Reflective Journal Entry #3

Chapter 6

Description

Chapter 6 focuses on the Information-Processing Model.  This chapter delves into how the brain stores information, and strategies that teachers can use to assist students to store this information into their long term memory.  

Analysis

According to Slavin (2012, p 154) there are three components of memory.  These are the sensory register, short term memory, and long term memory (Slavin, 2012).  The sensory register is part of a person's senses and helps form a person's perceptions (Slavin, 2012).  Short term memory, or working memory, can hold five to nine pieces of information at a time (Slavin, 2012).  Long term memory is where memories are held for an indefinite amount of time (Slavin, 2012).  The three parts of long term memory are episodic memory, semantic memory, and procedural memory (Slavin, 2012).  Cognitive theorists suggest that educators must relate information to this part of the memory in order for student to learn the information (Slavin, 2012).

Research on the brain has shown that various parts of the brain are responsible for processing various types of information (Slavin, 2012).  The Interference Theory explains why people forget information (Slavin, 2012).  This is one new information interferes with previously learned information (Slavin, 2012).  Therefore, teachers must strive for automaticity.  This is when a skill is practiced so frequently that it moves into long term memory (Slavin, 2012).

In order to help students learn information, teachers must make the information more meaningful to them according to the Schema Theory (Slavin, 2012).  Also, teacher must teach metacognitive strategies (Slavin, 2012).  These are strategies in which students begin thinking about their own thinking.

Slavin (2012) suggests many strategies to help students learn new information.  These include note-taking, summarizing, writing to learn, outlining, using advanced organizers, use of analogies, and questioning techniques.  Slavin (2012) suggests that one of the best study techniques is the PQ4R Method.  PQ4R stands for "preview", "question", "read", "reflect", "recite", and "review"(Slavin, 2012).  

Reflection
I thought this reading was very interesting, not only as a teacher, but as a student as well.  I think it is interesting how we organize and store information in our brains according to importance.  I also enjoyed reading about the various strategies that I can use as a student to help me move information into my long term memory. 

I think this information is also important in the context of my classroom.  We are always striving to help students learn and remember new information.  If we use some of the suggested strategies, we can help students internalize information and move it to their long term memory.  I particularly would like to try the PQ4R method within my classroom next year. 

I will use what I've learned from this chapter by thinking about my students' memories while I am teaching.  I will seek to connect new concepts to my students' prior knowledge.  I will also seek to make information relevant and important in my students' lives.  This will help students remember the new information.

I've also gained a deeper understanding of automaticity by reading this chapter.  My literacy coach is always saying we need to move our students to automaticity when it comes to reading.  I've always taken this as they become so good at reading, they don't have to think about it anymore.  I never thought about it in the context of memory and what type of memory is being used. 

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Reflective Journal Entry #2

Chapter 5

Description

Chapter 5 focuses on the behavioral and social theories in education.   Ivan Pavlov's theory of Classical Conditioning and B.F. Skinner's theory of Operant Conditioning are the primary behavioral theories discussed.  Albert Bandura's work and the work of Donald Meichenbaum are used to discuss social theories in education.  

Analysis

Ivan Pavlov's work involved classical conditioning (Slavin, 2012).  In Pavlov's research, he discovered that if he rang a bell every time a dog ate, the dog would begin to associate the sound of the bell with food and begin to salivate upon hearing the bell (Slavin, 2012).  Therefore, Pavlov discovered that conditioning could affect what were once believed to be involuntary reflexes (Slavin, 2012).  

B.F. Skinner proposed another type of conditioning known as operant conditioning (Slavin, 2012).  Operant conditioning focuses on the relationship between a behavior and its consequence (Slavin, 2012).  For example, if a student is rewarded for raising his/her hand to speak, he/she will continue that behavior.  B.F. Skinner is credited with the idea of immediate consequences (positive or negative) for various behaviors (Slavin, 2012).  Various reinforcers and punishers can be used to obtain desired behaviors from students.  

Albert Bandura argued that Skinner's approach completely ignored the concept of modeling (Slavin, 2012).  

"He felt that much of human learning is not shaped by its consequences but is more efficiently learned directly from a model (Slavin, 2012, p 112)."

Bandura's theory of observational learning contains four stages: attentional, retention, reproduction, and motivation (Slavin, 2012).  The attentional phase involves the student paying attention to the model, the retention phase gives the student a chance to practice what is being modeled, the reproduction phase involves the student trying to match the model, and the motivation phase involves students wanting to imitate the model (Slavin, 2012).  Another aspect of Bandura's theory is self-regulation.

