Donna Lerch
Tom Anderson, Instructor
Assignment #1
Convince yourself and me that you understand "programmed instruction" -- what it is? How does it work and why it is a topic under behaviorism? Have you ever worked through any programmed instruction as a student? Try to find some and do so. Have you ever authored any? What are some good reasons why programmed instruction is not as prevalent as it was 20 years ago?
I do not think that I understand exactly what programmed instruction is- what is it different from? I did look it up, but couldn't get a clear answer.
"To us the most salient differentiating feature between programmed and nonprogrammed instruction is the extent to which the content of a "lesson" is broken up into small unitary "steps" each to be acquired separately and sequentially....The traditional justification for programmed instruction is the assumption that it is easier to learn small, clear, isolated steps, one at a time, than more or less large, inductively obscure principles. The major problem in programmed instruction has been the difficulty of breaking up the overall content of a skill or course into such specific steps ("frames"). "
from The Pedagogical context;Part Two"When conducting research on the contributions that Gagne provided to ISD, I found it very interesting to point out his comparison between traditional learning (mastery learning) and programmed instruction. Gagne says that the principles of instructional design have a great deal in common with those procedures advocated and validated for mastery learning. There are hardly any important conflicts between the two systems that he can detect. Both principles are concerned that designers and learners make use of the variables for which there is much evidence: enhancing prerequisites, providing good stimulus, organization, assuring learner participation and giving feedback with correction. Their similarities even extend to a mutual appreciation of another kind of variable whose importance has not always been given sufficient emphasis &endash; automation of intellectual skills (Gagne, 1988). This might, be classified as an additional example of the need for learner participation &endash; a participation that goes beyond initial learning, and perhaps also beyond what is usually considered mastery."
from Mastery Learning and Programmed Instruction
What exactly is the alternative? Is nonprogrammed instruction giving the student a huge task to complete, with no benchmarks to reach along the way? Perhaps this does work in certain subject areas such as Social Studies and History, and at an upper grade level. In instrumental music programmed instruction is THE way. (Yes, I've had a lot of trouble relating to project-based learning.)
Perhaps the distinction is that learning can be divided somewhat into skills and knowledge acquisition. I teach a skill. I even use language like "programming" with my students- we are programming our brains to see a note and instantly squeeze certain fingers (move a slide, hit a bell, etc.) It is very much like learning to read- we see an "D" and our English trained, or programmed, brains make an "D" sound, our mouths will say "D".
Does any reading program start new readers with the whole alphabet at once? All I am familiar with is "Mr. N week" etc.
I taught myself piano when I was around fourteen. I could already read music. I started with a beginner method book, and then went to "Moonlight Sonata" and "Bridge over Troubled Waters." In a way that was learning the mastery, large project way--but really not. I still had to practice one chord, then one measure, then one phrase at a time, over and over. (In retrospect I am amazed I was not killed by a crazed family member.) I also look back and realize I could have utilized the time I spent practicing those songs much better if I had taken traditional piano lessons.
The only problem with programmed instruction is that like any method, it may not work in all situations for all people.
References:
Nonprogrammed vs. Programmed Instruction from The Pedagogical context;Part Two
Mastery Learning vs. Programmed Instruction
Assignment #2
Given below is an email correspondence between me and Prof. Carolyn Evertson at Vanderbilt University. She and some colleages have authored a very nice book on classroom management. I sometimes use that book when I teach Edpsy 316 on campus. What is your reaction to my inquiry about the exclusion of asertive discipline from her textbook?
"In spite of teacher and administrator perceptions that are often positive, there is not much evidence that AD training results in improved student behavior"
We are much more likely to listen to what works/doesn't work for other real teachers than to a college professor/educational text writer. We are, to some extent, on a battlefield. We give more credence to the fellow foot soldiers that have been on that battlefield and survived, than to a desk general.
The Cantor method is popular, so other experts must denigrate it when they are trying to sell their own product.
Already in this class I have learned that there are many views and theories on what works best. I have not seen any that I would follow to the letter, but each has merits--tricks that I would try. Most of the effective discipline list that Kathleen Cotton gleaned from various systems were excellent ideas. Some of them appear to paraphrase parts of Cantor.
The best advice I have ever heard was: If it's not working, try something else. What do you have to lose?
What works for one teacher in one classroom in one school in one city in one school year may not work in other circumstances. No duh. Each discipline method is a tool that can be used by individuals with varying degrees of success depending on the skill and talents of the craftsman and the medium.
I have spent the last 12 years in a school that has 20+ classroom teachers. I have informally observed these teachers in the hallways, classrooms, and lounge. Some teachers have control without rigid rules. Some teachers keep control with tactics that I (and I'm sure the APA) would consider to be "psychological maltreatment"--not using Cantor's Assertive Discipline, just their own style and personality.
The primary factor of whether a teacher has good discipline appears to be if the teacher likes their students, and generally enjoys their job.
Assignment #3
Punishment still lingers in various forms in most school districts -- so does corporal punishment! Where? In what forms does it exist in your district? What does research say about the effects of punishment, and of corporal punishment? What do you say about the use of punishment? Why?
My first reaction was, corporal punishment-how terrible! After reading the commentary, I'm thinking that we should have electric shocks built into the classroom. Perhaps when the wiring is put in for technology, the workers could spend a few more minutes to run a little 110 wiring to the metal chairs. A transformer should be used to lower the voltage- but not too much. After all, " The amazing outcome of these experiments is the fact that when the initial shock was intense, only one learning trial was necessary." (from Commentary) Picture this-If the control panel was placed a few steps away from the the teacher, every time she/he made a deliberate or incidental movement in that direction, the little bodies tensing, the terror on the innocent faces.
I'm sorry. I do not like to read about psychological animal testing. I read an article once that summed this up much better than I can. I only wish I could remember the exact words, or find the exact source. If we conclude that animal behavior corresponds to that which humans would display in similar circumstances, is it not logical to imagine that animals must also feel the same terrified emotions that a human would also feel? If the animal doesn't feel the same, why should we assume that their reactions correspond to those of a human? What is the point of conducting these studies if animal reactions do not give us accurate insights on human behavior?
Corporal punishment still exists, primarily in the South and West.
"At present, the following 23 states still allow paddling: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wyoming. All the other states (and DC and Puerto Rico) have got rid of it..."
from World Corporal Punishment Research Website
Corporal punishment does not exist in any form in my school district.
The following organizations are against corporal punishment:
In an open letter to President Clinton, they quoted B.F Skinner:
"Punitive measures whether administered by police, teachers, spouses or parents have well-known standard effects:
- escape - education has its own name for that: truancy,
- counterattack - vandalism on schools and attacks on teachers,
- apathy - a sullen do-nothing withdrawal.
The more violent the punishment, the more serious the by-products."
(JoLynn- Perhaps the APA would sanction spanking as long as the child got titillated by it.)
"It's after 6 p.m. The supermarket checkout line is going nowhere. Tempers are fraying fast. Six-year-old Lizzy whines for a DoodlePop,as everyone in the vicinity clenches their teeth. Lizzy's mom finally explodes. Yanking her daughter within reach, she grates out "I told you to stop that!" and delivers three hard smacks to Lizzy's behind... Corporal punishment has been a part of child rearing for untold generations. And in a recent study done by Parents magazine, 72% of the respondents still believe that spanking is an appropriate punishment for misbehavior. But though it's taken a long time for the idea of discipline without spanking to teach any level of mainstream thinking, increasingly, professionals concerned with children's health and development are saying, "Don't spank.""
from Spanking Strikes Out by Dr. Alvin Poussaint
As a part time checker at Kroger's, I saw that type of supermarket episode occur frequently. Another thing that disturbed me almost as much (and it happened more often than not) was a parent giving in to the child-- positive reinforcement for whining, crying, or tantrums.
I am not the perfect parent or behaviorist, but the response of neither punishing nor giving in did work for me when my own kids begged for stuff (Look up Extinction in Week One readings.) Sometimes I would buy what they asked for, but NEVER if they whined.
The overall trend is away from physical punishment, but there are vocal proponents for corporal punishment.
