If I were to ask the child what the word "learning" means, how do you anticipate the child would respond?
   • What might be some ways that I could support the child in coming to better understand the culture of the school?
   • If the child's first language is not English, how might this linguistic diversity enhance achievement in the classroom?
3. Emotional and social influences
   • What are the socioeconomic circumstances of the child's family circumstances? What is the family's primary language?
   • What is the student's prior school history?
   • Does the student prefer to work alone or in groups?
   • When have you seen the student take on leadership responsibilities?
   • How would you describe the student's interpersonal skills?
   • When is the student most self-directed?
4. Learner preferences
   • What are the child's strengths as a learner?
   • Under what conditions have I seen the child doing his or her best work?
   • What do I  notice about the environmental influences on this student's learning?
   • What activities does the child engage in after school or during recess?
   • If the child were to design a field trip, what are my hunches as to where he or she might choose to go?
   • What have you noticed about the child's preferred learning styles or intelligence preferences?
   • In what ways does this student most prefer to demonstrate learning?
5. Academic performance
• What have I learned from your analysis of this student's work, and how will this 
• influence the design of future instruction?
6. Other ways could be:
7. 
   

• Examining past records
•  Interviewing the child and/or parents
• Engaging in structured observation of the child.

This knowledge will help me understand each student and treat each of them as  a unique individual.

How Can I use this knowledge to the benefit of each child?
Understanding the theory of multiple intelligence redirects my mind towards the following concepts which will help me meet the needs of each student:

• Each student learning the subject matter in a variety of different ways  multiplies the  chances of successfully understanding and retaining that information.
• Many student needs are met through this program. Their intellectual needs are met by constantly being challenged and frequently exercising their creativity. At the same time, their emotional needs are met by working closely with others. They develop diverse strengths, and they understand themselves better as individuals.
• The students’ interests and developmental needs dictate the direction of the program. Such a model adapts to students, rather than expecting students to adapt to it.

Making my lessons a more authentic experience.

2.1.4
From my experience with school practice supervision, I noticed that student teachers all teach their lessons in the same way- not distinguishing one lesson as being different from the other;not taking cognizance of the fact that no two classes are the same; and not taking care of his/her own creativity nor that of the student.

The crux of this matter lies with the way I as a lecturer could have presented my self and my mode of teaching- telling them to do one thing , while I do not strictly follow it during my delivery of the lecture- making them detached from the actual practice.

I would like to use this illustration from Jonassen et al (1999), to illustrate what I would do to make my learning experiences more authentic:

 Meaningful learning occurs when learners actively interpret their experience using internal, cognitive operations which  requires that I change my role from sage to guide. 

Since students learn from thinking about what they are doing, my role becomes one of stimulating and supporting activities that engage learners in thinking. 

 Meaningful learning requires knowledge to be constructed by the learner, not transmitted from me  to the student 

To experience meaningful learning, students need to do much more than access or seek information—they need to know how to examine, perceive, interpret and experience information.

Therefore, a authentic learning experience is one that is:

• Active (manipulative): We interact with the environment manipulate the objects within it and observe the effects of our manipulations. 
• Constructive and reflective: Activity is essential but insufficient for meaningful learning. We must reflect on the activity and our observations, and interpret them in order to have a meaningful learning experience. 
• Intentional: Human behaviour is naturally goal-directed. When students actively try to achieve a learning goal that they have articulated, they think and learn more. For students to experience meaningful learning, they must be able to articulate their own learning goals and monitor their own progress. 
• Authentic (complex and contextual): Thoughts and ideas rely on the contexts in which they occur in order to have meaning. Presenting facts that are stripped from their contextual clues divorces knowledge from reality. Learning is meaningful, better understood and more likely to transfer to new situations when it occurs by engaging with real-life, complex problems. 

Cooperative (collaborative and conversational): We live, work and learn in communities, naturally seeking ideas and assistance from each other, and negotiating about problems and how to solve them. It is in this context that we learn there are numerous ways to view the world and a variety of solutions to most problems. Meaningful learning, therefore, requires conversations and group experiences

This can be achieved by use of technology to re -imagine learning.

Learning experience in class -To what extent?

2.1.4 

To what extent do I create learning experiences in my classes?

I am no longer an active and practicing teacher trainer. However, I will look back on how I used to train the teacher trainees at the National Teachers' college.