"Bandura hypothesized that people observe their own behavior, judge it against their own standards, and reinforce or punish themselves (Slavin, 2012, p 114)."

Donald Meichenbaum's theory of cognitive behavior modification suggests that students can be taught to monitor their own behavior (Slavin, 2012).  Meichenbaum's method involved getting students to think about their own thinking.

Reflection
When I began reading this chapter, I thought that Pavlov's approach was very animalistic.  I had a hard time relating this theory to the classroom because it seemed a bit demeaning to the subjects.  I don't necessarily want to "train" my students.  I want to teach them through the use of consequences and modeling. 

I related more to the ideas of Skinner.  In my school, we use the PBIS system.  This system focuses on positive consequences for positive behaviors.  That's not to say that there are no negative consequences for negative behaviors, but there is are consequences for student behavior.  Since the implementation of PBIS, our amount of office discipline referrals have decreased dramatically.

I also enjoyed reading about Bandura's approach.  Bandura suggests that students will behave according to what is modeled for them.  We see this a lot in the classroom.  We see that students behave a certain way because that's the way their parents behave.  Therefore, I try to model for my students the behavior I expect of them.  I try to stay calm in stressful situations, I try not to raise my voice, I show them respect, etc...  I always try to remember to practice what I preach, especially in front of my students.

Meichenbaum's theory was also interesting to me.  I think it is important for young students to learn how to self-monitor.  We need to help foster their self-monitoring skills.  I think these skills are very developmental, and we need to begin teaching students how to self-monitor at an early age.  

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Reflective Journal Entry #1

Chapter 2

Description
The focus of this week's reading in EDAT 6115 was on the cognitive development of children.  The reading focused primarily on the work of Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Urie Bronfenbrenner.  Although each researchers' theories differ in many ways, most psychologists today believe that cognitive development is influenced by a combination of nature and nurture.

Analysis
Slavin (2012) suggests that the first step educators must take when teaching students is to understand how students think.  In doing so, one must study the cognitive development of children.  Slavin (2012) goes on to state that much of the debate about cognitive development involves the issue of nature versus nurture.  However most psychologists agree that a combination of both nature and nurture can attribute to a child's cognitive development (Slavin, 2012).  Slavin (2012) goes on to discuss the differences between the Continuous Theories of Development and the Discontinuous Theories of Development.  Slavin (2012) describes the Continuous Theory of Development as

"...development that occurs in a smooth progression as skills develop and experiences are provided by care givers and the environment (Slavin, 2012, p 24)."

The emphasis of the Continuous Theory of Development emphasizes nurture rather than nature.  On the other hand, the Discontinuous Theories of Development suggests that the steps of development are fixed, but environmental factors can play a role in the pace of progression (Slavin, 2012).

Jean Piaget suggests that there are four stages to cognitive development that are fixed.  These are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational (Slavin, 2012).  In the first stage, sensorimotor, babies are exploring the world using their senses and developing reflexes (Slavin, 2012).  This is when babies develop "schemes".  Schemes are patterns of behavior that help children learn about the world (Slavin, 2012).  For example, to understand what something tastes like, a child might put the object in his/her mouth to learn more about it.

Piaget's second stage of development is the preoperational stage.  In this stage, children are learning to use symbols to represent objects (Slavin, 2012).  However, children in this stage are still egocentric and believe that everyone thinks the way they do (Slavin, 2012).  Piaget's third stage is the concrete operational stage.  In this stage "Children... can form concepts, see relationships, and solve problems, but only if they involve objects and situations that are familiar (Slavin, 2012, p 29)."  Children in this stage are also beginning to understand that other people think differently than them (Slavin, 2012).

Piaget's final stage of development is the formal operational stage.  This is the stage in which preadolescents begin thinking as adults (Slavin, 2012).  Children in this stage begin to think more abstractly.

Critics of Piaget's theory state that these stages are not fixed, and children can be taught these various cognitive abilities (Slavin, 2012).  Furthermore, critics state that Piaget underestimated children's cognitive abilities (Slavin, 2012).  Therefore, many researchers theorize a modified version of Piaget's theory.

Lev Vygotsky's theory differs from Piaget in that he believed that learning proceeds development (Slavin, 2012).  Vygotsky suggests that children learn from what they are taught.

