Thursday, March 1, 2012
Friday, October 15, 2010
How to Write a Lesson Overview/Description?
I have viewed your cognitivist lesson plans. I feel that some students are still struggling with how to write a lesson overview/description. This blog entry is devoted to this issue.
In general, a lesson overview/description includes two essential elements: (1) topic, and (2) student learning activities. Additional elements can be added such as specific concepts covered by the lesson and student learning products. Let’s use examples to illustrate the process about how to write a lesson overview/description.
I. Topic
You must clearly state the topic covered by your lesson. The topic is what you are going to teach in your lesson. There are various ways for you to state your topic, as the examples below demonstrate.
(1) You can be very straightforward:
This lesson teaches importance of math accuracy.
(2) You can use a question:
Is math accuracy important in life?
(3) Here is another way to state this topic:
Students will learn the importance of math accuracy.
II. Then you add a brief description of student learning activities. Student learning activities refer to what students will do to learn the lesson.
To help students come to this understanding, they will be assigned to a profession that uses fractions on the job. Their task will be to research, summarize, draw conclusions and then report back on how important knowing fractions is in that profession and in their own life either now or in the future.
That completes the lesson overview/description. The complete lesson overview looks like this:
Students will learn the importance of math accuracy. To help students come to this understanding, they will be assigned to a profession that uses fractions on the job. Their task will be to research, summarize, draw conclusions and then report back on how important knowing fractions is in that profession and in their own life either now or in the future.
Let’s dissect another lesson overview/description.
What is rhyme? Where can we find it? We will embark on a knowledge journey into this aspect of phonemic awareness through song, nursery rhymes, and many wonderful books, as well as in our own writing. We will use this knowledge to create wanted posters searching for words that rhyme and even work with technology assistants to create a class slideshow featuring our selections of words that rhyme. We will end the unit by adding our newfound knowledge to our class Web site (with the help of our teacher, aide, and parent volunteers).
What is the topic of this lesson overview/description?
The topic of this lesson overview is rhyme - What is rhyme?
We can also be straightforward in stating the topic of the lesson – This lesson teaches rhyme or - Students will learng rhyme in this lesson.
What are student learning activities? Student learning activities are as follows:
We will embark on a knowledge journey into this aspect of phonemic awareness through song, nursery rhymes, and many wonderful books, as well as in our own writing.
This overview also includes student learning products:
We will use this knowledge to create wanted posters searching for words that rhyme and even work with technology assistants to create a class slideshow featuring our selections of words that rhyme.
Here is a lesson overview/description. Can you identify the topic and student learning activities? I encourage you to give it a try.
Is a picture worth a thousand words? That is the question students will be able to answer after they have completed this unit on photography/graphic design. As students work through the unit’s activities they will learn what an important form of communication photography is and how to recognize and convey content in images as well as interpret the photos of others. Students will practice critique skills and learn about the elements and principles of design. Finally, students will put into practice all that they have learned as they take on the role of a photographer/designer hired by a fictitious client to shoot the cover image for a soon-to-be-released album or book.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Thoughst on Cognitivism
Cognitivism believes that knowledge is organized. By using various mental representations, human minds are capable of structuring knowledge and generating limitless further representations. For instance, here is a driver’s license “1B1684T”. What is the best way to remember it? One can repeat it continuously and probably will remember it. However, the most effective way is to use “association” skills to form a structure and store the structure in one's memory. One might say “Number 1 in Birmingham (1B). Then one might identify the relationships among numbers. 16 is 2x8. 8 is 2x4 (1684). “T” can refer to a “teacher” if it happens that one is a teacher. Now it is a lot easier for one to remember this driver’s license.
Cognitivism views learning as knowledge transmission. It is the teacher-centered approach. The teachers’ job is to facilitate the formation of cognitive structures in learners’ minds. The teacher uses various mental representations to facilitate knowledge transmission. These methods include "association", categorization", "comparison", "contrast" and etc. I need to emphasize that we do learn from good lectures, although we do not learn only from lectures. A successful classroom keeps a good balance between the teacher-centered approach and student-centered approach. I remember a physics teacher who always used daily examples to illustrate difficult concepts. In one class, he said: “You are thirty. The water in the cup is hot. What do you often do? You blow at it for a while before you drink it. It shows that temperature is related to flow of air.” Years later, I still remember his lectures.
The following postings are from discussions in previous course. The group conducted a discussion on various cognitive strategies to facilitate student learning of course materials. These postings are about a memory enhancing strategy – Mnemonics.