 To a larger extent, since I was training teachers, I managed to create learning experiences in my class.

The training curriculum has emphasis on integration  -across the curriculum, with co curricular activities,and with real life.

My lectures would take the following shape:

1. I help students find a motivation for learning by awakening  their   insight- teaching  from the known to the unknown (build on prior knowledge) 
2. I use pathways to learning (things that help bridge the known to the unknown: metaphors, experiences, etc.) and  provide  knowledge that addresses a need, solves a problem, or satisfies. 
3. I concentrate in helping them learn  concepts and principles other  than learning facts or receiving information.
4.  Lecture, explication, problem-posing -these have been my most helpful pedagogies.
5. The lecture objectives for Literature in English and English Language is based on the development of skills and sub-skills. I  identify knowledge category (skill, information, concepts, principle, self-understanding, and lecture on concepts and principles (not information).
6.  At appropriate intervals, I  test for comprehension and check for misunderstanding by use of  dialogues, question and answer, self-assessment, test for misunderstanding.
7. I then share information, provide sources of information or knowledge, test for comprehension, test for misunderstanding using appropriate assessment taxonomy.
8.  the most creative part of designing the learning experience is allowing the students to manipulate the knowledge by Interpreting it, enhancing it, diagramming it, depicting it, changing it, deconstructing it, combining it, illustrating it, interpreting it, modeling it by providing them with the appropriate experiential learning activity.
9. I  Plan intervals for revisiting and rehearsing core concepts by  designing multiple ways for students to revisit, manipulate, and apply the concepts at intervals during the course through rehearsal, memorisation and recall, association and application.
10. Through  simulation, experimentation, application in context and  projects I encourage the students to apply knowledge  in the context it must be used, applying what they are learning in the "real world," outside the classroom while I provide feed-back on application.

Examples of tasks that I give students:

ROLE PLAY: Students take roles of various characters in a case study and act out the parts.

Project work: Prepare files for school practice, Prepare a mock lesson and teach a mock
                               classroom.

Group work: prepare and present a character analysis or theme in a text.

School Practice: the immersion into the real world of school that prepares the student in
                              making the transition from trainee to professional.Student teachers are
                            exposed to experience the complexities and richness of the reality of being                              a teacher.                             

Experiences of True Learning

Sylvia Bahiga's experience
Learning the language was a difficult process.
Learning is a cyclic process.
The more she interacted with the learning material, the more she learnt.
She had a positive attitude towards learning
She was not shy to accept corrections and constantly laughed at herself.
She was open minded, friendly and persistently experimented with the language
She developed her own learning style- looking up difficult words, listening to music, watching soaps,was totally immersed in the language learning environment.
Her colleagues were prompters and the school provided a conducive learning environment.
In the end, she mastered the language, she is very happy and very confident since she is able to share her experience.

My Experience
Having to make a video documentary was the most daunting task that I have undertaken so far.I had little or no knowledge about making videos, shooting pictures, editing, making the voice over,writing the sub titles, making the video tell a complete story in itself in an interesting and engaging manner.

However, I set myself to it and made my first video documentary.
I widely  read around the subject, sifting information and noting what was pertinent. I then embarked on the actual production process, making many mistakes,doing, re doing, undoing, reconstructing;persistently giving it a lot of time. In so doing, I kept learning more and more.

Despite this, I consulted the tutor and other participants and the activities undertaken augmented my learning, giving me a premise, a platform, a thrust! The sense of victory still lingers..... I remember the saying: "the tasting of the pudding is in the eating!"

There is a strong correlation between Sylvia's experience of learning and mine.

2.1.2
Gleaning from my experience and of my course colleagues in relation to the overview by Marilyn, learning  is facilitated by the following

1. Who? -The learner

• Motivation for learning
• Open mindedness (Creativity, Flexibility)
• Curiosity
• Determination, optimism and effort
• Learning style 
• Desire to learn
• Collaborative spirit
• Reflective practice

    2. What? The content

• Real life 
• Thought provoking
• Authentic
• Well defined problem

    3. Where?

• Classroom
• Learning platform

    4. How?

• Authentic Activities
• Guided discovery/investigation
• PLN
• Tutors
• Integrated assessment
• Multiple sources
• Reflective practice