"Why are you so dismissive of research studies showing that the majority of violent criminals were subject to corporal punishment as children and that therefore CP of children should be avoided? Because the majority of people, males anyway, were subject to CP as children. It is an elementary logical fallacy (what philosophers call "the fallacy of the undistributed middle" -- as in "all cats have paws, my dog has paws, therefore my dog is a cat") to deduce that it was the CP that made them criminals. To put it the other way round: just consider how many have received CP and not become criminals... I could well believe that random casual violence, particularly in the context of inconsistent and unpredictable parenting, might increase the likelihood of the child growing up to be violent and lawless. Other studies have repeatedly shown that a major predictor for dysfunctional families and adolescent delinquency is neither an excessively strict nor an excessively lax upbringing, but one which lurches inconsistently between the two -- which is apparently one of the most distinctive features of the typical inadequate parent. On this view, whether or not you spank is far less significant than that you should give kids a consistent and structured framework, in which they understand what is expected of them, what is unacceptable, and what are the consequences for disobedience... Anyway, why look in such obscure and unpersuasive places for the causes of violent crime when much more obvious and plausible causes are staring us in the face? One, particularly in the USA, is surely the gun-worshipping culture. The murder rate per head of population in Washington DC, according to some statistics I saw recently, is an almost unbelievable 70 times the rate here in Brussels, where it is not normal to possess a gun and is, as far as I know, quite difficult to obtain one. (No formal CP for decades past in either city, in schools at least, so that can't be a factor either way.)"
by Colin Farrell from the World Corporal Punishment Research Website
Many Christian fundamentalists use Biblical references as rationale for corporal punishment.
Most of the class members grew up in a time when school spanking was legal. Did it harm us? We would all agree that in general student behavior has become more unruly since the defy authority revolution of the '60s and '70s. We were all raised to not just respect teachers, police, and parents, but to actually fear them somewhat. Even as we can't help but think that this fearful attitude is the wrong way to raise children- can we say that as parents, teachers, and a society, that we are doing a better job today?
Personally I do not like the concept of corporal punishment at school. If for no other reason, it has too much potential for abuse. My brother got swats in junior high for wearing jeans to a concert. He acknowledged that he was told that wearing jeans was forbidden, and wasn't particularly upset. He continued in band through school and beyond. He even played in a band later with the same teacher. There may be more to the story, but I do not think that swats were appropriate in this case.
I am not convinced that schools should not administer punishment, however. Our school district does have a suspension policy for advanced misbehaviors, and other punishments.
A side benefit of public education is that it offers children a chance to learn social skills. Conforming to rules is a social skill. Call it a consequence, call it a punishment, but we all need to learn that when we do something wrong there will usually be a negative ramification. The neatest exhibit of civilized behavior is a four way stop--people taking turns. Some people do this because they are intrinsically motivated to play fair, other drivers because they know that if they proceed before they have the right of way and there is an accident they will most likely get a ticket/ be responsible for damages.
It has been said that most of our mores and values are formed by the age of five. Whether you agree with this or not, teachers are not given blank slates to work with. Some children have not developed a sense of right and wrong before school. They may have had other behaviors modeled for them such as lying, cheating, and fighting. Will the same mild punishments such as writing a name on the board work for these children?
Are shame and guilt such wrong emotions to cultivate in humans? Our current daytime talk show mentality (Next on Maury: I Slept with My Sister's Husband) of joyfully revealing shameful actions for audience reactions of exhilarated attention is not necessarily one that should be promoted in the schools. From a societal view, we should feel bad when we do something wrong. We learn to associate the bad feeling of guilt with the wrong behavior, and quit doing the action. This is not innate--any parent knows that toddlers are egocentric. They must be taught that actions like hitting someone hurts the other person, that taking something that belongs to someone else is not right.
Are these learned feelings of guilt any different from other punishments? Could the same problems of twisted classical conditioning sometimes caused by punishment be also caused by too much guilt? What are the alternatives, though, if our society is to run smoothly?
"In nature there are no rewards or punishments, only consequences."
One of the most important things an educator can do is to infuse in children the knowledge that consequences flow from actions (and from inaction). This process is often an unpleasant lesson, but one that all must learn to become a responsible adult. I find it difficult to criticize reasonable punishments that help instill this recognition.
References:
Ontario Center for Religious Tolerance Website
WORLD CORPORAL PUNISHMENT RESEARCH WEBSITE by Colin Farrell
Bible
Spanking Strikes Out by Dr. Alvin Poussaint
Fortune cookie
Assignment #4
I recently received this email requesting assistance about a punishment issue. Put yourself in my position, and prepare a considered, informative, sensitive reply to this parent. Be sure to make your reply convincing by including the sources of your references, especially those that this parent can easily access.
Parents are amazing! My favorite one is a fifth grader parent/teacher conference. The teacher is concerned that the student is often tardy, and always tired and sleepy. The mother bemoans the fact that the girl stays up late watching TV. The teacher asks if the parent tries making the child go to bed earlier. The parent despairs that when she does, the girl just watches TV in her room. The bewildered teacher (a la Jack Nicholson) Why don't you just take the *!# television out of her room!?! (Theatrics added by Lerch, but it is a true story.)
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I do not think that this parent is reasonable. I'm sure that he/she will be able to find some education expert that will confirm that detention is cruel and ineffective. I do not think that we are doing the child or the school any favors by helping this parent find information that decreases the school's authority. The main issue here should not be whether the punishment is appropriate, but why is the kid misbehaving and not handing in work?
This is how I would respond, not as a researcher, but as a parent and teacher :
It is wonderful that the parents in your town are taking an interest in their children's school. Teachers appreciate parents that want to help the school create a strong learning atmosphere.
Students that misbehave can hurt the learning atmosphere. (As a parent, that is my greatest worry about my own children's education.) One disruptive student can effectively stop the learning process for an entire classroom. Even small misconducts such as a classmate talking to a neighbor may prevent your child from hearing and learning important information.
School mirrors our society in many ways. There must be rules that restrict personal freedom to provide protection for the greater good of the whole. More people would speed if there were not negative consequences, or punishments, when one gets caught breaking the rule. It is embarrassing to be pulled over for speeding. It is expensive to be ticketed. The realization that breaking the rule can result in these undesirable outcomes keep many of us from driving dangerously, even when we are in a hurry. We give up the freedom to drive at a speed we want to keep the roads safer for everyone.
I'm sure many of us would choose not to do certain activities (such as house cleaning, paying bills, going to work) if there weren't unpleasant ramifications to our inactions. It would be an inconvenience to have our phone disconnected because we forgot to pay the bill, but we would also feel mortified if someone would find out. We clean our homes for our own comfort and safety, but don't we always clean a little more when we know we will have company? People care about the opinions of others. We take pride in a clean house, in work well done. We are ashamed when we do wrong.
Self-esteem is extremely important, but parents and schools must show a child that this comes from pride in doing good work, in being a good citizen . Definitions of self-esteem also include vanity and egotism. Self-esteem that is formed on rewards for indolence and misbehavior will result in feelings of arrogance and conceit--the notion that the person is too important to follow the rules.
I feel that this plea for condemnation of the school's policy may be masking another issue. Do you feel that your child is being treated unfairly? My experience is that this does not happen frequently in the schools (though kids complain of it often!), but it does happen. Is your child being assigned too much homework? Have you approached the principal with these concerns? Perhaps you and the principal could come up with an alternate, more effective method to help your child behave and hand in work. For instance, you yourself may be asked to provide and impose a consequence, or a reward. Schools are very receptive to parental input and help when a student is having problems.
If many other parents are upset with this policy, it may be that you are correct in your perception that it is not effective or reasonable. Raise this issue at a PTO or board meeting. Go through the proper procedures, listen to others, and have suggestions for solutions. (It appears that you are already working on this!) Please do not take an antagonistic view of school personnel. We are not perfect, but then, neither are parents (or kids). I do believe that we all want to do a good job. We can learn from each other, and must work together for the good of all children.
Assignment #5
In some ways Kounin's model casts the teacher into an orchestra conductor's role. Discuss how this can be a reasonable metaphor, and some places where the metaphor breaks down. Does this metaphor work well to explain your teaching techniques? Design one that might work better.
This was a fun question for a musician/teacher/conductor.
"What is the ideal weight for a conductor? About 2 1/2 lbs. including the urn."
Conductors don't have to be nice.
Alton Thompson said it well:
"I think the one word description of the role of the conductor is "leader." Leaders on the podium do what leaders do anywhere: they provide direction -- they provide a structure for the group's activities and take it somewhere. How they do this depends largely on the needs and abilities of the group. Self-led groups need leaders who maintain, facilitate, inspire, and otherwise stay out of the way. Inexperienced groups need effective guides. In all cases, leaders also function as emotional/social symbols for the group. That's just a human being thing which goes with the gig. So for me the question of whether a conductor is an "educator" or not is simple. One does what is necessary. If the group needs teaching, one teaches. If it needs inspiring, one inspires. If it needs shaking up, one shakes up. And as Claude mentions, groups also need leaders to be students. Unteachable leaders are the worst kind."
An orchestra conductor needs to maintain the same control as a teacher. Each individual must sacrifice their own freedom of talking and movement for the good of the group. The group must follow the leader to achieve outcomes desired by the leader. A coach works much that way.To be effective, a leader (whether it be conductor, coach or teacher) must have the authority to give a command and have it followed without question. If the coach says bunt, you do it. You don't argue. If the conductor says start at measure 132, the flutist doesn't whine "But I want to start at the beginning!" When a teacher says to do page 35 in the math book, a student can't ask for a different assignment that doesn't have so much subtraction. From some of our class readings, it looks as if experts are thinking that teachers should not have that authority.