Posting #1
Mnemonic devices are an important Cognitivist tool. I still use mnemonic devices to remember information all the time. Can you think of an example of a mnemonic device for your content area? This might be something useful for the lesson plan for this unit.
Posting #2
Mnemonics is a great memory enhancing strategy that involves teaching students to link new information that is taught to information they already know. It doesn’t require a wealth of material and does not require extensive planning (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 1998). Even though students in early grades are not usually expected to learn and recall as many facts as older students, they are involved in a number of activities that involve making associations that could use mnemonic devices. One example I can think of is the link between letters to words; such as “a” stands for “apple” or “f” for “flower”. Another example is teaching students that the shape of the letter “s” looks like a snake, which also begins with that letter. I have also used mnemonics when teaching new vocabulary by having the students think of what the specific letter formation of parts of the new word remind them of. One example is- the word medicine has two letter “i”’s and those two “i”’s resemble two pills. Mnemonics helps me memorize important information needed for tests. I use this strategy frequently!
Posting #3
My content area is English. I only remember one really memorable mnemonic device. A professor in college did a demonstration to illustrate the definition of melodrama. It might be hard to describe in text, but I'll try. She folded up a piece of loose leaf paper, accordion style and pinched it in the middle (so it looked like a bow). Then she held it above her lips like a mustache and said in a deep voice, "YOU MUST PAY THE RENT!!!" Then she moved the paper bow to the top of her head and said in a high pitched voice, "But I can't pay the rent!" She went back and forth like this for a while. Obviously she looked like an idiot, but she did effectively demonstrate the term melodrama. Also, it was hilarious. The humor only made it easier for the students to learn! I have never forgotten that demonstration...or the definition of melodrama!
Posting #4
I experienced a terrific mnemonic device yesterday while observing a US Government teacher at Hoover High School. She is teaching her twelfth grade class the 27 amendments She went through many suggestions, but when she got to 18 and 21 this was her advice: In the US it is PROHIBITED for 18 year-olds to drink alcohol, therefore remember that the 18th amendment was the Prohibition amendment. Then when a person turns 21 the are allowed to drink alcohol so the ban has been repealed; therefore, the 21st amendment is the Repealing of the Prohibition amendment. I had never before heard it said like that, but I bet I will never forget it. Plus the way she presented it with fun and vigor, class movement, her movement, etc. Impressive! The whole class was mnemonics to remember, and not a student probably realized they were even learning!
Posting #5
Mnemonics are a great strategy for students to enhance their memory. I once did a lesson on the order of operations in math. I used the famous "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" to teach the order. Students were quick to learn the order and had no problems doing the math that I put before them. I also used a mnemonic device to teach the planets. "My Very Elderly Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas" of course is the phrase in which most people use to remember the planets. I introduced this to the students and then challenged them to come up with their own phrase. The results really surprised me. Then when I quizzed them the next day, I asked the students to write the names of the planets in order and said I would give extra credit if they could write their original phrase. Again I was surprised, because every student remembered their phrase and the planets.
By viewing cognitive learning software listed in the course, you might notice that cognitive learning software encourages students to identify patterns and generate patterns. Students can also use the software to create their own pattern exercises. Graphic organizers are efficient concept mapping tools that make it easier for students to organize and structure information. Graphic organizers allow student to visually display relationships between information and thus create a mental representation to be stored in the mind.
Computer tutorials take cognitivist approaches. I have had a positive experience with a piece of tutorial software. I learned Lotus Spreadsheet from this piece of software. It was my first semester as a graduate student in the United States. I was feeling nervous and uncertain. I took a statistics course and needed to use the software in my class. By chance, I located a piece of software which tutored Lotus Spreadsheet. I started the tutoring at night. I liked the software. I felt very relaxed in this learning environment. There was nobody around me. I could concentrate on my learning. The computer tutor was tireless and patient. I could have it repeat the tutoring as many times as possible. Though patient, this tutor was sharp and strict. A “warning” beep would pull my wandering thoughts back onto the right track. By the time the class met again, I was quite ahead of the class in my skills in operating Lotus Spreadsheet.
Cognitivism is teacher-centered approach. All the learning activities are designed and controlled by the teacher. Students can be grouped together to do exercises, for example, to play a simulation game. However, they are mainly following the instructions given by the teacher or the software program in completing the task. There is very limited knowledge construction taking place. Cognitivism does not necessarily exclude group work. It depends on what students do in groups.
