Module 4

The further we go through this class and our Woolfolk text I have learned about so many different concepts and processes that, as a future educator, we need to be hyper aware of and be able to implement these different processes into our classrooms in order for our students to be successful and for us, as teachers, to be successful.  

Chapter 9 is all about complex cognitive processes and how we can implement them them into our lessons and classrooms.  Metacognition, “knowledge or awareness of self as knower” (p. 328).  I had never heard this word before and was completely unaware of what it was other than the fact that I knew what cognitive meant.  Metacognitive skills include, realizing if you have the right knowledge to understand what you have read, devising a plan, strategizing with mnemonics, finding a solution to the problem, asking for help, possibly reevaluating your plan and making changes to it and than looking at your skill set and reaching your goal (p. 328).  Like with every topic we have covered thus far, students are different in most ways and they also have differences in metacognition such as not knowing the purpose of the lesson, what the problem is and how to solve it, who to ask for help and how to understand instructions (p. 329).  Learning strategies are important because there are so many different ways that students learn but one of the most important things is that we teach students to, “learn how to learn” (p. 330).  The order of learning is as follows, according to our Woolfolk text, cognitively engaged, focus their attention, invest effort, process deeply and regulate and monitor their learning (p. 331).  All of these require students to be metacognitive in their learning.  Some examples of learning strategies are, planning and focusing attention, organizing and remembering, comprehension, cognitive monitoring and practice (p. 333).  Part of our moodle discussion was to create a concept map, concept mapping is a form of taking notes.  As someone who in school struggled constantly with taking notes because I could NEVER figure out how to leave out the unimportant and differentiate between what is something I need to study and what is stuff that is irrelevant and would not be on a test, I like concept mapping and I wish that I would have utilized this more when I was younger and in middle school/high school.  Problem solving and defining goals are also discussed in chapter 9 of our Woolfolk text.  Problem solving includes finding out what is relevant, understanding why it is a problem in its entirety (p. 342-43) and solving it.  Algorithms and heuristics are possible solutions for problem solving in the process of defining goals, exploring solutions, anticipate consequences and act and evaluating (figure 9.4)(p. 345).

Another topic that I found interesting and learned from was from figure 9.7, Paul and Elder’s model of critical thinking.  It states, “standards such as, clarity, accuracy, depth, fairness and precision must be applied to the elements such as purposes, questions, point of view, inferences and assumptions as we learn to develop intellectual traits such as, humility, autonomy, perseverance, confidence in reason and empathy” (p. 356). Transfer was one of the last topics discussed in the chapter and, I believe, is one of the most important concepts that we must teach to our students and make sure that they take away from our classroom.  A student must be able to take a lesson or concept, something they have learned or problem solved inside the classroom and apply it to something else.  A child learns how to read a specific book inside the classroom and they take the words they have learned and apply it to be able to read another book when they are at home or in the next grade level.  This comes in many varieties not just reading but in everything that we teach our students, this is how they will excel as they move up in grade levels throughout their education.  

Chapter 10 was all about the learning sciences and constructivism.  “Learning sciences encompasses research in psychology, education, computer science, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, neuroscience and other fields that study learning” (p. 370).  Our book also points on the basic assumptions of the learning sciences, deep conceptual knowledge, learning comes from the learner, schools must create effective learning environments, prior knowledge and beliefs are key and reflection is necessary to develop conceptual knowledge (p. 370-71).  

Constructivism is, “a broad term used by philosophers, curriculum designers, psychologists, educators and others” (p. 373).  Constructivism is in nearly every theory and aspect of all of those areas because it is widely believed that individuals used their knowledge and experience to help improve their thought processes and problem solving skills.  This is all based upon individual learning but there are many different approaches to constructivism.  Moshman (1982) has three different explanations to these different approaches, the realities and truths of the external world direct knowledge construction, internal processes such as Piaget’s organization, assimilation, and accommodation direct knowledge construction and both external and internal factors direct knowledge construction (p. 375).  Scaffolding is utilized in conjunction with constructivism in helping students develop.  Scaffolding includes contingency support, fading and transferring responsibility (p. 379).  

Cooperative learning, working in groups and deciding what their goals is and can be structured completely or not.  There are some ways to prepare students for cooperative learning, these five elements define what true cooperative learning is, positive independence, promotive interaction, individual accountability, collaborative and social skills and group processing (p. 388).  

The last portion of chapter 10 talks about the use of technology and media inside the classroom.  I did not realize how beneficial this can be and how different learning has become throughout the years since I have been in school, technology is everywhere and the way that our students learn and the workforce they will be in once they graduate is going to be completely different from what we were exposed to as young students.  It is important to teach our students on how to properly research because there is such a variety of information on the internet and we all know that it may not all be true and there is a way to sort it out in order to find out the facts and not be fooled by inaccuracies.