Music conductors needs to get all personnel to work together for the greater good of the group, much like a coach. (Karen- you beat me to this analogy!) You can't have players with the attitude that they always must have the ball. Good players need to be looking to see if another player has a better shot, of working as a team, and not just of individual excellence. (I played a ice show run a few years ago. One of the trumpet players was hot dogging-- like playing sections an octave higher, holding the last notes a little longer than the others. He was told once to stop it. When he didn't stop, he was fired.)
Teachers do need to customize lessons to individual talents and abilities, and should both encourage and allow students to attain high individual goals.
The conductor is not going to provide alternative material for an individual that is having difficulty playing or not interested in playing what the group is doing. Selections are made on the basis of a guest artist, or a concert theme, or whatever the music director wants to do. For example: Gorecki's Symphony #3. It gets some radio play-has a soprano singing over strings repeated, like, eighth notes, ad infinitum. It is a gorgeous piece of music to listen to, but I would rather gnaw my foot off than play that!! BORING! But for pay, sure, no problem. A musician is expected to know their part. If they can't cut it sight reading,it goes without saying that they should practice before the next rehearsal/performance.
Teachers do need to take the whole group's ability into account when assigning work, and sometimes cater to individual strengths and weaknesses.
Music groups can always fire personnel. Teachers can't.
A conductor can choose the players in the organization. Think how different our classrooms would be if teachers could hand select the students for class, kick any kid out that wasn't cutting the mustard, and have a check for each player at the end of the gig.
Performance Today (2-4 on WUIS, not sure when on WILL) often features performances by a chamber orchestra called Orpheus. A spokesperson said that the group is also in demand giving seminars for businesses in the psychology of democratic leadership and organizational dynamics or something like that.
I included this information in part as a shameless effort to add more references to my work, but also to demonstrate that conductors are not necessary for a mature, focused group.
"Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, critically acclaimed as one of the world's foremost performing ensembles,combines a symphonic range of repertoire with the intimacy and immediacy of a chamber ensemble. The orchestra is renowned for its eloquent and exuberant performances as well as the discipline, precision and quality of its interpretations. Working without a conductor, Orpheus members draw on each other, the audience and the music itself for artistic inspiration. This extraordinary engagement creates a rich sound and joyous spirit that thrills audiences all over the world. To attend an Orpheus concert is to experience the thrill of dozens of virtuoso musicians performing as one, relying solely on body language and intense listening to bring life to every note they perform." ...from Orpheus web site
I have played in smaller groups that use no conductor such as woodwind quintets and jazz bands. One person will start the group, and give cut-offs, but there is much more give and take to expression. It does give a different level of concentration and excitement to a performance.
Kounin's 'Ripple Effect' is very much in evidence whenever I remind one student of correct playing posture. I have noticed with some amusement that the the whole group--sometimes a hundred or so kids--will immediately sit up a little straighter. Quite literally a ripple- almost like a stadium wave.
I compared teachers to stand up comedians in an earlier class. The energy level sure is similar. You have to constantly be reading the audience, adapting your material to the mood. Timing is everything. You need to be 'with it' and watch the crowd for the rotten fruit. You use quick put downs to keep the hecklers in their place (more ripple effect). You can't get discouraged when material loses it freshness, just move on.
References:
Conductor Jokes (there are more!)
Discussion Thread by Alton Thompson
Assignment #6
Name and describe some "bottlenecks" in information processing.
At first, I thought that 'bottleneck' was a term that psychologists had embraced (such as ripple, shadow, icon). In an earlier response I rather facetiously referred to 'chunks' of music, not realizing that it is a scientific term for a unit of memory (Miller).
The text (Bruning, et al, page 37) included portions of Miller's study (would that be Miller's highlights?... sorry) that: "information processing is constrained by a severe 'bottleneck ' in the memory system. Under most circumstances, people can hold no more than seven or so chunks...of memory at one time."
He found that the size of the chunks didn't matter, just the amount. I had heard of this long ago as the reasoning behind telephone numbers (217-555-2345), that remembering 10 numbers would be difficult, but three chunks easy.
What are bottlenecks to information processing?
Interference is the primary block to remembering information:
1. When other tasks are being performed simultaneously.
Teachers need to be selective of the information they give--to much
information at one time will decrease the amount retained. Students
performing other tasks such as doodling will also likely not retain
as much information.
2. In the amount of information received between learning
information and regurgitation of information (from Internet site
and text-from a study by Peterson x2 and some other studies).
Time doesn't make so much difference as how much other information
was taken in during that time.
I will see a former student from say,10 years ago, and usually remember something about them-- name, face, instrument, and/or, sometimes even their homeroom teacher. Special teachers such as music, PE, art, learn up to 300 new students a year, but retain some data on many of them. This study suggests that if I had quit teaching and not had all the intervening students to remember, I would retain more of the information? Or does this pertain to short term memory only?
What helps information processing? Automaticity and prior experience with information.
This knowledge about Automaticity (Neisser, 1967) was particularly interesting. Several times I have caught myself driving or playing music automatically, with no conscious thought process--startled to realize that I have driven several miles without being aware of what happened, or finishing a piece of music with the weird sensation of no recollection of actually having played it. (Are you all thinking- man, what a zombie, or shaking your head, yeah, I've done stuff like that! At least David wrote that he does that somewhat driving.) I tell my students that this process is something we want to work to achieve to some degree. We should be able to see a note on the F space and automatically place our fingers correctly on the keys. Playing an instrument is complex- fingerings, breathing, tonguing, listening for intonation, and counting all need to be done at one time, and as automatically as possible. The more automatic the skills, the more one can watch for things like expression marks, repeat signs, D.C.'s and D.S.'s, and the conductor. That results in being a much better musician. Driving is also a complex act that becomes automatic with practice- steering, accelerating, braking, shifting, looking ahead, behind, and sideways, adjusting the radio-- and almost every idiot can do these tasks at once (but not always well...).
If a student cannot write automatically, they will have more problems learning information while taking notes. Part of their 'brain power' is attending the physical and mental process of writing, and thus memory for new information is decreased.
Perhaps this doesn't mix in this discussion-but what how would behaviorists handle one of these memory tests? If there was a reward for retaining certain data, would the subjects score higher? Does the ability to retain correlate to increases in rewards/ punishments? Also, very useful to educators, do other factors such as time of day that test was given/how well subject was rested and other similar factors make a difference in amount of information subjects could retain? Probably those variables were statistically included in these studies-- I just wonder how much difference they made?
The following does not answer the discussion question, but it was in the suggested readings and deserved mention.
"Advanced Knowledge Acquisition Mastery of Complexity and Preparation for Transfer""The objectives of learning tend to differ for introductory and more advanced learning. When first introducing a subject, teachers are often satisfied if students can demonstrate a superficial awareness of key concepts and facts, as indicated by memory tests that require the student only to reproduce what was taught in roughly the way that it was taught. Thus, in introductory learning, ill-structuredness is not a serious problem. Learners are not expected to master complexity or independently transfer their acquired knowledge to new situations. These latter two goals (mastery of complexity and transfer) become prominent only later, when students reach increasingly more advanced treatments of the same subject matter. It is then, when conceptual mastery and flexible knowledge application become paramount goals, that the complexity and across-case diversity characteristic of ill-structured domains become a serious problem for learning and instruction."
from Cognitive Flexibility, Constructivism, and Hypertext: Random Access Instruction for Advanced Knowledge Acquisition in Ill-Structured Domains by Rand J. Spiro, Paul J. Feltovich, Michael 1. Jacobson and Richard L. Coulson
So much CTER work has emphasized a project-based/Constructivism aspect to education, and I have felt that it does not correspond with my beginner band instruction, or for that matter, in most primary subject areas. It was nice to see some expert recognition of this.
References:
Bruning, et al, page 37
Automatic Processes from Bruning text, initially conceived by Neisser, further studied by Laberge, Samuels, Shiffrin, Schneider, Neves, Anderson,Nusbaum, and Schwab.
Internet Lecture based on studies by Peterson & Peterson, among others
Random Access Instruction for Advanced Knowledge Acquisition in Ill-Structured
Domains by Spiro, Feltovich, Jacobson and Coulson
David's driving
Assignment #7
Report some testimonies when your short-term memory or that of your students appeared to be overloaded. What did you do about it?
My personal short-term memory overload happens often- right after school, when I am fixing dinner. I am following a recipe, have news on the radio, I'm listening to see if it is time to put the clothes in the dryer, my daughter is periodically asking for help as she does her homework at the kitchen desk, the dog is chasing the cat around the living room, my son asks to help cook, all while I am thinking of answers for some dumb CTER class question...suddenly I wonder...did I add three cups of flour like the recipe calls for, or only two? Doesn't the cookie dough look kind of runny? Did I add both the baking soda AND baking powder? One time I had to add eggs to a slightly warm cake batter that was already in the oven. My cooking usually is edible, but I think I would be a much better chef without all the distractions.
"Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio?"
And, have you all noticed that most of our short-term overloads involve our children?
Reference:
An e-mail that my sister sent me
Assignment #8
Describe some declarative knowledge that you teach in your content area. How is it organized? Do you teach a schema that "holds this knowledge together"? Do you assume that students know the relevant schema when you teach them? How do you activate relevant schema to ensure that students have them available at appropriate times?
Scales are the most obvious demonstration of a schema in music. The declarative knowledge needed depends on what instrument is being played: which fingers to squeeze, how tight the embouchure needs to be, the position to use to play a certain note. Notes are introduced gradually, and usually in step order. As students learn new notes on their instruments they begin connecting them in the classic structure of half and whole steps that make up scales.
Music is generally based on movement in jumps, or intervals, and scalewise steps. (For example, "Joy to the World" begins with a descending major scale.) Musicians practice technical exercises that include scales and intervals so that they will be able to unconsciously retrieve that knowledge and physical reaction to play new pieces that have similar note movement with facility. Musicians work to obtain the automatic cognitive processes described on page 35 of the Bruning text. When we achieve that stage in reading notes and rhythms, we can give attention to other necessary tasks of playing music, such as dynamic markings, repeat signs, and horse poop (if we are marching).
"In music education, learning the fact that the key of G has one sharp engages the declarative memory system. In contrast, learning to play the G scale well involves procedural memory. Practicing is largely a sensory-motor skill and merely thinking about learning to play can't substitute for the real thing. So both forms of memory are engaged in music instruction."
Weinberger
Western Music (as opposed to Asian, not cowboy) is typified with distinct tonalities such as major and minor keys, characteristic chord progressions, and an octave being broken into twelve steps. These qualities help establish the schema of our cultural basis for tonality.
An anecdote: Little Wolfgang Mozart tiptoes downstairs in the middle of the night, plays the first seven notes of a major scale on the piano...his father (who was also a composer/musician) grumpily stomps down to play the last note--our cultural auditory schema makes us insist on resolving the seventh to the tonally satisfying octave.
Hearing music programs our brains to automatically process and categorize the auditory information. We often know what note is coming next--we have developed the ability to predict patterns based on prior listening.
"Hearing the dominant chord in a particular context sets up a readiness to process the tonic chord more efficiently when it occurs. ... knowledge is represented implicitly rather than explicitly. The listener does not say to himself "Oh, there is a dominant and now I bet there will be a tonic. The listener's experience is one of hearing a dominant chord and then hearing a tonic as its natural resolution. ... The implicit knowledge is stored as procedures for handling incoming patterns of stimulation."
Dowling
Music is written in different keys using flats and sharps. A song written in the key of C will primarily be played on the white keys of a piano. There are no flats or sharps in the key signature for the key of C. Transpose the same song up a half-step to C#, and there are 7 sharps in the key signature, with almost all the notes being played on black keys. Switching the schema of hitting different keys for what looks like the same written note takes practice.
I tell my students playing in a different key signature is somewhat like how a computer works. Our brains are the hard drive that knows both ways to play certain notes like B natural and B flat, and we insert the desired key signature (software) into that hard drive to play a certain song so that we react the correct way when we play the music. We 'think' in the new key, automatically reacting with the proper note production. When you are playing trumpet on a selection in the key of Bb, you need to reflexively squeeze the first valve on any note on the third line. If the key changes to C, you automatically squeeze middle valve.
Another example of musical schema: I am a reed player. Such musicians are proficient at flute,clarinet, and saxophone. Some reed players also play oboe as I do and/or bassoon, which I don't. There are similarities in the fingerings of these instruments, but to play difficult music on them, you have to 'think' in that instrument. Many musicals call for musicians that double, or play several instruments on one book. For example, a song may start with flute for 64 measures, then give the player 8 measures to change to clarinet for a while, and change to saxophone for the big ending. The player must instantly switch the schema to whatever instrument is in his/her hands.
This may be similar to proficiency in foreign languages. You don't need to translate "Yes" into "Ja", or "Si", you just switch schema to the other language without the slower retrieval step of mental translation.
McAdams and Bigand writes that in essence, we create a schema for the sounds of our environment. They used a non-native in a rain forest as an example. We would have the same auditory input as a native, but we would not be able to access the same framework to differentiate between sounds that are the natural peaceful sounds of animals, birds, and wind through plants, and the changed pattern of sounds when danger, such as a predator, is in the area.
We also create schema based on visual qualities. I believe that this is why it may be difficult for some people to differentiate between people of another race without developing the mental structure to recognize those facial characteristics. That even carries to the animal kingdom--I can see subtle differences in the faces of what to most people would be identical Sealpoint Siamese cats, or grey tabbies. Some people develop this ability in the automotive styling world. Where some of us just see the generic categories of "van", "truck", and "car", they see 1984 Camaro.
How do I activate relevant schema? Often before students play a piece of music I will have them play the scale that the key of the song is based on. This should bring that key schema to mind so that they react with the proper fingerings. It helps, but I still hear a bunch of wrong notes every day. That is at least in part, due to the fact that I am assuming that they know the relevant schema (Bb major scale), and they do not quite have it down as a automatic cognitive process.
Perhaps we should change the saying to "Practice makes Automatic Cognitive Process!"
References:
Music and its Memories by N. M. Weinberger
Procedural and Declarative Knowledge in Music Cognition & Education by W.J. Dowling
Thinking in Sound: The Cognitive Psychology of Human Audition by Stephen McAdams, Emmanuel Bigand
Cognitive Psychology and Instruction by Bruning, Schraw, and Ronning
EDPSY 399 PowerPoint Presentation
Assignment #9
Do you think the phonics vs. whole language debate in the learning to read process, is relevant when thinking about students reading from the computer screen?
About five years ago phonics/whole language was being discussed in a faculty meeting, and I had to ask what was the difference. I was taught with Dick, Jane and Sally, a form of non-phonic instruction referred to as "look-say", but I was not familiar with the features of neither method.
Last week's Chicago Tribune had a timely two part story about phonics vs. whole language for cretins like me.
"The debate over reading instruction involves two very different methods, phonics and whole language. In practice, most whole-language instruction includes some phonics, just as phonics classes include the reading of stories."
That confirmed what was told to the Butler Elementary School PTA a few years ago, that teachers generally use a combination. This seems to be the case across the educational field: Experts promote certain theories as the best method, and real life teachers use several or parts of all methods. No one method works for all teachers and all children.
"A program that may be appropriate for one classroom or school may be inadequate for another. The key is understanding the needs of students. This understanding can be developed through teacher knowledge of students' skills and abilities and by analyzing test and other performance data for students."
Clark and Briggs
Marilyn Jager Adams (author of 'Beginning to Read: thinking and Learning About Print") is quoted as stating "The question of how best to research beginning reading may be the most politicized topic in the field of education." Conservatives such as George Dbyah and Michelle's favorite, Phyllis Schlafly, have embraced phonics like a fundamentalist the Bible, without having real experience in teaching children to read.
Happy thought, having politicians telling teachers how to teach.
So, as a band teacher that knows as much about teaching reading as a politician, I would defer on this debate to the wonderful unsung heroes of the education world, the kindergarten through third grade teachers that muddle through all the expert theories and actually teach children to read. They are so crucial to student success, but they never seem to get the recognition they deserve.
Curtis stated "Visual learners, on the one hand, are more likely to benefit from the whole language approach since their strength is in recognizing words and word sequences that they have seen before. On the other hand, auditory students learn what they hear - so they rely more on phonetics."
"Mayer (1984) names three types of aids for text comprehension:(a) aids for selecting information; (b) aids for building internal connections; and (c) aids for building external connections. Aids for selecting information serve mainly to focus the reader's attention on certain aspects of the target information and thus improve the chance that this information is processed." Plass and Chun
Computer programs are able to incorporate visual and aural information simultaneously to better serve both visual and auditory learners. Computer reading programs could also include Mayer's aids by highlighting important text with features such as color, boldface, size- even audio or illustration aids.
I do not know if the phonics vs. whole language debate is relevant when thinking about people that already know how to read reading from the computer screen, but I believe that computers could be very useful in teaching either method.
As David noted, many of this CTER class prints work off the computer to read in a more traditional manner. I do not. I am cheap, and do not like to waste paper. (Most of my notes to go home with students are on half or thirds of paper.) My reading skills are proficient enough that I can overcome some of the obstacles that text on the computer presents, but I notice them. State dependent learning (Lesson seven reading--Bruning text, pp. 111 and 123, from a study by Overton) comes into play here. While we may be able to read computer screen text, we oldsters are not as familiar with learning information this way as paper format. I am also often irritated with the publisher when trying to read a poorly presented site. Perhaps these increases my cognition as Bower's study would suggest (students that were sad when learning recalled more than happy students), but I don't know if the emotion of being 'pissed' improves cognitive skills. Informal observations in my teaching situation would indicate that it does not.