In conclusion, I think all the groups did well in the discussions on cognitivism. I hope these discussions help you design your cognitivist lesson plan and the teacher support material
Cognitivism views learning as knowledge transmission. It is the teacher-centered approach. The teachers’ job is to facilitate the formation of cognitive structures in learners’ minds. The teacher uses various mental representations to facilitate knowledge transmission. These methods include "association", categorization", "comparison", "contrast" and etc. I need to emphasize that we do learn from good lectures, although we do not learn only from lectures. A successful classroom keeps a good balance between the teacher-centered approach and student-centered approach. I remember a physics teacher who always used daily examples to illustrate difficult concepts. In one class, he said: “You are thirty. The water in the cup is hot. What do you often do? You blow at it for a while before you drink it. It shows that temperature is related to flow of air.” Years later, I still remember his lectures.
The following postings are from discussions in previous course. The group conducted a discussion on various cognitive strategies to facilitate student learning of course materials. These postings are about a memory enhancing strategy – Mnemonics.
Posting #1
Mnemonic devices are an important Cognitivist tool. I still use mnemonic devices to remember information all the time. Can you think of an example of a mnemonic device for your content area? This might be something useful for the lesson plan for this unit.
Posting #2
Mnemonics is a great memory enhancing strategy that involves teaching students to link new information that is taught to information they already know. It doesn’t require a wealth of material and does not require extensive planning (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 1998). Even though students in early grades are not usually expected to learn and recall as many facts as older students, they are involved in a number of activities that involve making associations that could use mnemonic devices. One example I can think of is the link between letters to words; such as “a” stands for “apple” or “f” for “flower”. Another example is teaching students that the shape of the letter “s” looks like a snake, which also begins with that letter. I have also used mnemonics when teaching new vocabulary by having the students think of what the specific letter formation of parts of the new word remind them of. One example is- the word medicine has two letter “i”’s and those two “i”’s resemble two pills. Mnemonics helps me memorize important information needed for tests. I use this strategy frequently!
Posting #3
My content area is English. I only remember one really memorable mnemonic device. A professor in college did a demonstration to illustrate the definition of melodrama. It might be hard to describe in text, but I'll try. She folded up a piece of loose leaf paper, accordion style and pinched it in the middle (so it looked like a bow). Then she held it above her lips like a mustache and said in a deep voice, "YOU MUST PAY THE RENT!!!" Then she moved the paper bow to the top of her head and said in a high pitched voice, "But I can't pay the rent!" She went back and forth like this for a while. Obviously she looked like an idiot, but she did effectively demonstrate the term melodrama. Also, it was hilarious. The humor only made it easier for the students to learn! I have never forgotten that demonstration...or the definition of melodrama!
Posting #4
I experienced a terrific mnemonic device yesterday while observing a US Government teacher at Hoover High School. She is teaching her twelfth grade class the 27 amendments She went through many suggestions, but when she got to 18 and 21 this was her advice: In the US it is PROHIBITED for 18 year-olds to drink alcohol, therefore remember that the 18th amendment was the Prohibition amendment. Then when a person turns 21 the are allowed to drink alcohol so the ban has been repealed; therefore, the 21st amendment is the Repealing of the Prohibition amendment. I had never before heard it said like that, but I bet I will never forget it. Plus the way she presented it with fun and vigor, class movement, her movement, etc. Impressive! The whole class was mnemonics to remember, and not a student probably realized they were even learning!
Posting #5
Mnemonics are a great strategy for students to enhance their memory. I once did a lesson on the order of operations in math. I used the famous "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" to teach the order. Students were quick to learn the order and had no problems doing the math that I put before them. I also used a mnemonic device to teach the planets. "My Very Elderly Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas" of course is the phrase in which most people use to remember the planets. I introduced this to the students and then challenged them to come up with their own phrase. The results really surprised me. Then when I quizzed them the next day, I asked the students to write the names of the planets in order and said I would give extra credit if they could write their original phrase. Again I was surprised, because every student remembered their phrase and the planets.
By viewing cognitive learning software listed in the course, you might notice that cognitive learning software encourages students to identify patterns and generate patterns. Students can also use the software to create their own pattern exercises. Graphic organizers are efficient concept mapping tools that make it easier for students to organize and structure information. Graphic organizers allow student to visually display relationships between information and thus create a mental representation to be stored in the mind.
Computer tutorials take cognitivist approaches. I have had a positive experience with a piece of tutorial software. I learned Lotus Spreadsheet from this piece of software. It was my first semester as a graduate student in the United States. I was feeling nervous and uncertain. I took a statistics course and needed to use the software in my class. By chance, I located a piece of software which tutored Lotus Spreadsheet. I started the tutoring at night. I liked the software. I felt very relaxed in this learning environment. There was nobody around me. I could concentrate on my learning. The computer tutor was tireless and patient. I could have it repeat the tutoring as many times as possible. Though patient, this tutor was sharp and strict. A “warning” beep would pull my wandering thoughts back onto the right track. By the time the class met again, I was quite ahead of the class in my skills in operating Lotus Spreadsheet.