"Development occurs as the child internalizes these signs so as to be able to think and solve problems without the help of others, an ability called self-regulation (Slavin, 2012, p 33)"

Vygotsky's theory includes strategies to teach students how to achieve self-regulation such as private speech, the zone of proximal development, mediation, scaffolding, and cooperative learning (Slavin, 2012).  Students can obtain self-regulation when provided with these learning opportunities.

Urie Bronfenbrenner suggests that cognitive development is influenced more by social and institutional influences (Slavin, 2012).  Bronfenbrenner's bioecological approach emphasizes the interconnectedness of nature and nurture (Slavin, 2012).  This approach includes a child's meosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem.  The picture below shows the interconnectedness of a child's social world (Slavin, 2012, p 37). 

Slavin (2012, p 37) states "The aspects of development arguably of greatest concern to educators are language and literacy."  Slavin (2012) states that there are individual differences in the rates in which children's language abilities develop, the sequence of development stays the same.  First children must develop oral language, then children can begin reading, then children will begin writing. 

Reflection
This reading was very interesting to me, because I teach young children who experiencing various stages of development throughout the school year.  As I was reading Jean Piaget's theory of development, I kept thinking to myself that my first graders were achieving stages that Piaget would not deem appropriate for their age group.  Therefore, I tend to agree with critics of the theory, that development does not proceed learning (Slaving, 2012).  I believe children can be taught certain skills at earlier ages and have the ability to learn the skill.  Critics state that Piaget's theory underestimates the cognitive abilities of children.  I agree with this.

According to Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development a second-grader would probably be functioning in the concrete operational stage.  According to Piaget, in this stage children are thinking on a higher level, but they are still not thinking abstractly (Slavin, 2012).  If students at this level were not thinking abstractly, then they could not possibly learn this Georgia Science standard:

S2E2. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to develop an understanding of the patterns of the sun and the moon and the sun’s effect on Earth.
And carry out an investigation to determine the effect of the position of the sun in relation to a fixed object on Earth at various times of the day.

In order for a student to learn a lesson about the patterns of the sun and how it effects specific objects on Earth, the student would have to reason abstractly.  The student would be able to use concrete information by observing the affects of the sun's position.  However, the student must also think abstractly to understand how it is the position of the sun that creates that concrete observation.

Piaget also suggests that children in this stage can only understand information that is right there in front of them (Slavin, 2012).  This suggests that children in this stage cannot understand information that is not already familiar to them.  If this is true, how could a student possibly understand the patterns of the sun and the moon.  Although they can observe changes in the sun and moon throughout the day, they cannot see all of the changes that are occurring.  In order for a student to fully understand this standard, he/she must have the ability to think outside of his/her own world in order to understand two intangible objects.

An eighth-grade student would fall into Piaget's formal operational stage.  In this stage, children begin thinking like adults (Slavin, 2012).  Children in this stage can think abstractly and learn to deal with hypothetical situations (Slavin, 2012).  If students in this level are reasoning abstractly, they would be able to learn the following eighth grade Georgia Science standard: S8P1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the structure and properties of matter.  This standard requires students to work with materials on an atomic level.  Therefore, the information is intangible and the student must be able to reason abstractly to fully understand the standard.

Piaget also suggests that children in this stage are also better problem solvers (Slavin, 2012).  Piaget states that children in this stage can reason situations they have not yet experienced.  Therefore, students could successfully understand the Georgia Science standard S8P1.  Since a child in this stage can learn new information unrelated to what has previously been experienced, the student would have not problem learning this new concept.

By the time children reach school age, most already have a good grasp on language.  However, Slavin (2012) states that although all children must go through each step of literacy development, when they go through each step can vary from child to child.  Working on the primary level you can have students who have well developed language skills, and students who do not.  Similarly, when you begin to read with children, you may have some students who have experience with books and literacy, and you may have some children who have  no literacy experience at all. 

Typically, by the end of Kindergarten, these differences are identified and the teacher and school can provide accommodations as needed to various students.  Slavin (2012) states that as students progress through elementary school, they build on their already existing literacy skills.  Even in my class this past year, I had a student reading on a level D and a student reading on a level N.  This goes to show how students who have had experience with literacy will go through the stages at a younger age than those who have not had those experiences.  This means that teachers must learn how to work with students on their level on a daily basis to build off of what the students already know. 

Reference 

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson
Education.