My father learned of a study where similar groups of students took tests in different environments. One was a quiet classroom. The other was in a classroom with major earth moving machinery in operation outside. Surprisingly, the test scores were comparable, but students complained of fatigue, headaches, etc. after taking the test in noisy circumstances. Hard to read text may be comprehensible, but why unnecessarily add to reading difficulties?
Web publishers need to use common sense and information from visual research when creating text documents. We are accustomed to black print on a white background, and--no 'cutesy' fonts!
"The most important single visual attribute of an object's visibility is its contrast - the difference in brightness (or sometimes color) between an object and it background." Visual Expert"Black characters on a white background produces faster reading than the reverse, and most readers prefer it." Muter
(Reasoning behind using black type on gray background is reducing the flicker of monitor screens, but it does make for slower reading.)
Another factor in reading paper text opposed to computer: One of the more time consuming, but educationally beneficial byproducts of research is the learning of extraneous information. As I would be researching a topic, flipping through an encyclopedia, another topic would catch my eye, perhaps an illustration, or a word I had never seen before that would arouse my curiosity. I would be sidetracked, but learned quite a bit from this.
Hypertext has the same potential, if not more. Not only are we tempted by other pages while we research, but the entire web! Here again is a problem with the format: Often it is difficult to get back to where we need to be. Our readings provide an example. Last week's shorter article on metacognition had several hypertext links to pertinent information. I clicked one, read it, but there was no easy way back. There was no back button on the page, and the "Back" feature of the browser does not work on CourseBoard format. I had to click back on the assignment button, then lesson seven, then finally click on the "short lesson on metacognition" link. This is both time intensive and precarious on my crash-happy school computer. Am I likely to click anymore on this page? Perhaps when technology shortens the time to load pages.
References:
Chicago Tribune March 2 & 3, 2000
War of the Words by Julia Keller
Reading Programs for Students in the Lower Elementary Grades: What Does the Research Say? by Kerri L. Briggs, Ph.D.and Catherine Clark, Ph.D.
Research on Text Comprehension in Multimedia Environments by Dorothy M. Chun and Jan L. Plass
Phonics vs. Whole Language Which is Better? by Jenny Curtis
Interface Design & Optimization of Reading Continuous Text by Paul Muter (Frenckner, 1990)
Bruning text
"Suppose that you wanted to evaluate a textbook in your content area. List some important characteristics (content, as well as those related to the process of reading tolearn) to look for that would help students learn by reading it, and explain why."
My answer is based on my own experience in being part of such an evaluation process in my school district, and includes recommendations for changing that process based on a number of sources, including readings for this course.
District 186 band teachers have established a pattern of selecting new method books every two years. We have tried six different series in the past 13 years. We have the ability to change so often because students purchase their own books. While some may be envious of the frequency with which we can try out new products and discard less effective methods, those who have served on text selection committees are probably less jealous.
We have looked for the following characteristics in a method book:
1. Easy to Read Music
Reading music is the first experience most children have with explicitly decoding something other than English text or numerals. Newer editions of elementary method books feature larger print with the result of less information on each page. The books do not give the same dollar value as older methods, but they are less intimidating to young players than page after page of small print music drills.Our current method book includes bold text for important concepts, presents new information separately at the top of the page (Advance organizers, page 278, Bruning), and uses color coding within the music to demonstrate how the new information integrates with already known material. While our selection process was not explicitly informed by Mayer's (1984) aids for selecting information to assist with text comprehension, the results bear out the practical usefulness of these strategies. "Aids for selecting information serve mainly to focus the reader's attention on certain aspects of the target information and thus improve the chance that this information is processed." (Plass and Chun) The current text also includes illustrations to draw and capture children's attention, which is essential for any type of reading (Bruning, pg. 246).
2. Use of Familiar Songs to Teach Concepts
An example: eighth notes can be taught with an unfamiliar drill, or a tune like "Jingle Bells". (Eighth, eighth, quarter, eighth, eighth, quarter...) The latter is more effective. Just as students draw upon previous experiences, such as words encountered aurally to read text (Bruning, print awareness, pg. 243), they learn best when seeing the notation of songs of which they already know the melody. To some degree this correlates with advance organizers and/or schema activation.
3. Inclusion of Cultural and Historical Selections
For compliance with the Illinois Learning Standards (Fine Arts Goal 27, Illinois State Board of Education).
4. Opportunities for Early Success
This feature was indirectly addressed in one of our readings. Dr. Mary Proctor stated that the teaching of writing can be improved by giving students the chance to produce successful assignments early. Children today seem to need earlier and more frequent successes (positive reinforcement) to stay focused in any subject. Music method books written in the last twenty years include a simple song such as "Mary Had a Little Lamb" by page three. Older books stayed on whole notes for several pages. I have noticed that a high percentage of students that cannot play a recognizable song after about a month of playing will quit band entirely.
5. Emphasis on Both Auditory and Visual Learning Styles
Some students may achieve great success in music by playing by ear, instead of learning to read music. Most band methods completely ignore auditory learners--rather incongruous, when one considers what is being taught and learned.Recent improvements to band methods include making available a corresponding audio CD or cassette tape that models good tone production and steady counting to reinforce during home practice what the teacher has demonstrated at school. Hearing the proper tone is especially beneficial when the band teacher is not proficient at that particular instrument. Some of these aural listening aids also include ear training and rudimentary improvisation.
EXAMPLE:
Please refer to the following site for excerpts from two contrasting method book series. http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/lerch1/edpsy/band_books.html Even people with limited or no music experience will recognize the change from a 1952 Rubank to a 1996 Now Go Home and Practice. This is the initial page of playing (first lesson) from each book. The Rubank introduces six notes, and drills those using whole notes and rests. The newer book starts with three notes, and immediately uses those in a song that the student will recognize. An audio cassette tape is also available for home practice.
Related Musings.....
We have yet to find a text, however, that will compensate for an inexperienced teacher. To illustrate, the current method book uses "The Anvil Chorus" to model the dotted quarter/ eighth note rhythm. When I realized that my fifth grade flutists were not understanding the new rhythm, I was able to draw on another source--"My Country 'Tis of Thee"-- to teach them. (The rhythmic pattern falls on the "Tis of" syllables.) A teacher with less experience might not think to use this particular tune; I would not have thought of it in my first year of teaching.
It has always been the more experienced teachers that had the strongest voice in choosing new method books. I realize that a consideration should have been younger teachers who must necessarily rely more on the text.
Several of JoLynn's references included the researching of the teacher's editions as part of text series consideration. I find it interesting that this has not been a factor in our deliberations. Teacher's editions are often not produced in conjunction with a band method series, and when so produced, they are rarely purchased by the district or the teacher. A good teacher's edition, with suggested selections and alternative teaching ideas, would help a new teacher learn some old tricks.
References:
A Historical Look At The Book by Jenny Curtis
National Writing Project Website maintained by Aaron Curtiss and Christina Cantrill http://nwp.berkeley.edu:80/VirtInst/eanthology99/highlights/tchwrtng.htm
Designing
Assingments [sic] And Presenting Them to
Students
by Dr. Mary Proctor from the University ofToronto Writing Website
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~djerz/utwriting/factips.html
All
Children Can Write by Donald H. Graves
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/writing/graves_process.html
Commentary/Lecture notes by Dr. Anderson
Bruning, R.H., Schraw, G.J., and Ronning, R.R. (1999). Cognitive Psychology and Instruction. Columbus: Prentice Hall.
Research on Text Comprehension in Multimedia Environments by Dorothy M. Chun and Jan L. Plass
Illinois State Board of Education Website Goal 27--Arts and
Civilization
http://www.isbe.state.il.us/ils/fig27.html
JoLynn's response
"Solve two of the problems below and monitor your cognition as you do so. Discuss the strategies that you used to solve it. In what ways do your strategies compare to those that students use to solve problems in the content area that you teach? It may be helpful to think about some of the poor and some of the good problem solvers that you have taught. Be sure to couch your discussion in a language of psychology. After I see your analysis, I send you an answers to these problems via email."
I couldn't compare my strategies to that of my students. I do not teach problem solving skills in my content area.
Problems:
* You wake up in a pitch-black room in a hunting lodge, and there's no light handy. In your duffel bag there are six black socks and six white ones, all mixed together. You want to pick out a matching pair. What is the smallest number of socks you can take out of the bag and be sure of getting a pair of the same color? How many socks _____?
If you are packing, you should take three to ensure having a pair. Two will be a definitely be a matched pair out of the three- you may even get three of a kind.