Cognitivism is teacher-centered approach. All the learning activities are designed and controlled by the teacher. Students can be grouped together to do exercises, for example, to play a simulation game. However, they are mainly following the instructions given by the teacher or the software program in completing the task. There is very limited knowledge construction taking place. Cognitivism does not necessarily exclude group work. It depends on what students do in groups.
In conclusion, I think all the groups did well in the discussions on cognitivism. I hope these discussions help you design your cognitivist lesson plan and the teacher support material
Sunday, September 19, 2010
How to Write a Reflective Learning Blog?
A reflective learning blog is an electronic reflective learning journal. Some students asked me what they should be writing in their reflective learning blogs. This questions prompts me to write this new entry in my teaching blog – how to write a reflective learning journal.
The purpose of keeping the reflective learning journal is to help you learn and grow. Confucius says "Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous". Through keeping a reflective learning journal, you make learning personal, meaningful, and connect learning with your prior knowledge. Through reflective writing, you gain new insights about what you have learned. Writing forces you to make your thoughts visible and examine your inner thoughts closely. Through writing, ideas become clearer and lens of focus becomes sharper.
The reflective learning journal is to record your reflection and growth. Dennis List emphasizes that a reflective learning journal is NOT these two things:
(1) a summary of reading materials. Instead, you should focus on your reaction on what you have read.
(2) a learning log. A reflective learning journal is not a learning log for you to record events. It records your reflection, thoughts, and observation about events.
In your reflective learning blog, you can analyze your learning experiences, discuss how you would apply your learning to your teaching, re-evaluate your previous assumptions, raise questions, challenge a theory or a practice, and present new thoughts as the result of your learning. Dennis List provides a long list of items one can write in the reflective learning journal. This list gave me ideas to frame the following questions. These questions should guide you through your journal writing.
What was the most important/interesting learning experience (e.g. course reading, group discussion, or lesson plan development) for me and why it was important/interesting to me?
How would I apply what I have learned in my future teaching?
What was my previous assumption (a theory or a practice), and how did the learning make me re-evaluate my assumption?
What questions would I like to raise about a piece of reading material, a practice or a common belief?
What would I like to challenge (e.g. a theory, a practice and a common belief)
What observation would I like to present about a particular learning event?
What new thoughts do I have as the result of my learning/reading?
I hope you find this blog entry useful. Happy blogging.
The purpose of keeping the reflective learning journal is to help you learn and grow. Confucius says "Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous". Through keeping a reflective learning journal, you make learning personal, meaningful, and connect learning with your prior knowledge. Through reflective writing, you gain new insights about what you have learned. Writing forces you to make your thoughts visible and examine your inner thoughts closely. Through writing, ideas become clearer and lens of focus becomes sharper.
The reflective learning journal is to record your reflection and growth. Dennis List emphasizes that a reflective learning journal is NOT these two things:
(1) a summary of reading materials. Instead, you should focus on your reaction on what you have read.
(2) a learning log. A reflective learning journal is not a learning log for you to record events. It records your reflection, thoughts, and observation about events.
In your reflective learning blog, you can analyze your learning experiences, discuss how you would apply your learning to your teaching, re-evaluate your previous assumptions, raise questions, challenge a theory or a practice, and present new thoughts as the result of your learning. Dennis List provides a long list of items one can write in the reflective learning journal. This list gave me ideas to frame the following questions. These questions should guide you through your journal writing.
What was the most important/interesting learning experience (e.g. course reading, group discussion, or lesson plan development) for me and why it was important/interesting to me?
How would I apply what I have learned in my future teaching?
What was my previous assumption (a theory or a practice), and how did the learning make me re-evaluate my assumption?
What questions would I like to raise about a piece of reading material, a practice or a common belief?
What would I like to challenge (e.g. a theory, a practice and a common belief)
What observation would I like to present about a particular learning event?
What new thoughts do I have as the result of my learning/reading?
I hope you find this blog entry useful. Happy blogging.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Lesson Plan Critique
I have been reading your postings in critiquing lesson plans. It seems that some students do not understand what a good critique is. This critique criteria is posted in <Discussion Portfolios-Behaviorist Lesson Plan Crtique>. I now post it as a blog entry.
