1.
What are key similarities
or striking differences between the theories/models in a given unit? Do the
theories/models in a unit share any common foundations or principles?
"The
whole instructional system aims to pluck out and nurture solitary individual
genius -- to find the next Michelangelo, for example" (Johnson, Johnson,
and Smith, 1998).
However, Michelangelo's work of art was really a result of
his entrepreneurial enterprise under the formation of a collaborative team. All of the different instructional approaches
focus on student-centered learning. While guided design (GD), cooperative
learning environments (CLE), and problem based learning (PBL) focus more on
group work; cognitive apprenticeship (CA) focuses more on the individual. In
GD, one conclusion by Casada and
DeShazer (1995) states it is "Important
to have practicing engineers visit with the class about the engineering
profession, communication and opportunities." Similarly in CA, Collins,
Brown, and Newman, (1989)
support opportunities in the real work settings because this
"gives students realistic and practical experience and is the most natural
way of learning." GD and CLE also shared many similarities. However, CLE
articles stressed many types of structured group activities such as how "Jigsaw online built relationships
and forced students to seek expertise from one another in a communal learning
environment provided the necessary medium for sharing information" (Blocher,
2005). Other strategies not mentioned in GD but found in CLE are:
1. Think pair share: think of
topic, pair with another student, then share with group
2. Affinity: write down issues on
cards and cards are shared and grouped together by similarity
3. Jigsaw: task is divided into
sections, each student finds others in different groups with same section and
then work together, then go back to group
4. Find the fib: find the fib in
the instruction (why is it a fib)
5. Send a problem: one group writes
a question for another group to answer, but groups must agree or write an
alternative, rotates through all groups, and questions can be reworded
6. Commonalities: find common
issues by all groups through polling
2.
What are your initial reactions to these learning
theories/models? What are barriers to their use? What benefits might be
expected for those who overcome the barriers?
The greatest barriers among all learning approaches seemed
to be student acceptance. This is in part due to the instructor's ability or
inability to convince, persuade, train, guide, and support students through the
radical transition. The traditionally accepted pedagogy of teacher-centered
learning is a stark and uncomfortable adjustment in terms of critical thinking processes and learning in
general. The responsibility of the teacher to essentially sell and structure
the approaches of GD, CLE, PBL, and SC/CA are of the utmost importance. In GD, "Guided
design must be well presented and promoted in a freshman course to be well
received by all students" and the new class format must match regular
credit hour time commitment (Casada and DeShazer, 1995). In CLE, page 13 of the
article Cooperative learning returns to
college: what evidence is there that it works? by Johnson, Johnson, and
Smith (1998) lists five basic elements critical to
cooperative work in classrooms:
1. positive interdependence -
instructor must promote group work (sink or swim together)
2. individual accountability (hold
each student accountable)
3. face to face promotive
interaction (real social interaction must be promoted)
4. social skills (ability to work
with different people is part of real life)
5. group processing (evaluate, and
seek to improve group learning)
In PBL, instructors must learn to deal with 5 important
tensions to acceptance as outlined in Exploring the tensions of problem based
learning: insights form research by Hung, Bailey, and Jonassen (2003).
1. Depth vs. Breadth -
2. Higher order thinking versus
factual knowledge acquisition
3. Long-term effects versus
immediate learning outcomes
4. Students' initial discomfort
versus their positive attitudes
5. Traditional role of professor
versus the roles of PBL tutors
And finally in SC/CA, the educational shift from behavioral
to cognitive to constructivist takes away the instructivist teaching mentality
by inducing collaborative support between teacher and student. In a
constructivist learning environment, students are provided "an
understanding of how the theory behind research functions in the face of
ambiguous and contradictory information, practical limits on time and budget,
and social agendas" (Herrington, p203).
3.
Would you attempt to use any of these theories/models
with the students you are currently teaching or hope to teach in the future?
Why or why not? Could elements of the theories/models be modified so that they
would work with your current/future students?
When reading about problem-based learning, an idea for an
activity in module 2 immediately came to mind. Our group's modules are planned
to be semi-sequential but more uniquely, focused on the same subject matter of introductory
topics in general health and nutrition. The study by Timothy Koschmann (1995)
in Computer-supported problem based
learning,
supports that PBL in computer-supported medical education
offers more authentic case presentation, simplified case inquiry, the creation
of an archival record of the group's deliberations, and support for note
taking. This study will be applicable in terms of giving students a user
friendly learning environment with a plethora of collaboration tools while
solving a problem-based activity. Students will be given a list of resources
for communication collaboration, brainstorming collaboration, and
project/presentation collaboration. The resources will be in addition to the
support and guidance of the subject matter expert and instructional design
team.
The following considerations, advantages and challenges of
PBL, from Dr. Oliver's powerpoint presentation of PBL, will also be taken into consideration:
Powerpoint
*learning based on a preexisting
problem
*requires students to solve
authentic real life problems
"start with what you
know"
*interdisciplinary connections
stressed
Steps to PBL
Divide students into groups
ID problem and choose strategy to
solve problem
Cycle repeats itself until group
feels satisfied with solution
Facilitators Roles in PBL
Assess groups
Assess student knowledge
Guide students to general direction
but never solves problem
Pros
greater recall of knowledge
interdisciplinary
lifelong learning skills
increased student interaction
research skills
Cons
Finding appropriate resources
(print, web based)
4.
Since we're taking learning theories/models that were not
necessarily created with the Web in mind and turning them into Web modules,
what Web-based tools or resources could be leveraged to carry out these
learning theories/models online? Please spend some time identifying tools and
resources for this last point, as this background research should help you
complete your projects more efficiently.
Diigo for bookmarking and annotating resources.
Slideshare for presentation
Gliffy for brainstorming and mindmapping. Also great for
presenting and explaining organizational structures/processes.
Voicethread - for voice and visual interaction
Moodle - a good one-stop LMS to host any tools along with
available proprietary tools
Voki - give students visuals and auditory inputs to better
relate to instructors
Quizlet - give students a variety of instructional
assessment as warm ups to the primary PBL activity
Wikipages or wordpress - will be used as the host for any
instructional tools
Glogster - create and display a visual, interactive module