To solve the problem, I envisioned physically pulling socks out of a drawer--how many more do I need if I have a white in one hand and a black in the other. Only one.
Using the "Twelve Critical Thinking Abilities" by Ennis (Figure 8-3, page 201 Bruning) would help me solve math problems. For instance, in this sock problem too many other factors want to enter my conscious thought--I need to keep going back to the last question to stay on track.
For example: If you are not packing, and just dressing in the dark, you better go by feel. Hard to imagine that there is not enough light to tell which sock is lighter. How are you going to find the door, and will you even want to be walking outside if it is that dark? The least of your problems seems to be the color of your socks. How are you going to make coffee!!!
What are you going to wear with these socks? You either want black, or white to match shoes/pants. If you are wearing shorts, you will need eight socks to ensure that you have two white ones, so you don't look like a old guy tourist.
I am also making value judgments (number eight on Ennis's list), but as Patty said, this is not real life.
The odds that you will pick out a matching pair to put on in the dark is another question. I'm not a gambler, and don't have a clue on how to figure odds. Wear four, just in case you get blisters. (Or stub your toe in the dark.)
* A bass fishing lure and some touch-up paint cost a total of $2.50. The lure costs $2 more than the paint. What is the cost of the lure _____, and the cost of the paint ______?
I start with the obvious- Lure $2.00, paint .50. Not correct, because the problem says the lure is 2.00 more, so the lure has to be more than 2.00, the paint has to be less than .50 2.10, .40, no. 2.25, .25, yes. Guess. That places me into the category of inexperienced o poor problem solver by doing trial and error methods or guesses. (page 189 Bruning).
This problem was very similar to one in my daughter's fourth grade math book that she requested help on. I solved it much the same way. I was surprised that the answer wasn't initially obvious, took a guess, and it worked. My husband, who is much better at math, msolved that problem more similarly to how Megan solved this one, using Algebra. (Note--his way took longer than my guess). I basically got through high school algebra and geometry with providential guesses. I wouldn't think I understood the principles, but I would get right answers often enough to pass, and no, I wasn't copying (that may be evident with the next problem).
* A camp cook wanted to measure four ounces of syrup out of a jug but he had only a five-oz and a three-oz bottle. How did he manage it? Write out the steps, such as pour 3oz into 5oz, and such.
Hard one, because not realistic. If it is syrup, you just add a scant 5oz- the little bit extra will just make it taste sweeter. Or just dump in 5 oz. No problem here.
To solve the "problem"- hope we can we add the syrup to the recipe before completed
1) fill 5 oz
2) pour to top of three, empty into recipe
Now to find one ounce: You have 2 oz in a five ounce bottle. There are at least two ways to find one ounce using the two bottles-- here is one:
I guess that I am relying on a heuristic, or rule of thumb (page 188, Bruning). (That's a pun).
My husband had a similar, but faster solution. Fill the 5 oz, pour 3 oz into the 3 oz bottle, empty two oz into other container. Repeat for four oz.
An extra added fun problem:
This is a classic problem and one to keep you mused for a while. It's
rather difficult to successfully solve the problem while using only 4
balance tries, but try do it with only 3? I won't give you the
answers, but will take a look at your solutions if you wish!
"You have 12 billiard balls of the same size and color. One of them is either slightly heavier or lighter that the other 11. Using a laboratory balance, determine which ball is different, and whether it is heavier or lighter. Use the balance as few times as possible."
This is a problem for me because I don't know what a laboratory balance is. Initial state (page 187 in Bruning)-- not knowing what laboratory scales-- are or is it domain specifi knowledge (page 191)? I made the assumption that as many as six balls could be placed on either side, and equal balance would indicate equal weight.
I started with my usual trial and error by mentally placing six balls at a time on both ends.
Nope, gonna take too many tries
Give up--time to get the kids to bed.
So I handed this one off to my husband, who has much better math skills than I. He was able to get this down to four balances. He divided the balls into 3 groups of four, and included the second balance of weighing a group with a known average group of four to determine which group of four has the heavier/lighter ball. (That step of necessarily using a group or ball known to be average completely escaped me). That narrows the pool to four, with one of those four known to be lighter or heavier. Third step is dividing that group into twos- the side that goes up or down contains the unequal ball. Fourth balance: weigh the two balls from that side.
But how to do it in three? Stumped both of us, so I looked on the Internet. (Is that good problem solving, or cheating?) http://www.maa.org/mathland/mathtrek_2_16_98.html Ivars Peterson's MathTrek described a similar problem of counterfeit coins, using math symbols I have never seen. It does not give the solution of finding which ball, or coin, is lighter or heavier in three tries unless a supposition is made that the coin is lighter.
Interesting--computers do not seem to be as handy as pencil and paper for proble solving-- there is a need to have access to diagrams and visual representation of thought. I would start each problem mentally mapping out , but usually resorted to paper, pencil, and most importantly, eraser to diagram out solutions to assist my short-term memory (Page 186, Bruning).
References:
Patty's response (Patty, you outdid yourself on this one!)
Megan's response
www2.hawaii.edu/suremath/home.html
My husband (who can't play chess)
http://www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/longview/ctac/toc.htm#instructor
Critical
Thinking Across the Curriculum Project
Contributed by: Lauren Miller and Michael Connelly, Longview
Community College
Bruning, Schraw, & Ronning (1999), Cognitive Psychology And Instruction, Third Edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Commentary/Lecture notes by Dr. Anderson
Why are math story problems so difficult for so many students?
The difficulty may be in the math itself, and not the fact that it is a story problem. I have noticed that many other responses have concurred with my own negative view of math Bruning (page 322) indicates that this attitude is widespread. I realize that I am contradicting Karen, but many of us like problems and riddles that do not use math.
Few people take math classes for fun. The statistics in Bruning citing the low rate of American students taking advanced math classes are disturbing, yet not surprising. Consequently, and perhaps correctly, many people have a low opinion of their own ability to do math problems. It is easy to see why math story problems are so difficult for so many people when one considers (1) that the acquisition of "conceptual and procedural knowledge in mathematics" is needed before students can successfully support problem solving strategies (Bruning page 323, from Owens & Super, 1993), and (2) that students mus have a positive view about their math abilities to use them in flexible ways (Schoenfeld,1992). Bandura essentially concurs with the latter point, addressing the concept of "self-efficacy" (Bruning, page 130).
How much time did any of us spend with math story problems in school? I can't remember ever being taught HOW to do math story problems until now. Weren't they always the last part of a math homework assignment, after the "real" work, or extra credit?
References:
Other CTER students responses
Personal math experiences
Commentary/Lecture notes by Dr. Anderson
Bruning, R.H., Schraw, G.J., and Ronning, R.R. (1999). Cognitive Psychology and Instruction. Columbus: Prentice Hall
*Compare the ways that a teacher with a behaviorist leaning and one with a cognitive leaning view errors that students make during learning and testing? Make your discussio relevant to psychological theory and your content area.
Behaviorists would look at mistakes as displays of insufficient conditioning. Those teachers with a cognitive stance would view mistakes as a lack of building on an existing schema, or failure to reshape incorrect existing perceptions.
That is the simple answer. Much depends on the type of mistake made.
Some mistakes are simply part of training. We do not expect a free throw shooter to hit every time, or a batter to hit 1.000. I do not expect my students to play every note correctly every time. We practice to increase our percentage of right notes, but mistakes will inevitably happen with any repetitive action.
Other common mistakes involve glitches in short term memory processing. While concentrating on a difficult assignment, a student misspells a simple word or forgets to carry the one.
Both behaviorist and cognitive theorist teachers would not worry much about those mistakes. Wouldn't both types advise or assign practice to overcome those errors?
The major mistake that all teachers would be concerned with is when a student consistently shows that he/she doesn't understand the concept. Then both types of teachers would look for other strategies or tools such as analogies, manipulatives, and visual aids to help the student attain the requisite knowledge.
There seems to be much correlation between subject matter/grade level and which teaching style we place ourselves. The cognitive science examples in Bruning (Chapter 14) made complete sense...for science. Students come into science with preconceptions in how and why things work the way they do. Many of those ideas are wrong, or fragmentary. Roshelle's examples made sense for the subjects and the grade levels he used. Teachers must acknowledge this prior knowledge, and then teach a curriculum that includes experiments, observations, and dialogue that will challenge and eventually change those misconceptions.
I am a behaviorist in that I reward students for effort and improvement. I also subscribe to some of the tenets of cognitive theorists in that I try to approach the learning process from my students point of view, and to instill in them the motivation and self confidence to succeed.
My teaching position is to take students who have heard music--but most of whom have never played it--and to open to them the surprisingly distinct realm of musical performance In doing so, I provide new knowledge and promote the acquisition of skills. Most of m students have very little concept of how to read or play music when they start band, and th few who have taken lessons on other instruments do not generally suffer from misconceptions of the type Bruning and Roschelle note. I build on the knowledge the have learned, or transfer that knowledge to the new band instrument that they are just starting.