“Critique” refers to critical evaluation and constructive criticism. It requires a set of higher order thinking skills in constructing good critique – analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
The quality of your contributions is evaluated on the grounds whether your contributions have the potential to improve your peers’ work. Postings like the example below do not warrant points (This posing came from a previous class).
"Good list and very thorough! It also made me think of using Excel with younger children. The very basic functions can be taught to them, then they will have some sort of foundation for later more involved uses. I really liked your learning activities - very creative!"
This posting gets a “0” for the following reasons:
1. This posting does not contribute to the peer’s project. How did the peer improve his/her work based on such a posing?
2. This type of posting does not require hard-thinking. It is easy to generate a comment like this. You do not even need to carefully read the original posting and I am sure that you do not need to perform any analysis in writing a comment like this.
3. This posing is generic. Try to replace the word “Excel” with “Powerpoint”, or “MS Word”. Now read the comment again. It reads just fine. To put it simply, this posting bears no relevance to the peer’s work it supposed to comment on.
“Critique” refers to critical evaluation and constructive criticism. It requires a set of higher order thinking skills in constructing good critique – analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
The quality of your contributions is evaluated on the grounds whether your contributions have the potential to improve your peers’ work. Postings like the example below do not warrant points (This posing came from a previous class).
"Good list and very thorough! It also made me think of using Excel with younger children. The very basic functions can be taught to them, then they will have some sort of foundation for later more involved uses. I really liked your learning activities - very creative!"
This posting gets a “0” for the following reasons:
1. This posting does not contribute to the peer’s project. How did the peer improve his/her work based on such a posing?
2. This type of posting does not require hard-thinking. It is easy to generate a comment like this. You do not even need to carefully read the original posting and I am sure that you do not need to perform any analysis in writing a comment like this.
3. This posing is generic. Try to replace the word “Excel” with “Powerpoint”, or “MS Word”. Now read the comment again. It reads just fine. To put it simply, this posting bears no relevance to the peer’s work it supposed to comment on.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Thoughts on Behaviorism
The importance of drill and practice relates to the notion of automaticity. In order to perform complex intellectual tasks such as reading, writing, and solving math problems, it is essential that learners master subskills to the level of automaticity. It means that learners should be able to perform these subskills without thinking or automatically. If one writes, one needs to master spelling of vocabulary and sentence structures. To solve complicated math problems, one needs to master basic calculating skills and formulas. Once I talked to my friend who was studying for her Ph. D. in math. She told me that math did involve lots of memorization. Please do not misunderstand. Drill and practice is a component of learning, not everything about learning.
One’s working memory is limited in capacity. One can only process limited numbers of mental operations at a time. It affects the operation of higher order skills if too much memory is devoted to operating subskills. The mastery of subskills will free working memory so that more working memory can be devoted to operate higher order skills.
Comparing with paper drills, computer drills have the following advantages:
Computer drills are fun. It is boring to be drilled. No one likes to be drilled. Computer drills integrate games into drill and practice. While the learner is playing games, the learner is being drilled.
Computer drills provide immediate feedback. Time is always an issue to drill students in classroom settings. With too many students in class, the teacher finds it difficult to provide adequate time to drill each student. If students drill themselves, they might make mistakes without being corrected immediately. The mistake might perpetuate itself. Computer drills provide learners immediate feedback. Mistakes are corrected immediately.
Computer drills remove psychological barriers in student drilling process. If students are drilled in class, it is quite humiliating for students to make mistakes in front of the class. Computer drills can remove this psychological barrier. No one knows that the learner makes a mistake, but the computer.
Computers never get tired. Students can practise and repeat a skill as many times as possible.
One’s working memory is limited in capacity. One can only process limited numbers of mental operations at a time. It affects the operation of higher order skills if too much memory is devoted to operating subskills. The mastery of subskills will free working memory so that more working memory can be devoted to operate higher order skills.
Comparing with paper drills, computer drills have the following advantages:
Computer drills are fun. It is boring to be drilled. No one likes to be drilled. Computer drills integrate games into drill and practice. While the learner is playing games, the learner is being drilled.
Computer drills provide immediate feedback. Time is always an issue to drill students in classroom settings. With too many students in class, the teacher finds it difficult to provide adequate time to drill each student. If students drill themselves, they might make mistakes without being corrected immediately. The mistake might perpetuate itself. Computer drills provide learners immediate feedback. Mistakes are corrected immediately.
Computer drills remove psychological barriers in student drilling process. If students are drilled in class, it is quite humiliating for students to make mistakes in front of the class. Computer drills can remove this psychological barrier. No one knows that the learner makes a mistake, but the computer.
Computers never get tired. Students can practise and repeat a skill as many times as possible.
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