References:
Other CTER student responses
Commentary/Lecture notes by Dr. Anderson
Bruning, R.H., Schraw, G.J., and Ronning, R.R. (1999). Cognitive Psychology an Instruction. Columbus: Prentice Hall
Learning
in Interactive Environments: Prior Knowledge and New Experience
Jeremy Roschelle University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
http://www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/museumeducation/priorknowledge.html
A water hose and the accompanying system of taps, flow meters and pumps are often used to explain electricity, especially an electric circuit. Using this instructional analogy or another from your field of expertise, explain how the use of analogies can be helpful and detrimental to students' understanding of the primary concept(s). For example, in the above analogy, an electrical circuit is the primary concept.
I have used a water hose analogy also, but to represent the air stream in tonguing. Wind players need to start notes with a "Tuh" instead of a "Huh". While some students 'get' thi immediately, some don't, so I have looked for analogies to try to explain how to properly tongue. I describe how you can stop the water in a hose by bending it, or stepping on it. The water is still pushing to get out. When you let it go, the pressure creates an immediate burst of water.
My students have very little prior experience in what I teach, so analogies to something the do know assists the learning process. They transfer schema from other areas to the ne domain. For example, I use video games to explain why we need to keep our fingers close to the keys--the further your thumb is away from the fire or jump button, the longer it take you to push the button, the slower you can keep firing or jumping. Students that may not initially understand how keeping fingers close is beneficial to playing an instrument can certainly recognize the rationale when I use this analogy.
I'm not sure if I completely agree with Jeremy Roschelle's statement "... it is impossible t learn without prior knowledge", but I do find it extremely helpful to liken something with which students are already conversant to brand new concepts.
Analogies may be detrimental if some of the class is not familiar with your example, or if they focus on the incidental subject instead of the concept you are trying to teach. Analogies, while often useful, are not the only tool in a teacher's tool box.
References:
from
Learning in Interactive Environments: Prior Knowledge and New
Experience
Jeremy Roschelle University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
Commentary/Lecture notes by Dr. Anderson
Bruning, R.H., Schraw, G.J., and Ronning, R.R. (1999). Cognitive Psychology and Instruction. Columbus: Prentice Hall
A large city school system is considering switching from its traditional classroom management program to the Glasser technique. What are the most important problems that it is likely to encounter and how might they be resolved?
Problem:
Teacher Resistance --If it isn't broken, why fix it? Those
teachers who are currently successful may not want to try something
different that may not be as effective as what they already know and
feel comfortable with. The teachers who are not currently successful
are that way for a reason: perhaps they do not recognize that they
are not effective, or they blame other factors such as bad kids or
bad administration, and not likely to want to expend any effort to
change.
Solution:
Administration could establish pilot programs at voluntary
school locations, offer monetary incentives for teacher training, and
give workshops during school time. If the program i working well for
other teachers and classes, more teachers will become motivated to
give it a chance.
Problem:
Even truly dedicated teachers quickly develop a cynical
attitude toward new programs: administration never gives enough time
for it to work. Why invest time and effort into a new method when
another one will be promoted long before this one is even wholly
implemented, let alone given a chance to succeed?
Solution:
Administration could propose a fixed time table for
exploration, training, implementation, and evaluation.
Problem:
The Glasser method of classroom management will require a
radically different philosophy as to the relationship between teacher
and student. This change is going to take time--and lots of it.
Solution:
The school system administration could use some of the tenets of
Glasser to model its effectiveness. The district should try to
"connect" with the teachers. Teachers may decide that the Glasser
approach does not work, or there may be more effective methods. If
the district coerces unwilling teachers to follow Glasser's methods,
they are in effect continuing the traditional "boss" role of
management that Glasser renounces. There should be district or
building meetings with teachers to decide what the district-wide
policy should be, and great weight should be given to teacher input
on this classroom management plan (along with other district
decisions).
In my opinion, the Glasser method of classroom management is intriguing, but will require a major paradigm shift in administration, teacher, student, and community thinking. Just as the relationship between employer and employee is unnatural--almost combative--there currently exists a singular relationship between teacher and student. A teacher needs to lead students toward a goal that the individual student may not at all care to achieve. Glasser explores ways to eliminate that tension, and create connections in order to define and achieve common goals. A change from traditional classroom dynamics to Glasser will take patience, willingness to change, and a considerable amount of time.
References:
Building Classroom Discipline by C. M. Charles
Dr. Anderson's Notes/ Impressions of Glasser's Work
Developing a Discipline Plan for You by Thomas H. Allen, Ph.D.
http://www.humboldt.edu/~tha1/discip-options.html
http://www.wglasserinst.com/ Who We Are
*Locate information on the internet and from your school district that describes the gang scene in your school, school district, community or city. Determine the names, symbols, garments, gang structure, effect on your school, and/or effect on you. How do you plan to interact with gang 'wannabees' or members in your school, classroom or laboratory?
My family spent the Easter weekend in Chicago. My children were very intrigued by the gang graffiti on the buildings when we took the Metra downtown from a north suburb. They made it into a game--calling out "tag" when they spotted any. As we neared the city, it was so prevalent that they lost interest. I was older the first time I went to Chicago and saw the overwhelming evidence of gang activity. It was rather frightening.
We have had a building inservice on this topic, and the District 186 Discipline Handbook addresses how teachers are to handle students who show signs of gang activity. Like many other members of this class, I went to my building SAP (Student Assistant Program) leader for additional insights. Carol Hoban provided me a significant amount of written information as well as descriptions of her personal experiences.
She said that in many Springfield neighborhoods, one either attends church every night or is affiliated with a gang--for safety. The streets are not safe for residents unless they have some protection, and gangs offer that protection.
Carol also said that most Springfield gangs are splinter groups of Chicago gangs, but the majority of Springfield members fall into the fringe/marginal group in the following list.
[From "Street Gangs" --information prepared by and for the Chicago Police Department.]
Gang Inner-Structure
There are three levels of gang involvement:
1. Leaders: Are usually the oldest members with extensive criminal backgrounds. They direct the criminal activity. The nature and pattern of gang activity can be learned by looking closely at the leadership. Conformity by the membership and recruitment of new members is a key element to his leadership. A leader usually surrounds himself with trusted members and advisors to from and inner-circle.
2. Hard-core members: The lives of these individuals revolve completely around the gang. The gang is the main reference group for his identity. Hard-core members are usually the most violent criminal members of the gang; committing serious crimes, enforcement and operating the narcotics trade. They participate in serious crime and encourage others to do the same. Law enforcement efforts are usually directed at the leaders and the hard-core members.
3. Fringe/marginal members: They are often the newest and youngest members. They tend to drift in and out of the gang depending on temporal needs. They lack the direction to either become a hard-core member fully involved in the criminal activities or remain with socially acceptable paths; family, church, school, or employment.
The Chicago Police Department document listed the following as gang characteristics:
Local law enforcement agencies recognize that gangs do exist in Springfield, but believe that territories have not yet been claimed like they have been in Chicago, and even Decatur. Detective Donald Stouffle of the Springfield Police Department recommends that homeowners and businesses report and immediately remove any gang graffiti as soon as it appears. He believes that preventing a gang from carving out territory will help keep gang activity from gaining a powerful foothold, and spreading throughout the community. This corresponds with other law enforcement gang policy recommendations.
It is interesting that "gangwear" has mimicked trendy fashions (or is it the opposite--that style is emulating gangs?) Gangs often use "Starter" jackets, hats, and other clothing as a show of gang affiliation. The red and black of the Chicago Bulls represents Chicagoland gangs Latin Counts, the Black P Stone Nation, and the Cobrastones. Other team colors and names (L.A. Kings Hockey gear is worn by the Latino gang, the Latin Kings) are favored by various other gangs.
There are many sources for identifying gang affiliations--clothing, emblems, colors, and signs. We have a booklet that was provided by the county Sheriff's Department in our teacher resource area. Building SAP leaders usually have an extensive file, including confiscated gang doodling on homework and scrap paper.
For an Internet site on Gang symbols: http://www.teachersworkshop.com/twshop/gang.html
Internet site on gang hand signs: http://193.170.194.110/gast/shocky/gang-signs.html
We have had very little obvious evidence of gangs at my school. Certainly there are many "Starter" clothing wearers, but I seriously doubt most of them are in gangs. I asked the Lanphier High School band teacher if he saw much evidence there. He said that few of his band students seem to be in a gang, but one just recently is concerning him.
A drummer transferred in from another school this year, but quit when he was suspended (for having a gun on the bus). His family is reputedly very high in local gang hierarchy. He is very respectful to most teachers, and generally well behaved, but other kids are afraid of him. I treated him like I do any other drummer. I know of no other students that are definitely gang members, but I hope I would treat them as I would any other student, but taking great care to report any sign of gang affiliation or gang-related occurrences to the building administration. In this light, it should be noted that the District 186 dress code is carefully written to prohibit many modes of expressing gang membership.
This past week I noticed a student leaving school and immediately pulling up one pant leg. I didn't think much of it at the time, but after reading Donna Holinga's response and some of the literature on gangs, I realize that gangs may be much more commonplace in my school than I had thought.
References:
District 186 Discipline Handbook
Carol Hoban's experiences with gangs
"Street Gangs" Martin, Williams, and Dart
Information by and for the Chicago Police Department
Illinois State Journal Register, October 31, 1995
"Gang Problem is Real", by Frank Fuhrig
Lynn Gilmore's and Donna Holinga's responses
http://www.teachersworkshop.com/twshop/gang.html
http://193.170.194.110/gast/shocky/gang-signs.html
Write about the following issues and others of your choice: Are mediation and negotiation skills important life skills, or are they just reasonable ways to talk about a conflict?, or are they, perhaps, something else to you?
Do they have any political, spiritual and/or philosophical overtones?, describe them.
Should all students and faculty be required to master them? If so, how should they master them?
Mediation and negotiation skills are certainly reasonable ways to talk about a conflict. Conflicts are inevitable in life, so mediation and negotiation skills are important life skills.
My experience is very limited with both the formal mediation and negotiation procedures described in the readings. I was interested to learn of the success of the peer group mediation process in primary grades; I had thought it was generally used at the junior high or high school level. The other CTER teachers' assessments of this program in their or their children's schools has also been very enlightening. The program appears to be great when well implemented. Do any Springfield schools have a program like this in place? I would like to see it in my own children's elementary school.
I am a leader for an Anger Management/Violence Prevention SAP (Student Assistance Program) group. The main strategy it promotes in dealing with anger without resorting to violence is to take some time--such as by counting to ten, before doing or saying something that you may regret. If nothing else, the mediation process allows and requires both parties to cool off before acting. I can see a big advantage in preventing fights by peer mediation just by getting both sides to talk without others around. Neither party loses face--an issue that is extremely important to my fifth and sixth grade students.
There are similarities between mediation goals and the tenets of a number of world religions. Consider the quote by Brendan McAllister,Director of the Mediation Network for Northern Ireland: " I view mediation as a method of non-violence, since non-violence involves the service of truth with love and compassion." Shalom, salaam, caritas, dharma, pax, peace.
Political systems as we know them would not be necessary if everyone was flexible, courteous, and behaved rationally. Political systems involve rules for people to get along, and contingencies for when they don't. Mediation is a system of rules for solving conflict in a peaceful, fair manner. I was impressed that both the negotiation and mediation processes include safeguards and alternate plans when someone is not playing by the rules. This is a pragmatic and realistic approach to human nature.
There are several life skills along with negotiation skills that students and faculty (and of course, all of society) SHOULD be required to master, in a perfect world:
Negotiation skills are very important, and I do believe that society would be more peaceful if it were included in the school curriculum. I just don't think that the teachers can be expected to impart all this wisdom to children in the limited time we have with them, with fixed financial resources, while being expected to educate children to increasingly higher levels in academic subjects. Parents, churches, and communities should share in the task of raising children.
If and when the tasks imposed on elementary and high schools are restructured, serious thought should be given to requiring schools to offer instruction in negotiation and mediation. This would require (or perhaps drive) similar course work in colleges of education. Under current circumstances, however, it does not seem useful or appropriate to mandate yet another course of instruction for districts overwhelmed by state-required testing and other administrative impositions.
References:
On Conflict and Consensus
A Handbook on Formal Consensus Decision Making by C.T. Butler and Amy
Rothstein
DISPUTE MEDIATION: A TRAINING MANUAL By Jennifer Maxwell Copyright 1994
A Treatise On Conflict In The Classroom by Dr. Thomas Anderson (1999)
Conflict Resolution/Peer Mediation (CR/PM) Research Project
Mediation Program Approach
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Conflict Resolution Education: A Guide to Implementing Programs in
Schools, Youth-Serving Organizations, and Community and Juvenile
Justice Settings. by Donna Crawford and Richard Bodine
Brendan McAllister,Director of the Mediation Network for Northern Ireland at a Conference on ``Promoting Justice and Peace through Reconciliation and Coexistence Alternatives" February 1999
5/1/00
Master List of References Cited and Used:
Nonprogrammed vs. Programmed Instruction from The Pedagogical context;Part Two
Mastery Learning vs. Programmed Instruction
Ontario Center for Religious Tolerance Website
WORLD CORPORAL PUNISHMENT RESEARCH WEBSITE by Colin Farrell
The Bible
Spanking Strikes Out by Dr. Alvin Poussaint
Fortune cookie
Discussion Thread by Alton Thompson
Automatic Processes from Bruning text, initially conceived by Neisser, further studied by Laberge, Samuels, Shiffrin, Schneider, Neves, Anderson,Nusbaum, and Schwab.
Internet Lecture based on studies by Peterson & Peterson, among others
Random Access Instruction for Advanced Knowledge Acquisition in Ill-Structured Domains by Spiro, Feltovich, Jacobson and Coulson
David Stone's driving comments
Music and its Memories by N. M. Weinberger
Procedural and Declarative Knowledge in Music Cognition & Education by W.J. Dowling
Thinking in Sound: The Cognitive Psychology of Human Audition by Stephen McAdams, Emmanuel Bigand
EDPSY 399 PowerPoint Presentation
War of the Words by Julia Keller
Chicago Tribune March 2 & 3, 2000
Reading Programs for Students in the Lower Elementary Grades: What Does the Research Say? by Kerri L. Briggs, Ph.D.and Catherine Clark, Ph.D.
Research on Text Comprehension in Multimedia Environments by Dorothy M. Chun and Jan L. Plass
Phonics vs. Whole Language Which is Better? by Jenny Curtis
Interface Design & Optimization of Reading Continuous Text by Paul Muter (Frenckner, 1990)
A Historical Look At The Book by Jenny Curtis
National Writing Project Website maintained by Aaron Curtiss and Christina Cantrill http://nwp.berkeley.edu:80/VirtInst/eanthology99/highlights/tchwrtng.htm
Designing
Assingments [sic] And Presenting Them to
Students
by Dr. Mary Proctor from the University ofToronto Writing Website
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~djerz/utwriting/factips.html
All
Children Can Write by Donald H. Graves
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/writing/graves_process.html
Commentary/Lecture notes by Dr. Anderson
Bruning, R.H., Schraw, G.J., and Ronning, R.R. (1999). Cognitive Psychology and Instruction. Columbus: Prentice Hall.
Research on Text Comprehension in Multimedia Environments by Dorothy M. Chun and Jan L. Plass
Illinois State Board of Education Website Goal 27--Arts and
Civilization
http://www.isbe.state.il.us/ils/fig27.html
Responses by fellow CTER students including, but not limited
to:
Megan Forness
Patty Chiles
David Stone
Lynn Gilmore
Donna Holinga
www2.hawaii.edu/suremath/home.html
My husband
http://www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/longview/ctac/toc.htm#instructor
Critical
Thinking Across the Curriculum Project
Contributed by: Lauren Miller and Michael Connelly, Longview
Community College
Personal math experiences
Building Classroom Discipline by C. M. Charles
Dr. Anderson's Notes/ Impressions of Glasser's Work
Developing a Discipline Plan for You by Thomas H. Allen, Ph.D.
http://www.humboldt.edu/~tha1/discip-options.html
Glasser Website http://www.wglasserinst.com/ Who We Are
District 186 Discipline Handbook
Carol Hoban's experiences with gangs
"Street Gangs" Martin, Williams, and Dart
Information by and for the Chicago Police Department
Illinois State Journal Register, October 31, 1995
"Gang Problem is Real", by Frank Fuhrig
Gang Symbol Website http://www.teachersworkshop.com/twshop/gang.html
Gang Sign Website http://193.170.194.110/gast/shocky/gang-signs.html
On Conflict and Consensus
A Handbook on Formal Consensus Decision Making by C.T. Butler and Amy
Rothstein
DISPUTE MEDIATION: A TRAINING MANUAL By Jennifer Maxwell Copyright 1994
A Treatise On Conflict In The Classroom by Dr. Thomas Anderson (1999)
Conflict Resolution/Peer Mediation (CR/PM) Research Project
Mediation Program Approach
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Conflict Resolution Education: A Guide to Implementing Programs in
Schools, Youth-Serving Organizations, and Community and Juvenile
Justice Settings. by Donna Crawford and Richard Bodine
Brendan McAllister,Director of the Mediation Network for Northern Ireland at a Conference on ``Promoting Justice and Peace through Reconciliation and Coexistence Alternatives" February 1999
4/29/00